Ditch the soil: British company claims 50 times higher potato yields with aeroponics technology
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Hawk Energy, a knowledge-based business solutions provider based in Dubai with a research and development branch in London, has partnered with British start-up Airponix, which will harvest its first large crop of potatoes grown without soil, in a promising sign for a technology that claims it can deliver high vegetable yields with minimal costs and environmental degradation. At its new 1000 m2 greenhouse in Norfolk, Airponix has ditched soil to grow potatoes using a nutrient-rich ‘fog’ sprayed out of modified inkjet printers down long polythene tunnels of crops. Airponix, which won the Business Green Technology Awards and the Rushlight Award for its bio technology, states its growing technique can produce yields 50 times higher per hectare per year compared to commercial UK potato growers, while requiring no arable land and 85% less water than conventional agriculture. “The use of 85% less water to grow crops was one of the main factors that made us determined to introduce this pioneering technology to the Middle East Region where water for irrigation is scarce and very costly,” said Mohamad Al Shihabi, Founder of Hawk Energy. Read more
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Hawk Energy, a knowledge-based business solutions provider based in Dubai with a research and development branch in London, has partnered with British start-up Airponix, which will harvest its first large crop of potatoes grown without soil, in a promising sign for a technology that claims it can deliver high vegetable yields with minimal costs and environmental degradation. At its new 1000 m2 greenhouse in Norfolk, Airponix has ditched soil to grow potatoes using a nutrient-rich ‘fog’ sprayed out of modified inkjet printers down long polythene tunnels of crops. Airponix, which won the Business Green Technology Awards and the Rushlight Award for its bio technology, states its growing technique can produce yields 50 times higher per hectare per year compared to commercial UK potato growers, while requiring no arable land and 85% less water than conventional agriculture. “The use of 85% less water to grow crops was one of the main factors that made us determined to introduce this pioneering technology to the Middle East Region where water for irrigation is scarce and very costly,” said Mohamad Al Shihabi, Founder of Hawk Energy. Read more
