Santiago, Oct 15 (EFE).- A team of Chilean scientists have developed an innovative mobile platform that shields crops from frost while also generating wind energy.
A meteorological phenomenon that occurs when the air temperature drops below the freezing point of water, frost is a problem that affects rural areas in particular.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says climate change has increased the severity of extreme weather events, frost included.
To combat that threat, a group of experts in Machali, a Chilean town 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Santiago, are deploying a mobile platform that has an articulated arm with a propeller on the end and whose purpose is to combat crop-destroying frost.
“To make the project a little more innovative, we thought the air current generated by the propeller could be used not only to combat frost but also as an agricultural input,” the director of the innovation agency Chile Sustenta, Rodolfo Cortes, told EFE.
The scientists use the air current to hydrate or dehydrate the crops, as needed, by applying hot air or a cool spray.
The multiple features of the platform, which was manufactured in New Zealand with Chilean technology, make it useful at any season of the year.
Due to its height, it also can be used to generate wind energy to power henhouses, stables and other farm installations.