NASA wants to create potatoes on Mars

A team of scientists are attempting to grow potatoes under Martian conditions as they look to prove that they can be grown in the most inhospitable conditions and ultimately save lives on Earth.

NASA and the International Potato Center (CIP) are taking the reins on the experiment, which will also be used as a stepping stone to learning how we can grow crops on the Red Planet itself, Business Insider reported.

The team, which is basing its experiment in Peru, is hoping to raise awareness of the resilience of potatoes, which will put pressure on authorities to fund further research and farming in devastated areas around the world. Joel Ranck, CIP Head of Communications, said: "How better to learn about climate change than by growing crops on a planet that died two billion years ago? We need people to understand that if we can grow potatoes in extreme conditions like those on Mars, we can save lives on Earth."

Famine currently affects 842 million people – but this figure is continuously rising. CIP has been experimenting with the robustness of potatoes for some time by planting them in unusual places – or simulating the conditions in said areas.

Not only will this research help boost knowledge on how well the potatoes can survive in Martian conditions, but it will also highlight how well the crops would be able to survive on Mars, if and when we manage to colonize it. Julio E Valdivia-Silva, SETI Researcher Associate of Nasa, who is leading the project's science team, added: "I am excited to put potatoes on Mars and even more so that we can use a simulated Martian terrain so close to the area where potatoes originated."