| On Topic
nutrition uptake, and encourage
the growth of wastefully long roots.
The technical and economic
limitations of aeroponic systems,
based on mists and sprays, mean
they are only suitable for growing
leafy greens, such as lettuces, or
herbs whereas the unique Airponix
fog technology is suitable for
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growing staple food crops
including rice, wheat and potatoes.
Key to the development of the
Airponix system is the company's
collaboration with a world-leading
developer of piezoelectric drop-on-
demand inkjet technology. By
employing their printheads to
deliver the nutrient-rich fogs to the
plants, droplet sizes can be
substantially reduced and
controlled. So, instead of a mist,
an engineered ‘fog' is created to
suit the different needs of roots
and leaves which play a major role
in optimising plant growth rates
and yields. The printheads require
less energy to operate than other
fog making methods, are highly
reliable and easy to install or
replace under field conditions.
Airponix has recently received a
£485k convertible loan from
Centrica Innovations*. This is
allowing Airponix to equip a 1,000
m2 glasshouse in Norfolk with
growing units for system
development, testing and
demonstration. This includes the
addition of growth-enhancement
techniques, such as electro-culture
and RNAi - unique to Airponix -
which promise to further increase
growth rates and crop yields
significantly. Selling this produce
should also generate some early
income/revenue with the harvest of
unique baby potatoes expected
from July 2018.
Interest is running high in the
potential of the Airponix system
and the company has recently
won a number of high-profile
awards including the overall
Rushlight Award and the Rushlight
Energy Reduction Award in
January 2018 and the Bio-
technology of the Year Award at
the Business Green Technology
Awards in December 2017.
May 2018 | Farming Monthly | 11