The hydroponic alternative | Giorgia Pontetti | TEDxLucca

Giorgia approaches a very serious theme upon how we will feed ourselves when we go colonize Mars. She is light yet incisive and clear on her enterprise and it's implications on earth and elsewhere.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

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I'm using a 3,000 years old
agricultural technique

in my backyard near Rieti,

to produce food in impossible lands,
like the Poles and the African deserts -

and, why not, on Mars.

We are speaking about Babylon,

not something futuristic
or technologically advanced.

We are going to investigate it

because you guys are reproducing too fast
and quickly moving to cities.

We will speak about Hydroponic
and its potential uses.

Some of you will be wondering: Hydro-what?

The terms Hydroponic Cultivation

means that the plants
are cultivated without land.

This cultivation technique is not new,

because since the dawn of time,

man has tried to cultivate
plants in water.

The Egyptians did it
and before them the Babylonians.

Everybody knows about
the magnificence and beauty

of the hanging gardens of Babylon,
dated back to 590 BC,

one of the seven wonders of the world.

But also the Chinese and the Aztecs

have developed the technique
of floating rafts,

which is a perfect example
of hydroponic cultivation

on lakes and rivers.

The technique of growing plants in water,

dated back to a few centuries BC,

was known all over the world at once.

in a world where there weren’t
connections like today.

No Internet, no Wikipedia.

The same technique was widely used

in different parts of our planets
at the same time!

What a strange phenomenon.

The same thing happened
for writing the Rosetta stone

and, on the other side of the Earth,
the Aztec alphabet.

And the pyramids,
both in Egypt and South America.

And then?

Then it was forgotten
for many, many years,

and then around 1860

it was slowly rediscovered
for research purposes

and then only in 1929 reintroduced
on a commercial scale.

Now, for me it’s time to introduce myself
and let you know what I do.

I’m a double engineer

with a great love
for nature and agriculture.

My grandfather was an old style farmer
and my father is an electronic engineer.

A really strange mix to grow-up in.

I’m an astronautical engineer,
but with a farmer’s soul!

I started working as entrepreneur
since I was at university,

having always my dad as a partner.

We set up a small company,
that is also a private research centre,

and we work in space and defence sectors.

For example, we contributed
to an experiment

that is searching in space
for dark-matter and anti-matter,

as we speak.

But this is another TED talk!

The idea of creating a farm with my father

has always been in the back of my mind,

until one day, few years ago,
the lightbulb turned on!

A single sentence by an American professor
gave my dream a shape.

That was the moment.

The goal?

To create a technological tool,
a new generation greenhouse,

able to cultivate everywhere.

I started to research, and discovered

more and more frequent cases
of pollution of soils and groundwater,

due to fertilizers and pesticides.

I also took a look

at the climatic changes
that we are increasingly witnessing

and the increasing
environmental pollution.

These factors are manifesting
more and more intensely and frequently,

creating a vicious circle.

The less nutrients in the ground,
the more chemicals we put into it.

The more chemicals, the more pollution.

The more pollution, as we all know,
leads to global warming.

“It's a dog biting its tail”,
as we Italians would say.

Is there a solution?
Are there some alternatives?

And here comes the spark.

Do you remember the American professor
I told you about a little while ago?

He said a simple sentence:

“When we will colonize Mars,
we’ll have to cultivate,

and the only way to do this
will be using hydroponic agriculture!"

Let me show you a couple of pictures.

Some of you will wonder
what these images have in common.

The same approach!

Ask yourselves:

Why do we manufacture satellites
inside clean rooms?

Why do we do surgery inside clean rooms?

Why don’t we cultivate
clean and healthy food

inside clean rooms?

So, I decided to realize
a new generation farm,

combining traditional farming methods

with soil and seeds
for fruits and vegetables.

And then, we cultivate tomatoes and basil

inside “Special Greenhouses”, [that are]
sterile, sealed and fully computerized.

I know you have already seen this!

I started researching

the agronomical aspects
that I was missing,

like temperature, humidity,
nutrients, etcetera .

I’m a simple engineer!

I searched all over Italy
for an expert able to help me.

I was willing to pay.

I always had the same answer:

I can’t help you because it’s impossible,
it cannot be done and will not work!

In Holland, the dutch,
who are leaders in hydroponic cultivation,

have already tried to turn agriculture
into a surgical operation,

but they have failed!

But if there is one special thing
that we Italians have,

it is perseverance.

I never accepted the idea
that something could not be done!

And so in the end
I explained my point of view.

I’m looking at the
“greenhouse” as an engineer.

For me, it is a technological tool,
a clean room set up to grow plants

instead of building satellites
or operating the knee!

And so, we designed
and manufactured this plant

with a new generation approach,

a fully computerized system

able to cultivate
without human interference.

An electronic cultivation recipe
commands and controls all the subsystems,

each day and for the entire
life of the plants.

A totally artificial environment,
fully LED lighted,

with LED lamps I build and sell myself,

allows cultivating
where there isn’t any Sun,

or where there is too much of it,
answering also to space farming needs.

A strange approach to agriculture.

With this tool,
we could cultivate everywhere,

from the equator to the pole,

indoor or outdoor,
underground or aboveground.

And why not, on other planets!

I really believe in the potential uses
of hydroponic cultivation

in computerized “growing chambers”.

This technique allows
higher production and high quality,

independently from the
external environment,

minimizing the water consumption.

Cultivating inside
such these special greenhouses

allows to produce
fresh vegetables, nickel free,

solving also an health issue

for the 20% of the world population
which is allergic to nickel.

Unfortunately for you, it is not over yet.

I’m so passionate about this subject
that I continue innovating and improving.

We have introduced into the market
a new hydroponic appliance

able to autonomously cultivate
directly in your kitchen.

It’s “RobotFarm”.

Everyone will be able
to harvest a fresh salad

for a “Magic Touch” for your dishes.

We have also presented "Chef",

our hydroponic
vertical farm in containers,

thought for small communities in cities,
or smart supermarkets,

to locally produce clean and fresh food.

These are inventions that exist,
the result of years of researches;

they have been created
not to profit and earn,

but to have an impact on everyday life,

to feed people
in a healthy way everywhere.

Try to imagine the potential impacts
on human life on Earth

if we could have farm land
for everyone, everywhere.

Unfortunately, farm land
is becoming scarce

due to the progressive increase
in the extension of deserts

given by the global warming phenomenon.

But we can try to bring the cultivation
directly where needed,

saving resources,

farming in clean environments
and without the need for competencies.

The Chef container and RobotFarm
are able to do everything by themselves!

This could be a disruptive
and unprecedented innovation

with the aim of reducing
hunger in the world,

reducing the gap between us
and other billions of people,

using the Internet of Things

where there is nothing
and where there is still no Internet.

What we do changes the world for a moment,

but why we do it
will change the world forever.

As the ancient Chinese said:

“The journey of a thousand miles
begins with one step.”

My intention is to research
feeding methods for expeditions to Mars,

but it is also to improve
the quality of life down here

while we inhabit this planet.

My vision is a solution

that is not necessarily
alternative to others,

nor it is always valid,

but it’s an option to cultivate

in places where it cannot
be done with other methods.

It wants to prove

how a millenary cultivation strategy
can be used to feed people

in places where now
it is impossible or not sufficient.

Not a small challenge!

It has to be done
in very high-tech environments,

but it can be done anywhere:

in an abandoned building in the city,
a desert, a contaminated environment,

on space and other planets.

Let me show you what I mean!

This is a vertical farm in Japan.

This is a vertical farm
concept for cities.

This is a real experiment
in the Oman desert

to simulate the Martian habitat.

This is a space farm concept
on a space vehicle.

This is a space farm concept
on Mars surface.

Do you remember
the famous American professor?

Thanks to him, my present dream
is to cultivate the “Space Tomato”.

Because the Earth
is the cradle of humanity,

but mankind cannot stay
in the cradle forever,

and we have to explore!

Space is indifferent to what we do;

it has no feeling, no design, no interest
in whether or not we grapple with it.

But we cannot be indifferent to space.

And so, for the moment,

I want to thank you all
with the first space-cultivated flower.

This Zinnia is for you.

Thank you!

(Applause)