USA Pavilion stars with vertical farming stripes at Expo Milano 2015
More farmers could soon be going above and beyond, with the sky as the limit, when it comes to growing crops.
‘Vertical Farming’ as a key agricultural innovation is on display at this year’s World’s Fair Expo Milano 2015 in Italy which sees farming taken to the sky through use of vertical growing walls.
The USA Pavilion at the current Expo Milano 2015 includes an 860-square meter Vertical Farm with 42 varieties of vegetables, grains and herbs.
Crops are being harvested several times throughout the six-month long Expo which goes until the end of October 2015. The theme of the Expo is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for life’.
The vertical farm also embraces sustainability using techniques such as intercropping, multi-cropping, companion planting and contour planting.
Amongst the 42 varieties of vegetables, grains and herbs being grown in the vertical farm there is,
- Tuscan Kale
- Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage
- Chives
- Winter Rye
- Herbs including basil, oregano and mint
The USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 also includes ‘plant chandeliers’ hanging above each exhibition station.
All of the plant chandeliers are filled with growing vegetables, herbs and fruit.The chandeliers include LED lights are have been created using similar technology to that of the vertical farms.
An Aquatic Garden is located in the forecourt of the USA Pavilion and is filled with wetland plants known as cattails. Cattails and other aquatic plants were traditionally used in food preparation by Native Americans and are currently having a popularity resurgence in the US.
Lastly, The US Pavilion includes an Oak Tree Grove to reflect the use of ‘agroforestry’ in the US, a system where trees are grown around crops as part of sustainability efforts. Acorns from the trees are said to give meat a special flavour of value when consumed by mammals.
