Post #4434282

2026-08-06 05:51 UTC

"Shade is supposed to be the enemy of a farm. Crops chase sunlight, so roofing a field with panels ought to starve them. Yet plot after plot came in with more fruit, not less, and the plants looked healthier than the ones baking in the open. Stranger still, the shaded rows did it while drinking far less water. (...) Chiltepin pepper plants produced three times as much fruit as those grown in full sun. Jalapenos matched their usual harvest while using 65 percent less water. Tomatoes grown under the array came in at twice the normal yield." Good luck achieving that with a nuclear reactor. https://energiesmedia.com/solar-panels-farmland-crops-agrivoltaics/

Replies (4)

@tbortels@infosec.exchange 2026-08-07 14:11

@antanicus@puntarella.party Sunlight is good - but heat is death. And lately the issue is not a lack of sunlight - but too much heat. Shade helps life tremendously.

Open ##4436777
@kevinrns@mstdn.social 2026-08-06 08:14

@antanicus@puntarella.party Beautiful post, beautiful story, wonderful actions, great research, deeply hopeful and human, and touching grass, and being present. And tomatoes make the best sandwiches. Let a thousand tomato flowers bloom. Let's begin discussions with Saharan nations with the aim of turning the vast dryness into homes, forests and farms. With solar panels. #climate

Open ##4446940
@nina_kali_nina@tech.lgbt 2026-08-06 11:28

@antanicus@puntarella.party the article reprints an article that reprints an article that refers to a small-scale but promising study from 2019 - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335583033_Agrivoltaics_provide_mutual_benefits_across_the_food-energy-water_nexus_in_drylands The area of the each test site was 9x18 meters, and the study seemingly was running only for a year or two. I am not sure if the results are as readily replicable as the articles claim. However, the point of the research was the plants that are adapted to shade - like cherry tomatoes and jalapenos - so it is not that surprising they'd thrive in such conditions, and humanity definitely should experiment MUCH more with stuff like this.

Open ##4446946
@NinjaDebugger@mastodon.sandwich.net 2026-08-06 11:53

@antanicus@puntarella.party Researchers discover not all plants want constant unfiltered sunlight, a thing which has been known for literally thousands of years.

Open ##4506559