Small carpets made with human hair protect the base of plants cultivated in orchards of areas of Chile hit by an extensive drought of more than a decade, helping to maintain moisture in the crops.
Padded, or composable Mulch, in the form of plates and discs is made by mechanical tissue that reduces direct evaporation by 71% and saves up to 48% of irrigation water, according to the Matter of Trust Chile Foundation, which sells commercial products for landscaping and agriculture.
The rugs help farmers “so that they can continue to cultivate in that context of extreme drought, where access to water resources becomes more and more limited,” said Mattia Carenini, CEO of the organization.
“The hair has something very entertaining, it has nutrients, nitrogen, calcium, sulphide, organic matter that are added to the soil, improving the soil and improving the growth of plants and agricultural production in at least 30%,” he added.
See: In the Chilean desert of Atacama, the most arid in the world, lettuce are grown with fog
Hair mats help avoid drought impact on orchards in Chile
The Foundation markets other products such as a liquid fertilizer of recycled hair and an absorbent to recover from water hydrocarbons, oils, heavy metals, fecal coliforms and other pollutants.
The farmer María Salazar said that hair plates are a contribution to the system in the midst of water stress in the desert taltal, about 900 kilometers north of the Chilean capital.
“It provides us with shadow and protects us that the drop of water that falls in each tree is protected and when shadowing maintains the humidity and prevents the sun’s rays, the hair laying, to prevent the sun’s rays from evaporating the small amount of water we have,” he explained.
The Foundation was created in 2020 to boost conservation and regeneration, through the creative use of waste, according to its website.
With Reuters information.
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