the future is now
I|
Domestically, in a short market fore-
cast with a long title (The Emerging
Hydroponics Industry: Hydroponics
Systems, Issues, Crop Values, and
Global Markets), sustainability
researchers at Manifest Mind LLC
in Colorado predict “the hydroponic
food production industry is expand-
ing at a rate set to outpace the esti-
mate of global growth through 2018.
While agriculture is traditionally
a conservative market sector, the
benefits of hydroponics’ higher yields
with lower inputs, improved soil and
water quality, and food safety are
compelling forces for change.”
Creative experimentation has
already begun. In Florence, Italy,
think-tank developers at Plant
Nature and Technology (PNAT)
have unveiled what they believe is
a game-changing innovation. The
designers and biologists affiliated
with the University of Florence
built a self-sustainable floating
hydroponic greenhouse called the
Jellyfish Barge. On the barge, plastic
drums support a glass greenhouse in
a canal, a structure equipped with an
automated system for remote control
and monitoring. The Jellyfish Barge
is powered entirely by renewable
energy generated by on-board solar
panels and miniature wind turbines.
Plant Nature and technology’s CEO,
Camilla Pandolfi, says the big raft
is “going to change the way we
cultivate fruits and vegetables.” Expect some of the new twists on how
things are done, particularly for the
hydroponic production of tomatoes, to
come directly from current growers.
The 2017 International Conference on
Soilless Culture noted that “consumer
acceptance of greenhouse-grown
produce, specifically hydroponic
tomatoes, has been phenomenal, with a
projected 50 per cent of the fresh tomato
market expected to be supplied by
greenhouse grown within five years.”
In discussion of hydroponic
advantages over soil culture, Resh
references several facts including
higher planting densities and higher
yields. Field tomato density is about
5,000 plants per acre, while greenhouse
hydroponic tomatoes can be up to
11,000 plants per acre. Field yield runs
between 10-40 tons per acre versus
300 tons per acre or more for tomatoes
grown using greenhouse hydroponics.
Another industry pioneer, Merle
Jensen, professor emeritus of Plant
Life Sciences and founder of the
University of Arizona’s CEAC, advises
we look to further automation.
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ROLL OUT THE ROBOTS
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HIGH YIELDS, LOW INPUTS
“This does not presume
hydroponics will begin
to subsume open-field
agriculture, but may
complement it in most
locations or possibly
replace it in special
circumstances.”
“More and more, we’re headed to
robotics, where you’ll seed lettuce at
one end of the line, which will move
hydroponically on floating systems,
then be harvested at the other end by
a mowing machine. In between, an
overhead camera will monitor the moving
belt with small pinholes and blow off the
leaves that are not the proper quality. At
the end of the transport belt, the mowed
produce will be machine-sorted and
bagged into shelf-ready packages. All of
this will be computer-controlled under
artificial lighting systems.”
Gene Giacomelli, a director at CEAC,
predicts a positive year for hydroponics in
controlled environments “because there is
a market demand for specialty food. This
does not presume hydroponics will begin
to subsume open-field agriculture, but
may complement it in most locations or
possibly replace it in special circumstanc-
es where resources are unavailable.”
Where there is a thriving market that
offers even more growth potential, like
the field of hydroponics, expect innova-
tive changes in what is done and how it’s
done that will make the process faster,
cheaper, and more productive.