A Cairns biotech startup is combining traditional Indigenous knowledge of “rainmaking” and modern science to optimise plant and fungi growth.<\/p>\n
The company Rainstick is using electrical fields to treat seeds to improve germination and productivity.<\/p>\n
Its technique is based on a tradition of the Maiawali people of central west Queensland, who used a chuggera or a lightning stick to direct thunderstorm activity.<\/p>\n
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Riverine Plains is trialling Rainstick\u2019s seed treatment on canola crops in regional Victoria. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n
Darryl Lyons is co-founder and “chief rainmaker”.<\/p>\n
“Chief rainmaker sounds like a really cool title,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But really, it’s about figuring out how we can scale this technology globally to make a difference in agriculture.”<\/p>\n
His business partner Mic Black is the “chief thunderstorm creator”.<\/p>\n
“We take seeds and we apply an electric field similar to what happens during a thunderstorm \u2026 those seeds get shipped out to the producer for them to grow,” he said.<\/p>\n
The process is designed to be seamless for farmers, as it does not require changes to existing planting and growing processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Testing the tech on canola crops<\/p>\n
Rainstick has been experimenting with small-scale indoor crops but is also collaborating with Riverine Plains, a farming systems group with more than 450 members conducting trials on broadacre crops such as canola.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Pip Grant said low crop establishment rates were a significant problem for Australian farmers.<\/p>\n
The CSIRO and the Grains Research and Development Corporation have found it costs the canola industry more than $100 million a year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pip Grant says low canola establishment rates are a costly issue for farmers. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n
If the seed treatment is successful, it could boost productivity and cut those costs.<\/p>\n
“We’re really working with the Rainstick team on the broadacre,” Ms Grant said.<\/p>\n
“How do we actually translate this technology from mushrooms, bok choy, our indoor sort of crops, to what that looks like once we bring it out into broadacre crops?”<\/p>\n
The initial visual assessments of the canola trials are promising.<\/p>\n
“It has actually been quite wild to see the difference in some of the treated \u2026 canola plants versus the control,” Ms Grant said.<\/p>\n
The next step is to harvest the plots and analyse the data to confirm any potential yield and economic benefits.<\/p>\n
The science behind the storm<\/p>\n
The Rainstick team is also working with scientists from James Cook University (JCU) and the University of Queensland to fine-tune their seed treatment technology.<\/p>\n
“We work with a couple of basic elements to our formula,” Mr Black said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We have our frequency, our waveform and the duration of that treatment.<\/p>\n
“You can’t [apply] brute force [to] something like this.”<\/p>\n
JCU researcher Joost Nelis is assisting with the scientific evaluation of the technology’s effect on plants.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Joost Nelis studies how bioelectrical treatments affect plant growth. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n
Dr Nelis is measuring changes in key molecules within the plants to understand how the treatment influences their biological processes.<\/p>\n
He said his research, which focused on how different metabolic pathways were activated in the process, had already observed some differences.<\/p>\n
“One of the things we observed so far is that there’s really an increase in leaf mass after the treatment,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Black made it clear the technology was not genetic modification, nor a chemical treatment.<\/p>\n
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Mic Black with seedlings in the company\u2019s indoor crop trials. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n
Instead, the bio-electrical signals influence how genes react without altering the plant’s DNA.<\/p>\n
The goal is to give seedlings a stronger, more vigorous start that can potentially last throughout the entire growth cycle.<\/p>\n
A vision for a sustainable future<\/p>\n
The potential applications of Rainstick’s technology extend beyond traditional farming.<\/p>\n
Mr Lyons is passionate about its use in reforestation projects.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got to reforest mine [sites], we’ve got to reforest areas globally to help with climate variation,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Early trial results show visible differences between treated and untreated canola plants. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n
The team is trailing the technology on native species such as grevilleas and Darwin stringybarks, both of which have poor establishment rates.<\/p>\n
For Mr Lyons, a Maiawali man, this work is not just a business, it is a personal journey.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, my great-grandmother was the only survivor from the Maiawali people,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve kind of been lucky over the last 15 years to go back out in the country and connect to that heritage.”<\/p>\n
He believes that traditional knowledge could have a global impact by providing new scientific solutions.<\/p>\n
Rainstick plans to continue in-field trials in collaboration with farmers and scientists.<\/p>\n
Ms Grant said they were still in the early stages, but the partnership was crucial to determine the price points for a farm to receive a return on their investment in the technology.<\/p>\n