Researchers have grown and harvested chickpeas in mixtures containing a Moon-like regolith simulant plus worm- and fungus-rich compost. The lab work suggests a testable approach, not proof of lunar farming.
Researchers have grown and harvested chickpeas in a mixture that included a Moon-like regolith simulant. The experimental growing medium combined the simulant with compost produced by worms and beneficial fungi, the latter intended to help protect plants from toxic metals. Chickpeas grew in mixtures containing up to 75% of the simulant.
This was laboratory research, not farming on the lunar surface: the “Moon soil” was manufactured to mimic lunar material, and the plants were grown on Earth. The team emphasise that further work is needed to establish whether the crop would be safe and nutritious to eat.
The result does not show that lunar soil can be used directly to feed astronauts, but it offers a testable approach to growing crops in material resembling it. It is a striking life-on-the-Moon story because it moves beyond imagining lunar menus to investigating what might make them possible.
For now, practical challenges remain considerable, and no food has been grown on the lunar surface. The study provides a grounded step in exploring how future Moon crews might one day supplement supplies with locally produced food, subject to much more testing.
