Britain’s first vertical farm opens in Paignton Zoo
Thursday, 06 August 2009 01:29
The VertiCrop garden, which was developed for use in urban environments where farm land is in short supply, uses hydroponic and aeroponic technologies to sustainably grow crops such as lettuce, herbs, wheat grass and barley without the use of soil or pesticides.
The zoo will use the garden to provide fresh crops for its animals, and help cut down on the need for food deliveries to the zoo.
Paignton Zoo Curator of Plants and Gardens Kevin Frediani said: "We are making history here. Installing VertiCrop at Paignton Zoo means we can grow more plants in less room using less water and less energy. It will help to reduce food miles and bring down our annual bill for animal feed, which is currently in excess of £200,000 a year."
The crops grown in the garden are potted within individual pockets on large, vertical panels, each hung on an overhead conveyor system within a polytunnel. The panels drip feed water and nutrients to the plants, while rotaing on the conveyor system, which controls the amount of sunlight each plant receives. As well as being soil free, the vertical garden also uses only 5% of the water of conventional gardens, and thanks to the controlled environment, the crops are pest free - which means no need for pesticides.
The VertiCrop garden, which was developed in research facilities in El Paso, TX, is expected to produce over 11,000 heads of lettuce every three to four weeks for the zoo, and will later be used to grow other crops. The garden will be operational all year round and will also be open to the zoo's 500,000 annual visitors.
Vertical gardening is still an emerging technology, but could soon become a vital source of food in cities around the globe, especially those in drought stricken areas. Valcent, the developers of the VertiCrop garden, are also researching the use of vertically grown algae, which could provide an easy to grow, and high-yield source of bio-fuel in the future.
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