Six students from Bestepe College in Türkiye won the Best in Region award for their investigation to increase crop yield using probiotics found in pinecones.
Team members, Elif Kizilgun, Doga Sevuktekin, Ece Aydin, Alya Ustun, Ela Cifci and Esma Nergis Erdagi, investigated whether biodegradable alginate beads containing pinecone bacteria at different concentrations had an effect on the growth of bean plants. First, the students made a concentrated bacterial solution by soaking pinecones in water. Next, they made biodegradable beads to use as fertiliser from sodium alginate and calcium chloride. They then added the pinecone bacterial solution to the beads in different concentrations – 0% (control group), 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The team added the beads to young bean plants and measured the growth over five, ten, 15 and 20 days.
The team found that as the concentration of the bacterial solution increased, so did the percentage increase of plant height. This method appears to have the potential to be used in agricultural practices to enhance plant growth by ensuring that beneficial bacteria are delivered to plants in a controlled and sustained manner. Also, the usage of probiotics is a more sustainable approach compared to traditional synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Elif Kizilgun said: 'Throughout the project we all actively participated and gained valuable skills that we could not have learned in any other way. Looking back, I can say that we were really challenged during our work. However, those challenges helped me grow. I had the chance to improve my presentation skills and learned how to write a proper scientific report based on an experiment.'