High-tech London, Ont.-area farm delivers fresh produce all year. Could it be an answer to high grocery costs?
Western University researchers say solar-driven Agrotunnel uses little energy, water
Western University researchers are developing a new kind of farm thatuses machine-learning algorithms anddata analyticsto create optimum conditions for growing foodanywhere andin any season producingbigger andbetter yieldswhileusing as little energy and water as possible.
The venturecomes at a pivotal time in agriculture, withclimate changeescalatingthe likelihood of drought and floods capable of decimating harvests,causing consumers to shell out more at grocery store checkouts.
Called the Agrotunnel, the experimental farm north of London, Ont.,may not offer relief from grocery prices, but it'splanting the seeds for a new chapter in farming one that could bring year-round harvests and fresh produce to remote northern communities with minimal environmental impact.
Enter the Agrotunnel
From the outside, the Agrotunnel doesn't look much different than anypre-fab metal building you might see in the Far North. Inside, though, there arerows upon rows of leafy greens and hundreds of ruby red strawberries.
Each piece of produceisrooted in a fistful of soil alongthe vertical rows. They bathe in the glow of specially calibrated low-intensity LED lights that run 24/7, a pump delivers nutrient-rich water to each of them to keep them from going thirsty and a speaker system even plays them music these particular berries love hard rock.
"These are commercial varieties of strawberries and they're continually becoming ripe," said Joshua Pearce, a Western University engineering professor.
"When the strawberries are ripe, you can come and pick them... the next day. You can continually do that all year round."
Pearce is a big booster of sustainability.
His studies in agrivoltaicsthedual use of land for solar energy production and agriculture suggest thatif Canadian farms devoted even one per cent of theirlandto solar panels, it would eliminate the need to burn fossil fuelwhen it comes to generating electricity.
Solar panels keepthe Agrotunnel's lights on, and also powerthemachine-learning and data analyticsthat ensure the berries get what they need when they need it, which helpsthem grow at twice the rate ofoutdoor strawberries.
"We found so far with what we've been doing that we can take a strawberry from seed to production in a single season and when you're outside, it normally takes up to two years. It's much faster at producing good-quality berries," Pearce said.
The research was made possible with a $1-million grant from the Weston Family Foundation a charity created from the profits of the family's empire. Their holdingsincludeLoblaw, Canada's biggest grocer, which is under fire along with other grocersover high food prices.
The Agrotunnel will shorten the distance from farm to table, said Kim Parker, president and CEO of Food Security Structures Canada.
Itcould also mean that one day restaurants and grocery stores themselves could grow some of their own produce in store.
"With indoor strawberries, there's always the complaint that they're tasteless and watery. So when you're growing under the right lights and right conditions with the right nutrient, you're getting that juicy, fresh strawberry," Parker said.
She said the same solution could also be deployed in Canada's Northor remote communities where fresh produce is not only expensive, but often desiccated by spending days or even weeks on a truck.
When it comes to taste, Pearce said, these indoor fruit don't just stand up to their outdoor counterparts they're actually better.
"I would say subjectively they're sweeter and they taste better, but I'm not completely sure yet because they're so fresh."
Parker said anAgrotunnel costs between $500,000 and $600,000and couldbe shipped anywhere in Canada.
Pearce said he'sstill gathering data on his strawberry crop and by the end of summer, hopes to have a robust set of economic data measuring just how efficient these methods are.
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