Agricultural Applications
Political Stability and Food Security
There is perhaps nothing more fundamental to human survival than political stability and food security.
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Our struggle today and in the future is that world-wide population numbers have exploded within the past century, resulting in billions more mouths to feed.
- Around 821 million humans on earth (more than 10%) go to bed hungry every night.*
- Undernutrition is a cause of 3·1 million child deaths annually.**
With as much as 25 – 30% of the world’s food production being lost to insects, bacteria and rodents after harvesting, there is an enormous need to find new ways to increase food production and deliver it with minimum spoilage.
Nuclear technology uses radiation to improve the productivity of the entire food chain in a substantial manner.
Here are just a few examples:
Water Use and Soil Management
- Neutron meters improve irrigation practices that help conserve water and protect vulnerable land.
- Tagging fertilizers with radioisotopes can determine how plants are using nutrients.
- Nuclear techniques help increase crop yields and help determine which plants to grow in areas with less available water.
- Selective breeding creates disease resistant plants with greater nutritional value.
Pest Control
- Sterile insect technique (SIT) uses gamma radiation to sterilize large populations of insects.
- The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) and tsetse fly have been successful controlled using this method.
Animal Health and Productivity
- Radioisotope tracers are used to follow the path of the food in animals’ digestive systems and helps determine the nutritional value of the feed.
- Radiation techniques can diagnose harmful pathogens in animals early so we can vaccinate them and eliminate the wide spread of diseases.
Food Safety
- Irradiation uses kills bacteria, molds, and parasites in our food.
- Irradiated foods can be stored for an extended period without refrigeration, which increases their availability in underdeveloped countries.
- Using lower does of ionizing radiation can lengthen the refrigerated life of fresh fish and chicken for several weeks. Strawberries treated this way can last for about 30 days. Sealed, treated foods–like canned goods–can stay on your shelf at room temperature for years.
DID YOU KNOW?
Irradiation does not make food radioactive. Irradiated foods look and taste just like the fresh, raw food.
Here are some of the ways food irradiation is used in the U.S.:
- Food for astronauts on space missions
- Meals for open-heart hospital patients
- In school cafeterias
- Meals on international flights
Additional Resources:
University of Wisconsin Food Irradiation Education Group, “Food Irradiation Means Safer Food”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Food Facts: Food Irradiation”
IAEA, Joint FAO/IAEA Programme, “Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture”
IAEA, “Improving Productivity in Agriculture”
*Source: FAO, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2017 p. 7
**UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), & The World Bank, 2018
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