Translator: Giada Puccinelli Reviewer: Michele Gianella
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)