HIGH -TECH LETTUCE: Technion Incubator Develops Organic Lettuce Maker
Imagine growing up to 500 heads of organic lettuce a day in a 40-foot container that requires only water and electricity. OrganiTech LTD. at the Technion Entrepreneurial Incubator of the Technion Research and Development Foundation has developed Grow-tech 2000, an automative, self-contained growing machine that can produce commercial quantities of fresh vegetables, anywhere and anytime, reducing high transport and shipping costs. The machine operates in all weather conditions and seasons, without the use of pesticides. It is also environmentally friendly, by saving on irrigation water, and producing oxygen instead of toxic gases that result from the pesticides.
Planting, harvesting and packaging in Grow-tech 2000 are performed entirely by intelligent robots and monitored by an advanced control center, eliminating the need for costly manpower and training. The plants are grown in plastic-foam trays that float in water on shelves, which can be placed on top of each other, allowing optimal utilization of space. In the closed, monitored environment there is no need for harmful insecticides and pesticides. The compact growing machine can be located on-site at retail establishments such as supermarkets, restaurants, fast-food commissaries and even your own backyard.
“The organic-product market is growing quickly; in the U.S. alone the demand for naturally-grown products has increased by 30 percent between 1996 and 1997,” says project manager Ohad Hessel. “Lettuce is easy to grow and is in high demand. Out of 7.5 billion lettuce heads consumed a year in the U.S., 10 percent, or 750 million, are organically grown.”
Dozens of lettuce varieties, plus innumerable other vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, onion, garlic and herbs can be cultivated in Grow-tech 2000. “The next stage is to grow hormone- and chemical-free strawberries, as well as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers,” adds Hessel. “We can also provide solutions to kosher stipulations or produce special plants for the pharmaceutical industry that cannot be grown in open fields.
An entire organic farm can be grown in rows and stacks of Grow-tech 2000 containers, saving on cost, space, and manpower, according to Lior Hessel, OrganiTech entrepreneur, and a graduate of the Technion Faculty of Agricultural Engineering. “We want to turn the Israeli high-tech advantage and the accumulated agronomic know-how into an economic success story.”
Grow-tech 2000 is patent-pending in the United States and in Israel. |