Soil-free agriculture | Yuichi Mori | TEDxTokyo
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0:10 - 0:11Hi, my name is Yuichi Mori.
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0:12 - 0:15I would like to show you
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0:15 - 0:19an interesting agricultural technology
that we have developed. -
0:19 - 0:23We can use this plastic film
instead of soil, to grow plants. -
0:23 - 0:25Mind you, this isn't Saran wrap.
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0:25 - 0:27(Laughter)
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0:27 - 0:32This is a special film we have invented.
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0:32 - 0:35All sorts of plants can be grown on this.
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0:36 - 0:42You can see an example right here.
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0:42 - 0:46Because our drive over here
took so many hours, -
0:46 - 0:47it may look a little flat.
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0:48 - 0:50If we hold it at an angle, like this ...
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0:50 - 0:54You can see the plants
are not coming off the foil. -
0:54 - 0:56Let's look at the other side.
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0:57 - 1:01You can see the roots
are not digging through the film, -
1:01 - 1:04but they are spread around
on the surface, not puncturing it. -
1:04 - 1:06Let's flip it upside down.
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1:08 - 1:09(Laughter)
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1:09 - 1:10(Cheers)
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1:11 - 1:17(Applause)
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1:19 - 1:22The film makes it possible
to transport the plants -
1:22 - 1:23without damaging their roots.
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1:23 - 1:30We also made these containers
out of our film. -
1:30 - 1:33And they contain liquid fertilizer.
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1:33 - 1:38This is what grew on one
after we sprinkled it with lettuce seeds. -
1:39 - 1:46Last year, Japanese astronaut
Soichi Noguchi -
1:46 - 1:50successfully grew herbs
on the International Space Station -
1:50 - 1:52using this nutrient bag.
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1:52 - 1:56Since it was done in zero gravity,
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1:56 - 1:58they didn't have to hold it
like this; it floated around. -
2:00 - 2:03Like a houseplant, I heard
it made the ISS feel like home. -
2:03 - 2:04(Laughter)
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2:06 - 2:09In fact, this technology
has another important potential use: -
2:09 - 2:16it could be utilized to replace
the terribly contaminated soil -
2:16 - 2:21left after the March 11 disaster.
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2:22 - 2:26That is what our goal right now,
and we are working hard toward it. -
2:27 - 2:33Let me explain how we can use
this film to grow lettuce. -
2:34 - 2:38Suppose this is the ground.
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2:39 - 2:42And we sow lettuce seeds on it.
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2:42 - 2:46This is an impermeable layer,
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2:46 - 2:51made of durable plastic
that won't easily tear. -
2:52 - 2:56Then, we take this pipe
with very tiny holes, -
2:56 - 3:03which slowly let out
nutrients from the fertilizer. -
3:03 - 3:10We cover everything with a sheet of felt.
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3:11 - 3:16Then, we add our film.
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3:16 - 3:20You can use it to grow
lettuce, or tomatoes ... -
3:20 - 3:23You sow your seeds,
and you get this result. -
3:23 - 3:25Very simple.
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3:25 - 3:31The most important part
of this technology is this film. -
3:32 - 3:38The film is made of hydrogel.
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3:38 - 3:42That's the super-absorbent
stuff in diapers. -
3:42 - 3:45It absorbs water or nutrients very well.
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3:46 - 3:50Only one side of it is wet.
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3:50 - 3:56So the hydrogel absorbs liquid
only from one side. -
3:57 - 4:00The other side stays dry,
no liquid comes out there. -
4:00 - 4:06Since plants can't survive
without water, on the dry side, -
4:06 - 4:12they desperately try to pull in
water and nutrients from the wet side, -
4:12 - 4:16attaching their roots to that side
of the film as much as possible. -
4:16 - 4:20Just like people get better at something,
the more effort they put in, -
4:20 - 4:22the vegetables get much tastier
through this process -
4:22 - 4:24and they become very nutritious.
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4:25 - 4:28When I first ate a tomato grown on this,
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4:28 - 4:30I couldn't believe how sweet it was.
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4:30 - 4:32The overachievers
of the vegetable kingdom, -
4:32 - 4:35the tomatoes did even better
than we expected. -
4:35 - 4:41Another characteristic of the film
is that you can't see any holes in it, -
4:41 - 4:45but it actually has numerous
nano-sized pores. -
4:47 - 4:51It was very difficult to create
perforations of this size, -
4:51 - 4:54but we eventually succeeded.
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4:54 - 4:59The film can absorb water or nutrients,
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4:59 - 5:01but viruses and bacteria
can't pass through it -
5:01 - 5:04because they are too large
for the size of the pores, -
5:04 - 5:06so this way, the plants
can be kept healthy. -
5:07 - 5:08So you don't need pesticides.
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5:10 - 5:15The thing we care about most
when talking about the vegetables we eat -
5:15 - 5:19is whether they are safe and nutritious.
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5:19 - 5:23So by using this technology to grow them,
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5:23 - 5:28you can make sure
that the produce is good for you. -
5:29 - 5:33Now, let me show you a video.
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5:34 - 5:37Could you pull it up? Good.
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5:37 - 5:43Around 20 farms in Japan
are now using the film to grow tomatoes. -
5:43 - 5:46This is a big one-hectare farm.
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5:46 - 5:51All of these tomatoes
are growing on our film. -
5:52 - 5:54There are about 80,000 tomato plants here.
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5:55 - 5:59You can see yellow ones and red ones,
there are growing strong, all over. -
6:00 - 6:04This is the Tsukuba Market Garden.
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6:04 - 6:06The vegetables produced here
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6:06 - 6:10are very popular at grocery stores
and online shops. -
6:10 - 6:17We have brought these to show you
that we can grow tomatoes this big, too. -
6:17 - 6:21I wish all of you could taste
our tomatoes; they are very sweet. -
6:22 - 6:24We can produce big tomatoes like this one.
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6:24 - 6:30This fresh melon was grown on our film.
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6:32 - 6:36You can use or film to grow
tomatoes, strawberries, -
6:36 - 6:38cucumbers, peppers or lettuce,
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6:38 - 6:45almost any vegetable you can think of.
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6:46 - 6:51Another feature of this technology
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6:51 - 6:53is that since this layer
lets nothing penetrate through, -
6:53 - 6:55the film can be used anywhere.
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6:56 - 6:58You can put it on contaminated soil,
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6:58 - 7:03or soil that is too salty,
contains pesticides, -
7:03 - 7:09or even organic mercury,
it doesn't matter. -
7:10 - 7:15So we can always grow
vegetables safely, with no worries, -
7:15 - 7:20just anywhere, even on sand,
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7:20 - 7:24or on the concrete floor
of a factory that went out of business, -
7:24 - 7:28or on ice, somewhere in Siberia.
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7:29 - 7:35We actually tried to prove
this would work in the desert. -
7:36 - 7:39Could you roll the video, please?
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7:39 - 7:45In the middle of the desert of Dubai,
there are no trees, no grass ... -
7:45 - 7:47Maybe some wild camels.
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7:47 - 7:48(Laughter)
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7:48 - 7:51After spreading our film on the sand,
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7:51 - 7:55we sowed tomato seeds
that we brought from Japan. -
7:55 - 8:00The strong sunlight over there
made it grow really quickly. -
8:02 - 8:04These people are from Oman.
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8:04 - 8:07We had a lot of visitors
from the neighboring countries. -
8:07 - 8:09They all found it very interesting.
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8:09 - 8:12We believe that using this technology,
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8:12 - 8:18we could transform the barren desert
into a productive agricultural land. -
8:18 - 8:22However, our main interests lie
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8:22 - 8:28in the ground contaminated
by the March 11 tsunami. -
8:28 - 8:32This technology will solve the problems
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8:32 - 8:36of contaminated sludge,
oil or radioactive materials in the soil. -
8:36 - 8:42We hope that we will be able to rejuvenate
agriculture in those regions -
8:42 - 8:44by using this technology.
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8:44 - 8:46Thank you very much.
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8:46 - 8:48(Applause)
- Title:
- Soil-free agriculture | Yuichi Mori | TEDxTokyo
- Description:
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This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
Yuichi Mori talks about the world’s first agricultural technology based on a hydrogel film, created to address some of the serious issues that many communities in the world are struggling with, regarding food shortage, water scarcity and soil contamination.
- Video Language:
- Japanese
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 08:51
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Krystian Aparta approved English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
![]() |
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
![]() |
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
![]() |
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
![]() |
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo | |
![]() |
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for 土を使わない農業 | 森有一 | TEDxTokyo |
Reiko Bovee
To the next reviewer: Please change "film" to "Film" except the first one at 0:15 - 0:18. http://www.mebiol.co.jp/en/product/