Farming is taken to a brand new level thanks to advancements made by a Japanese tech company. Now it is possible to grow vegetables and fruits in literally any possible environment thanks to the use of polymer film that can grow food. Where you can use Exapta great plains drill parts you can but when this is not possible, you can move towards farming without the use of soil.
Everything is now possible thanks to the developments made by Mebiol Research and Development Center. In an area that is quite close to Tokyo we see lettuce leaves that grow under colored lights, all inside a tray. According to Mebiol vice-president, Hiroshi Yoshioka, the most important thing is that there are no roots.
All is possible through the polymer film that is the real key behind a brand new, cutting-edge farming option that is making it really easy to grow vegetables and fruits on all flat exteriors. It is made out of hydrogel, which is a material that is highly-absorbent and that is often utilized inside household products. The film soaks up nutrients and waters through many nano-sized pores that measure a millionth of 1 millimeter (diameter). Plants are growing right on top of this film and do not have to dig into the soil. Roots spread across membrane surface in fan-like, wispy formations.
Applying polymer technology in agriculture is an idea that appeared some time ago as an artificial kidney was being built. The premise was that it could be possible to use the same exact mechanisms employed in constructing membrane and blood vessels in order to grow vegetables.
The first attempts were made with the use of grass, hydrogel film and LED lights. Then, 10 years of experiments went on. Now, we have access to a complete soil-free farming system. It can be highly effective in cultivating greenhouses on larger scales.
Studies showed in 2015 that Earth lost around one-third of the available arable land because of erosion and pollution in just forty years. Soil was depleted at a huge rate so the ability of the planet to recover was highly affected. We also need to add extreme weather events and climate change. All these exacerbated the situation with erosion being accelerated. Dramatic fertile land loss appears in a point in time when food production needs to be increased by around 50% by the year 2050 so that a population of nine billion can be fed.
A really important thing that can be mentioned about the newly developed polymer membrane is that it has microscopic pores that block viruses and bacteria. You no longer need to use harmful pesticides. Soil is not at all necessary and you can end up with fully sustainable farms in practically all locations, ranging from city rooftops to the desert.
Right now we see this technology being used in 150 places in Japan and even one in China. A farm was built in the UAE and plans are to export the technology to the continent of Europe and some Middle East countries in the near future.
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