US Researchers Create Spray That Doubles Tomato Growth in Saline Greenhouses

Scientists at the University of Texas at El Paso have developed a leaf‑spray made from chitosan derived from crustacean shells and fine particles of manganese oxide. The formulation is applied directly to tomato plants grown in highly saline greenhouse conditions, bypassing the need to leach salt from the soil. In trials, treated plants showed a 100% increase in above‑ground biomass, a more than 55% rise in root volume, a 91% boost in photosynthetic pigments and up to a 300% increase in stress‑relief enzyme activity. The spray offers a low‑water, low‑cost approach to mitigate the global challenge of soil salinization that threatens agricultural productivity as freshwater supplies dwindle.

The researchers suggest that the method could be scaled for large‑area greenhouse production, providing a potential tool for farmers facing water scarcity and salinity‑induced yield losses.