It said that researchers claimed that it has been used extensively in some overseas countries as a cleaning agent, but little is known about its effectiveness in production horticulture.

The ABC story said that the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) has partnered with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture to investigate its use in the vegetable industry.

The institute's Professor Roger Stanley said he was confident electrolysed water had potential. "The future here is probably very good. We can use it to extend the shelf life of food. The other use could be as a field sanitiser, for controlling the fungal bacteria infection in crops. It's a contact sanitiser so it doesn't have systemic effects but will prevent the infection from getting into the plant."

Karine Cadoret from the TFGA agreed, saying, "The applications really are quite broad and they can stretch from in-field use, right the way through to packaging. Electrolysed water technology [could be used for] disease suppression in-field or cleaning of equipment perhaps for biosecurity purposes, right the way through washing fresh produce to extend the shelf life."

She said she hoped the technology would reduce the industry's reliance on chemicals. "Disease in production systems is obviously a big issue. We do have, in conventional farming, an array of chemicals that can be used - but obviously there are risks associated with that. So to have another tool, part of the array of the things that [they] can use to ensure that their production will yield good results has obviously got a lot of potential benefits."

Source: abc.net.au