From the World Economic Forum, July 15:
- Industrialized farming was once seen as a solution for a rapidly-growing global population, but it is taking its toll on the environment.
- The UN estimates that the world could easily be fed if just 2% of oceans were used for sustainable farming.
- Underwater agriculture has the potential to eliminate the need for pesticides, reduce water use and cut carbon emissions.
Could underwater strawberries and deep-sea herbs provide a more sustainable alternative to land-based farming?
Industrial agriculture is struggling to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population. And decades of intensive farming has taken a heavy toll on the environment.
An over-reliance on pesticides, displacement of wildlife, the wasting of gallons of water and the generation of harmful emissions are damaging our world.
So, scientists and entrepreneurs are hoping underwater farming could address these issues by growing crops under the ocean, eliminating the need for pesticides, while also reducing water use and carbon emissions.
Indeed, the UN estimates the world could easily be fed if we used just 2% of the oceans for sustainable farming.
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Boosting sustainability with underwater crops
Aquaculture has long been used to grow and harvest foodstuffs such as seafood, but several companies are now looking at ways of farming traditional crops such as strawberries and herbs under the sea.
Nemo’s Garden is an underwater farming project consisting of six air-filled plastic pods, or biospheres, anchored at the bottom of the sea off the coast of Noli, Italy.
The plastic pods are suspended at different depths – from between 4.5 to 11 metres – below the water’s surface, and each is equipped with sensors to measure carbon dioxide and oxygen levels; humidity, air temperature and illumination.
Created by diving company Ocean Reef Group in 2012, the project has already yielded everything from tomatoes, to courgettes, beans, mushrooms, lettuce, orchids and aloe vera plants using hydroponic techniques.
This means that plants are grown, without soil, in a nutrient-rich solution to deliver water and minerals to their roots, in a controlled environment....
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