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Q
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Danger use of groundwater for fruit production in Third World Countries?
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In the Netherlands every effort is made to get and keep groundwater clean. In many other countries, especially third world countries, this is not the case. But these are the very countries that produce much of the fruit we eat. Do the plants that produce fruit that hold a lot of water (citrus fruit, melons etc.) have their own system for purifying groundwater, and to what extent?
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answered by: |
Jelle Mulder |
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Life Sciences |
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A
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In the Netherlands the pruification is largely a chemical process as well to purify the water. The biggest problem in third world countries is not the pollution of the water used (no industry so no pollution) but the salinity of the water. The water being taken from lower depths has more minerals carried with it, and after the water evaporates or is used by the plants, the minerals (including salt) remains. When these deposits grow to a critical level, plants just don't grow anymore on the soil. The mesopotamic civilisations have already experienced the problem 3000 years ago and made large area's into salt deserts because their agricultural techniques were wasting water.
However, some fruit have a better system to purify the water they use than others. But in general it's just about the salinity, plants don't care much for a lot of other minerals and often even thrive on some pollution. |
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