‘Plant Armor’ fabric triples strawberry yields while cutting pesticide need, field tests show
North California: A new textile draped over strawberry plants has more than tripled fruit yields in field tests, while potentially reducing the need for water and pesticides.
The technology, known as Plant Armor, was tested in tunnel field trials at North Carolina State University, where it increased strawberry yields by as much as 3.56 times without negatively impacting plant health, light access or relative humidity.
The fabric’s 3-dimensional, multi-layered structure is designed to prevent insects from reaching plants, while still allowing sunlight, rain and airflow to penetrate.
“We expected that Plant Armor’s seemingly opaque fabric would lead to an increase in vegetative biomass at the expense of fruiting – because reduced sunlight would trigger a ‘shade-avoidance’ response, making the plant divert energy toward stem and leaf growth rather than fruit production,” said Gabriel Olawuyi, graduate research assistant at NC State and lead author of the paper on Plant Armor.
“However, we found the fabric did not impede access to light at all, and fruit production increased significantly.”The cover also provided a consistent warming effect across the three seasons the plant grows, helping bushes reach the fruiting stage earlier.”Plants require a certain amount of accumulated heat, calculated as ‘growing degree-days,’ to progress through developmental stages including fruiting. Our plant cover has proven to enhance these,” Olawuyi said.
“The plants were in a condition whereby the warmth they need to go through each phenological stage to their production was given to them optimally, and they produced far more than the uncovered plants.”By physically deterring insects, Plant Armor could significantly reduce reliance on traditional pesticides in strawberry production.
The innovation has unlikely origins. Plant Armor was created as a spinoff of efforts to make military uniforms resistant to mosquito bites.”The path to Plant Armor started with trying to make a cloth to go on a soldier’s chest to make body armor more comfortable,” said co-author R. Michael Roe, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor at NC State.
“Then, through trial and error, we arrive at a product which could triple the output of strawberry farms here in North Carolina. We couldn’t have predicted that when we started. Without all these people here doing research and following the science, we wouldn’t have arrived at this product.”
Researchers say the technology could offer a low-cost, chemical-free boost for strawberry farmers while improving sustainability.
