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A study found that treating plants with a small amount of alcohol/ethanol can them survive for as long as two weeks without water. (Ethanol is neat alcohol. A small amount of the chemical is the same as a large number of normal alcoholic beverages.)
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Plants are withering due to droughts and water scarcity due to sweletring heat in various parts of the world.
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These findings were published in Plant and Cell Physiology.
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Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan performed an experiment and found out that giving alcohol/ethanol to plants may protect them to last longer during the droughts.
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Dr Motoaki Seki, of the RIKEN Centre for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan, said that the discovery happened in the "process of searching for compounds that make plants resistant to stress".
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It was noted that ethanol's capacity to revive stressed out plants was remarkable.
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Ethanol also offers a practical way to increase food production as it is widely available.
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Researchers also said that the team will soon begin testing ethanol on plants in real fields.
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The research also warned that ethanol needs to be used carefully as "higher concentration of ethanol inhibits plant growth".
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