Hydroponic - the ideal solution for urban agriculture

Professor Terry Fujimoto of the California Polytechnic University (USA) sees the future of agriculture in the root bushes he and his students grow in small gutters in the school's greenhouse.

Growing vegetables by hydroponics method in the US.Photo: AP

Professor Fujimoto's program is part of the trend of hydroponics applications - abundant hydroponics techniques instead of soil - to bring agriculture into major cities. With the advantage of less water and soil than traditional farming methods, hydroponics is considered by Fujimoto and many US researchers and gardeners to bring agriculture into high-rise apartment buildings. , roofs and open spaces.

After a long time of being overcome by traditional farming methods, hydroponics is attracting interest from researchers and community health professionals. Minimize the environmental impact of using trucks to transport agricultural products from rural to urban areas; limiting wild land exploitation for growing food crops to increase the world's population as well as eliminating the risk of infection in the biological system are the advantages of establishing urban hydroponics farms.

Tree roots (fruit) and vegetables grown by hydroponics can be in direct contact with water or grown in sponge or coconut fiber. Irrigation water is pumped through a sophisticated sensor system that adjusts the concentration of nutrients and acids in the water. This method is usually applied to short-term vegetables and can be grown year-round in greenhouses under suitable lighting and temperature conditions, such as lettuce, tomato . Currently, greenhouses Eurofresh's hydroponics technology in Arizona is considered to be the largest in the United States. Last year, this 110-hectare farm produced more than 90,000 tons of tomatoes.

In Ohio State, Toledo Hospital roofs are used to grow over 90 kg of vegetables in coco peat buckets including tomatoes, peppers, green beans and leafy vegetables to serve patients and donate to the next charity kitchen. . Meanwhile, New York schools are participating in the Cornell University program, where students grow buds on the school roof and sell them to Gristedes supermarket chain.