Scientists Grow Chickpeas To Seed In Simulated Moon Soil For The First Time

A common soil fungus from Earth makes it all possible.

For the first time, scientists have grown chickpeas all the way to seed production in simulated lunar soil. That achievement represents a real step toward one of the hardest unsolved problems in space exploration: how to feed people on the Moon when supply ships from Earth are not an option.

Moon dirt, known scientifically as lunar regolith, is about as hostile to plant life as a substance can be. It contains metals such as iron, aluminum, zinc, and copper that can become toxic to plants over time, is stripped of the nitrogen plants depend on, and is completely lacking in the microorganisms that make Earth soil fertile. Its particles are jagged and irregular, which affects water movement and makes it difficult for roots to access moisture. Past experiments with actual Apollo-era lunar samples showed that plants could germinate in the material, but they grew slowly, looked stressed, and never made it far. Getting anything to seed in that environment was an entirely different challenge.

What changed in this experiment, published in Scientific Reports, was the addition of two biological allies: a type of soil fungus called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, or AMF, and vermicompost, a nutrient-dense material produced by red wiggler earthworms. Together, these amendments transformed a substance that would normally kill a plant into something capable of supporting an entire chickpea cycle, from planting to harvest. As it turned out, the fungus was the difference between a crop and a failed experiment.

Why Growing Food on the Moon Is So Hard

Lunar soil’s toxicity problem runs deep. Long-term exposure to metals like iron, aluminum, zinc, and copper can damage a plant’s physiology at the cellular level. Add in a near-total lack of nitrogen, no microbial life to convert nutrients into usable forms, and particles so poorly structured that water moves through the soil in ways roots struggle to use, and the result is a growing medium that fights plant life at every stage.

Chickpeas weren’t a random choice for taking on that environment. They’re rich in protein, carbohydrates, iron, and phosphorus, and they don’t require large inputs of water or nitrogen. They also form natural partnerships with AMF, a trait that proved central to the outcome. Researchers from Texas A&M University and collaborators at Brown University and the University of Texas at Austin selected the stress-tolerant Desi variety “Myles,” a compact chickpea with a track record of surviving in metal-contaminated soils on Earth.

Growing Chickpeas in Lunar Simulant: How the Study Was Conducted

Because actual Apollo lunar soil is scarce and tightly controlled, the team used a high-fidelity laboratory substitute called LHS-1, built to replicate the mineral composition and particle structure of the lunar highlands. Plants were grown in four blends: 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% lunar simulant, with the remainder made up of vermicompost. Half of each group received an AMF inoculation at planting; the other half did not. All plants grew in climate-controlled chambers under full-spectrum LED lighting with consistent bottom-wick watering.

Every seed germinated across all mixtures, an encouraging early sign. Within a month, though, stress appeared in the higher simulant concentrations. Plants showed stunted growth, yellowing leaves, and reduced branching, symptoms of nitrogen deficiency and limited nutrient availability. In 100% lunar simulant, every plant eventually died before flowering. Those treated with AMF held on about two weeks longer, dying around day 75 compared to day 61 for untreated plants. Even in an environment ultimately fatal to the plants, AMF colonized roots across every simulant mixture, including the 100% group, confirmed through microscopic examination of root tissue.

How a Common Soil Fungus Made Moon Crop Production Possible

Seed production occurred only in AMF-treated plants growing in mixtures containing up to 75% simulant. Not one untreated plant in any simulant mixture produced seeds. As simulant concentration increased, total seed counts fell, but individual seed weight stayed consistent across the higher simulant groups. Once pod-filling started, it proceeded at comparable rates regardless of how much simulant was in the mix. The bottleneck was getting reproduction started at all, not sustaining it once it began.

Beyond seed production, the fungus physically changed the simulant in ways that matter for long-term lunar agriculture. Lunar regolith’s particles don’t bind well, leading to weak structural stability and poor water retention. AMF produce a sticky protein that acts as a natural binding agent, causing soil particles to clump into stable aggregates. Simulant mixtures with AMF showed significantly greater structural stability than untreated mixtures, an improvement achieved within a single growing cycle.

Vermicompost handled the chemistry. Pure lunar simulant is strongly alkaline, well outside the range where most plants can absorb nutrients. Mixing in vermicompost pulled conditions into a slightly acidic range closer to what plants need. AMF inoculation then helped keep that chemistry stable after harvest, while untreated mixtures drifted back toward more alkaline readings. Whether any absorbed metals ended up in the seeds themselves remains an open question, and an important one, since nobody has yet confirmed whether crops grown in lunar soil would be safe to eat.

As the paper stated: “Using Earth-based soil regeneration techniques, we report the first instance of growing chickpea to seed in LRS.” Every plant showed stress. None of the 100% simulant groups survived to flower. But in a substance built to resist life, producing viable seeds is a threshold that hadn’t been crossed before.

Getting crops to grow reliably on another world will take many more growing seasons, more generations of soil conditioning, and answers to open questions about food safety. What this experiment showed is that a common soil fungus, paired with earthworm compost, can coax seeds from Moon dirt. For missions where resupply from Earth isn’t possible, that’s worth knowing.

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