Gallery: Self-Contained Robotic Farms Offer Glimpse of Lunar Food Factories
pfuser01Freya Najade
*In a vertical, hydroponic farm in Paignton Zoo, U.K., lettuce is grown in a stacking system to provide a maximum use of space. Plants grow inside of plastic trays without soil and a conveyer belt moves the plants to ensure they get sunlight. The whole growing process is computer-controlled. The system currently produces around 112 lettuces per square meter.*
Print Space02Freya Najade
*A tomato farm in Germany. In order to consume locally grown tomatoes in countries like the U.K. or Germany, the tomatoes need to be produced in heated greenhouses. Locally grown tomatoes allow for shortened distribution paths. To be sustainable and keep the cost of energy low, the greenhouse above is heated by the waste heat from a nearby nuclear power station.*
Print Space03Freya Najade
*Cress, tomatoes, cucumbers or lettuce are grown in closed systems using LED lights. There is no sunlight and no direct air exchange with the outside. Engineers are able to determine the shape, taste and color of plants and fruits and they can be grown anywhere – from the desert to inside restaurants and supermarkets.*
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*A computer manages the irrigation, nutrients and climate for these eggplants inside a greenhouse by opening windows and moving sunscreens. Waste, water and nutrients are collected, purified, and recycled – all automatically.*
Shiho Kito05Freya Najade
*To allow a year-round production and increase yield, mushrooms are grown in a microclimate inside growing rooms. A stacking system maximizes the production per square meter.*
© Vanessa Winship06Freya Najade
*This chicken barn in the Ukraine has the capacity to rear 50,000 chickens.*
© Vanessa Winship07Freya Najade
*At the chicken barn, chickens live for 42 days before they achieve the desired weight for slaughtering. After they're taken to the nearby processing plant, the barn gets cleaned and disinfected, ready for the new batch.*
pfuser08Freya Najade
*A pear orchard. In the early stages of growth the pear tree is split into two equally strong central leaders, which are trained up wires. This allows the tree to produce a much heavier crop much earlier in the life of the orchard compared to conventional planting.*
Shiho Kito09Freya Najade
*At this strawberry farm in the Netherlands, crops are grown on table-top raised beds, which makes it easier to pick the fruits and eases weed and pest control. A leaf and sap analysis determines the nutrients' compounds, which then enter the irrigation water. To accelerate the growth of the plants, growers add CO2 from a nearby Shell refinery.*
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*This milking robot milks 60 cows three times per day. The cows roam freely in a stable and use the robot whenever they need to. No human needs to be present.*
Shiho Kito11Freya Najade
*In order to have total control over the nutrients and the irrigation at this tomato farm in Germany, tomatoes are planted in sterile material such as rock wool – not in soil. By doing so the tomatoes are, according to the growers, less likely to be infected by diseases. This makes for smaller amounts of pesticides and increased yields.*
pfuser12Freya Najade
*At this milking parlour in Kent, U.K., two people are needed to milk 300 cows twice a day.*
© Vanessa Winship13Freya Najade
*At Ukrainian chicken farms, there are up to 16 barns in one location, which allows eight people per shift to rear around 800,000 chickens simultaneously.*
Shiho Kito14Freya Najade
*Tomato vines, Germany.*
