Saturday, April 24, 2010

Geothermal heat grows shrimp and olives in Arizona desert



An article in the Yuma Sun describes a test by the University of Arizona, to use effluent waters from the geothermally-heated Desert Sweet Shrimp farm in Gila Bend, to irrigate a plot of olive tree saplings.  The story says  "effluent-treated trees from the shrimp pond grew larger than well-watered trees. They’re using the nitrogen and phosphorus in the waste from the shrimp to replace the nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers that farmers would otherwise have to buy. The research project supplied close to 100 percent of nutrients needed for the trees."    [photo credit, Desert Sweet Shrimp]

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