How Onions Could Help Corn, Soybeans Withstand Drought

What do onion samples analyzed in Illinois, a high-tech research lab in Canada, and Midwestern corn and soybeans have in common? Researchers believe this unlikely triangle could lead to answers for shoring up plant cell walls against drought and disease stress.

Onions were chosen because you can peel away a single layer of cells and see changes in cell walls. Graduate students working with Karen Tanino at the University of Saskatchewan also analyzed onion samples at the Advanced Photon Source lab in Illinois.

When calcium mixed with water is added to greenhouse onions, they take up calcium, which is isolated in cell walls. Research with other plants indicates boron is important to cell walls, too. “Shoring up cell walls won’t be a silver bullet for drought and disease stress, but it could be a first line of defense,” Tanino says.

Editor’s Take:

Maybe not a silver bullet, but anything scientists can do to improve drought resistance in plants is welcomed by farmers and ranchers everywhere. Don’t believe us, ask those farmers in the Southeast U.S. or out West who are currently being severely impacted by drought. See the article above about the huge selloff of cattle due to drought reducing available pasture for grazing. Improve a plant’s ability to maintain or even improve yields even in drought conditions, and that is a game changer. It would put more money in farmers' pockets to purchase your new or qualifying used trucks!