Caleb Harper, founder of the CITYFarm Research Project, and his team at MIT’s Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass. appear to have found a way to grow food four times faster than it does in nature, using a new farming method called “Aeroponics.”
Unlike regular hydroponics, a growing method that uses water instead of soil, the plants at CITYFarm do not sit in still water, but rather have their roots suspended in a “fog chamber” which sprays a nutrient-rich mist.
The CITYFarmers take great care to monitor each aspect of the plants’ growth, to see which conditions work the best, including a technique of limiting light to red and blue.
II – Have Your Say
Modern farming is necessary because it can increase production and therefore feed our growing population. However, there are also some concerns about it. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of modern farming:
1. increased production – to feed increasing world population
2. genetically-modified crops – GMO’s benefits farmers but consumers have concerns especially its effect to our health
3. decreased biodiversity – modern farms focus on one or two species only
4. cash-crop production have farmers at the mercy of the market
Are you familiar with modern and urban farming methods? Let’s share what we know
1. vertical farming
2. polyhouse farming
3. greenhouse farming
4. hydroponics
289 This New Method of Farming Could Change Where Our Food Comes From
