Tell the community about a new technology or innovative application of an existing technology that will help reduce the impact of the crisis and improve quality of life.
Only 3 % of the Earth's water is freshwater, most of which is found in icecaps and glaciers (69 %) and groundwater (30 %), while all rivers, lakes, ponds and swamps combined account for a small fraction (0.3 %) of the Earth's total freshwater reserves.
It is estimated that 70 % of total worldwide water usage is for irrigation in agriculture to grow crops and animal feeds given to domestic animals. It takes around 2 000 - 3 000 litres of water to produce enough food to satisfy one person's daily dietary need, compared to drinking which is between 2 and 5 litres per day.
Recently, a Dutch researcher has successfully demonstrated growing non-genetically-modified potatoes with seawater, according to article "Humble spud poised to launch a world food revolution". As much as 90 % of the salt is retained in the leaves of the plant, so eating the fruits and vegetables grown with seawater will not exceed recommended salt intake.
Existing genetic technology can be used to identify and isolate the gene that makes these potatoes salt-tolerant, then to apply to other fruits and vegetables so that seawater can be used for irrigation in agriculture instead of freshwater. Salt-tolerant grass will drastically reduce the use of freshwater at golf courses as well. These innovations will free up a significant portion of worldwide freshwater usage.
Therefore, Salt-Tolerant Plants is the new technology or innovative application of an existing technology that will help reduce the impact of the crisis and improve quality of life.
