November 10, 2022

 

Amsterdam startup Infarm grows wheat indoors without soil or pesticides

 

Infarm, a startup based in Amsterdam, has attracted venture capital for growth after successfully growing wheat indoors without the use of soil or pesticides, and with less water than conventional farming, Bloomberg reported.

 

Guy Galonska, chief technology officer and the co-founder of Infarm, said they aim to achieve higher crop yields which is possible for wheat in order to feed the global population.

 

He said they are confident that the commodity can be grown at scale indoors as a climate-resilient alternative.

 

The first indoor farming company to grow a staple crop has faced questions over high output costs, use of energy, and their ability to scale up. Indoor farms have only grown premium foods such as salads, herbs, and fruits.

 

Growing a staple crop indoors has the potential to change the game if done at scale. Climate change and logistical problems have made supplies more scarce, and the war in Ukraine has brought attention to how reliant the world is on a small number of breadbaskets.

 

According to Infarm, preliminary tests indicate that each hectare could produce 117 tonnes of wheat annually. Projections from the US Department of Agriculture showed the European Union and the US, two of the largest exporters in the world, would yield an average of 5.6 tonnes per hectare and 3.1 tonnes, respectively, in 2022.

 

But scaling up while keeping costs low continues to be extremely difficult.

 

More land than any other crop is needed to grow wheat, which requires more than 216 million hectares. It would take more indoor farms than France's wheat-growing area to produce enough food to meet current demand at Infarm's projected yields.

 

Infarm, which is co-hosting a food systems pavilion at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh this month, said that better technology may allow it to increase its yield by an additional 50% in the future.

 

-      Bloomberg