Harnessing plasma-activated water for microbial synergy and sustainable crop resilience

Overreliance on chemical agricultural inputs degrades soil, fosters resistant pathogens, and pollutes runoff. Nitrogen-heavy practices alone generate ~5% of anthropogenic carbon emissions, while water scarcity and pests further threaten global food security. This team has developed a novel method for plasma-activating water to enhance plant resilience and productivity by simultaneously targeting plant physiology and the microbial communities that support healthy growth. Plasma-activated water is created by exposing water to a non-thermal plasma discharge, typically generated through electrical excitation of gases (e.g., air, oxygen, nitrogen, or a blend) under controlled conditions of voltage, current, and frequency.