Promoting photosynthesis for carbon dioxide capture to mitigate global warming

Mar 29, 2023

Since it is plants which convert carbon dioxide to starch and other useful products within the plant  it is  therefore tenable to propose that there should be  attempts to enhance the capture of carbon dioxide by increasing the density of green plants per unit  area

Professor Gerard Majella Mutumba

NewVision Reporter
Journalist @NewVision

By Professor Gerard Majella Mutumba, Botanist

 If the human race is to survive the negative effects of carbon dioxide accumulation in the environment, measures must be taken now to avoid impending catastrophes such droughts, crop failures, floods, unpredictable weather patterns, desertification, the rise of seawater levels etc.

 Whereas some of these effects could be the intrinsic evolutionary processes of the earth, the effects of carbon dioxide accumulation resulting in global warming can be minimized.

Since it is plants which convert carbon dioxide to starch and other useful products within the plant  it is  therefore tenable to propose that there should be  attempts to enhance the capture of carbon dioxide by increasing the density of green plants per unit  area of ground or space available .This will result in  augmentation of  the  leaf surface area for the capture of carbon dioxide.

The amount of carbon dioxide captured is approximately proportional to the amount of green matter in the plant. This means that the more green matter there is in the environment the more carbon dioxide will be captured  other factors being equal.

Although there is a proposed technology to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground by the European scientists and which technology may be expensive for Uganda to afford in the foreseeable future yet the latter as a developing country blessed with abundant oil which needs to get out of ground to generate revenue for development, there is an alternative.

 The alternative for Uganda and indeed for the developing countries  is to exploit the power of PHOTOSYNTHESIS .

Photosynthesis is a process whereby carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere through pores in the leaf and converted into starch by green plants. This efficient process takes place in the green part of plants.

As long as a  plant is green this process will take place in the presence of water, appropriate temperature and nutrient regime, and absence of disease etc .

The green matter in the plant located in the chloroplasts is called chlorophyll. Thus by increasing the density of green plants per unit area of ground,/space and hence the leaf area more carbon dioxide is captured.

By implication, increasing the density of green plants in the homesteads, compounds and along the walkways, country roads and even highways and countrywide to capture more carbon dioxide will be captured. Let us even replicate the Kakungulu mile of planted Mahogany in Mbale on either side of the road It is a good example of a carbon capture method that should be copied.

Chlorophyll is a very important biological converter to reduce carbon dioxide to starch and hence reduction of global warming if plants are planted in very large numbers which we have to do.

Organizationally, there is need for a visionally and knowledgeable leadership at all levels, especially at the parish level which should be able to champion the greening of our environments. Indeed, there is need for a CIMATE CHANGE ACTION COMMITTEE at the lowest level of organization of our society namely the LC. Whereas the parliament proposes development projects, the LC is the main engine of change. This Unit should have capacity to operate at the grass roots and this means that LC should be equipped with knowledge and skills for change. Ideally the LCs are change agents. It is high time science graduates are elected or appointed to the village LCs provided there is adequate remuneration. These units with knowledgeable experts in plant science and climate change should be in charge of the greening of our environment. A university curriculum should come into being to produce such graduates. These graduates should embark on finding and multiplying the green plants  or entrepreneurs should launch shops of green potted plants or  tropical seeds should let alone the  springing  up  supermarkets devoted to  the sale of green plants as it is in the Netherlands. Whereas there is a scientific proposal to suck carbon dioxide from the air and store it underground, this cannot deter Uganda from having its own home grown techniques of coping with climate change as it is embarking on oil exploitation which will increase the carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere. This re-greening needs visionary leadership and if properly handled and funded will become the new employment avenue and a worthwhile investment area if properly planned and guided. It will be SCIENCE in the service of Ugandans at levels.

One approach of increasing the density of green plants at the village level could be the intensive planting of the green vegetables the excess of which can easily be turned into powdered vegetable for value addition. Thus factories will spring up and employment will result.

We will target Ugandans in the diaspora. The density of green bananas in Kikegezi, Kabarole, Mbale  and Buganda should be increased where land is available although in the latter region there is neglect of banana production

!It is appropriate to make an appeal to the Buganda Kingdom to oversee banana production through their ministry of agriculture (Owekityibwa Katikkiro ensuku za Kabaka waffe ziriwa to mitigate climate change?) The green banana has a large green leaf and therefore a large surface area for carbon capture.

It is, therefore, an ideal candidate for carbon capture and thus banana plantations should be planted on a large scale where land is available. This should be accompanied by green organic fencing of the land (bibanja) with Acacia spectablis (L) for example or any other leafy green plants.

If the idea of the Parish Climate Action Committee mentioned above is adopted, the latter should oversee and enforce the planting  of green trees along the country roads ,the  village walk ways and along the road reserves of the highways where it is permissible.  

Organic fencing of the bibanja should be encouraged for example the bark tree in Buganda and elsewhere can be used.

The bark tree is a multiple use tree viz: climate change mitigation, firewood, poles for building, canoes, backcloth for the German car seats, burials, crafts etc.

In addition to the economic benefits to its benefits   the surface area for carbon capture will have been beefed up.

Some bark trees produce seeds prolifically (Entontogoro : are they medicinally active ?)At this critical hour of climate change, humanity could even relaunch the BIBLICAL hanging gardens of Babylon ‘where plants in containers were hung on the rooftops of buildings and from windows.

Similarly, the perimeter walls of big buildings should have the climbing plants such as Bougainvillea This, therefore, calls for a knowledgeable national climate action co-coordinating body at the national level with subcommittees at the parishes.

It is the knowlegeable Parish Climate Action Committee that should police the planting of the green vegetation in the villages of the parish and elsewhere.

In particular, the Brusonertia species from Mabira forest is a good tree to plant as it grows very fast with a lot of leaves. This requires mobilization of all botanists in the country and training more at all the academic levels. This should be accompanied by the training of plant nutritionists, plant disease scientists, plant breeders, plant geneticists to improve quality of silage for the zero grazing cattle industry.

At the village level there are a number of green plants that can be planted the first category being the green vegetables: ensugga, dodo, ebbuga, ejjobyo, nakati, empindi- for this group of green vegetables even value can be added through drying and packaging as mentioned above ! Another category are the pawpaws; plantain; ensaali; yamsebikongo, amakakobe; mangoes; passionfruit; enziru; ensaali; wujju; entuntunu; enkenene etc.

The seeds can be obtained locally from markets which sell these vegetables or from agricultural research institutes such as Kawanda, Namulonge etc. If the planting of green vegetables is technically done and supervised it should increase the surface area for absorption of the carbon dioxide and reduction in climate change.

For some perennial trees there is need for multiplication to get enough numbers for planting. Some trees such as Cassia spectablis do not require tissue culture techniques as they have numerous seeds. So this species is a prime candidate for boundary organic fencing and the village walkways and country roads which should have avenues of green plants for carbon capture.

Maybe a question may arise: how do plants reproduce and how are they propagated?  Plants re produce sexually through seeds (Sexual Propagation) or vegetativelly (or asexual propagation.) accomplished entirely through MITOSIS. The latter is the increase in number of the cells leading to growth or increase in size following the inherited genetic programme.

Mitosis gives rise to an exact replica of the cells of the species in question and hence the species characteristics. If seeds have a viable embryo, have all germination blocks removed, and are planted under proper environmental conditions of moisture, temperature, light, the seed will germinate.

Usually a seed is placed at a depth not exceeding its diameter. Germination can proceed in several ways, depending upon the species Sometimes the cotyledons are pushed above ground (epigenous germination) and sometimes they remain below ground (hypogenous germination).

For successful seed germination and seedling growth, certain environmental conditions are required, namely: adequate moisture, proper temperature (correct planting season), good aeration, light (in some cases), freedom from pathogenic organisms and freedom from toxic amounts of salts and dormancy removal (a state of immobilization of the germination processes.)

 Vegetative propagation is used primarily for woody perennials such as Mahogany, the omutuba (backcloth tree –Natalensis- which is well covered in the Master’s Thesis by Prof Ipulet of Makerere University) Also useful information on plants to be propagated should be found in the book by Katende et al found in the library of the Botanical Garden at Makerere University Kampala.

It has a compilation of Useful trees and Shrubs with scientific names, the local names, methods of propagation and ecological locations in Uganda. In the case of Mahogany, the youngest section of the root is cut into sections that are planted. Similarly, cuttings of branches that can be reached (?) are cut and planted. The commercial rooting powder available in agricultural shops could be used to improve rooting ability. When planting the spacing should be wide enough as mahogany roots grow to a very great length, at last twenty metres apart or more.

Propagation by cuttings is a vegetative method widely used for propagating herbaceous and woody ornamental plants and fruit species.  A cutting is essentially a piece of vegetative tissue that, when placed under the proper environmental conditions will regenerate the missing parts, roots, shoots or both and develop into a self –sustaining plant.

Cuttings can be classified according to the part of the plant from which they are obtained viz: Stem cuttings, leaf cuttings, leaf bud cuttings and root cuttings.

Finally, there is a field of indoor plants which can be useful in containing the carbon dioxide that is released indoors. Use of methane gas for cooking releases carbon dioxide. Here again indoor plants can play a very critical role. This, therefore, means that the modern housing structures should be built with generous space to accommodate the indoor house plants.

 In this new era of climate change mitigation where all of us have to participate for our survival even have high street shops for both outdoor and indoor plants are options. If there is justification for a wine shop or a book shop, why not a plant shop where potted bougainvillea etc plants are sold? Let us think and act laterally to mitigate climate change.

The writer is agricultural scientist and an environmentalist

 

 

 

 

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