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Photo credits: Rapid coexistence
California is short on water, it’s time to start planting cacti
The livestock can eat the drought-tolerant cactus, and we can eat the livestock, and everyone is very happy.
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California is in its fourth year of drought, but it remains the largest producer of drought-tolerant crops like almonds, tomatoes and nectarines in the U.S. One designer thinks it might be time to try focusing on something else: cacti.
In a Grassroots Activism, Archinect Dry Futures Competition WinnersAli Chen envisions a model for a large cactus farm that would help produce livestock feed. Since cacti are also natural water filters, Chen would pair the farm with a water treatment plant.
“It was an amazing coincidence to discover that not only is the cactus drought-tolerant and edible, but it also has the ability to purify water,” she said. “It was logical and efficient to combine these two functions into one facility to minimize transportation costs and fuel.”
Since so much of the water on California farms is used to grow crops like alfalfa for livestock feed (which is why a hamburger uses660 gallons of water), Chen wanted to find an alternative. It turns out that cactus, a plant that is already used in other arid regions like Texas, can be a healthy alternative to at least part of a cattle diet.
Read the full article: Rapid coexistence
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