science
A fabric meant for soldiers tripled strawberry harvests
It started as body armor for soldiers. The strawberries came later.
A fabric called Plant Armor more than tripled strawberry yields in tunnel field trials at North Carolina State University, researchers report in the journal Agriculture. Draped directly over the plants, the textile produced up to 3.56 times more fruit than uncovered beds while showing no harm to plant health. Its three dimensional knit blocks insects but still lets sunlight, rain and air through, which surprised the team. "We expected that Plant Armor's seemingly opaque fabric would lead to an increase in vegetative biomass at the expense of fruiting," said Gabriel Olawuyi, a graduate research assistant and lead author. "However, we found the fabric did not impede access to light at all." The cover also held in warmth, pushing plants to fruit earlier across three growing seasons. Its origins were not agricultural. The research began as an effort to make soldiers' body armor more comfortable and resistant to mosquito bites. The strawberries came later.
