Farmers have tilled the soil for centuries, but a new farming method uses no soil.
Urban farming in old buildings can but does not need soil to grow plants.
Urban farms, also called vertical farms because of the multi-storey buildings they re-use, is growing with operations in many large cities. Japan has 200 urban lettuce farms and will double that number in five years.
Business Wire estimates urban farming will be a $3 billion industry by 2024 with an annual 24 per cent growth rate.
Living Green Farms of Faribault, Minnesota grows salads micro-greens and herbs using an aeroponic system.
Plant roots remain exposed to the air 99.9 per cent of the time while a traverse chain feeds enriched water to plants 24 hours a day.
The process uses technology from NASA space experiments on growing plants in space. About 40 per cent of U.S. urban farms use this kind of technology.
The company uses 98 per cent less land, 95 per cent less water and 60 per cent less labour than conventional vegetable growing operations.
And the food is delivered on the day it is harvested unlike the two-week trip from California produce producers.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
