- Tomatoes are loved in the USA, but drought and climate change endanger their care.
- Hydroponics and vertical agriculture could consume up to 90% less water while producing high -quality tomatoes.
- High costs and work needs limit growth, but greenhouses could influence the future of agriculture.
From ketchup on burgers to the sauce on pizza, tomatoes find their way into many of the most popular food in America. In fact, tomatoes belong to one of the most highest vegetables in the United States, two only for potatoes. The average American eats more than £ 30 every year. Since they are full with the antioxidant lycopine, regular food from tomatoes can be a big blessing for their health, regardless of whether they are freshly cut into slices or sun recipe.
Although they came from South America, the popular vegetable in the second half of the last millennium became a phenomenon almost everywhere on the planet. Today, beloved tomato recipes include the globe, from Shakshuka to Pico de Gallo.
According to some estimates, around 30% of global tomatoes are grown in California, around £ 26.4 billion per year. But since 2022, some, some are quite serious, have threatened this particularly water -intensive harvest. “We call the tomato a heavy feeder,” we says Joe Masabni, Ph.D.Professor and expansion specialist at Texas A & M Agrilife Research and Extension Center. “A lot of water and a lot of fertilizer for an optimal harvest.”
Since climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of skinny and potentially reducing regions, tomato production could make even greater challenges in the coming years. Fortunately, agricultural scientists are working on innovative solutions to ensure that tomatoes can continue to thrive, even if water is scarce.
The promise of inner agriculture
Daniel Wells, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Special Cultures at Auburn University in Alabama, has used tomatoes with a nutrient -rich water solution instead of a nutrient -rich water solution for almost a decade. His research focuses on helping farmers to use more water -efficient growth methods.
Hydroponic systems, in particular those in controlled environments such as greenhouses or vertical companies, can significantly reduce water consumption. It may not sound intuitive that the cultivation of a harvest in water consumes less water than a harvest grown in a farm field. This efficiency results from the recycling of water through the systems and not through water that runs or evaporates from fields.
This control level is only an advantage of the growing tomatoes with hydroponic. “Another advantage for greenhouse production would be local production,” explains Wells. “They do not grow in Canada all year round, unless they have a greenhouse, do they? It reduces the seasonality and it also gets closer to the consumer, so that the transport distance is shortened.”
Masabni also emphasizes vertical agriculture as another innovation that preserves space and water. Instead of spreading over large fields, hydroponic systems can be stacked vertically – shelves or tubes – to produce the producers to produce more food in a smaller footprint with less water.
The environmental and economic compromises
Why don’t more farmers grow in the house? According to Wells, the costs are largely important. He quotes an initial cost of $ 1 and $ 3 million a morning to build a high-tech greenhouse, and says that they are an “energy-intensive” undertaking, since heating and cooling are another important effort. According to some estimates, greenhouse operations become three to five times more expensive than a typical farm. Labor also presents increased costs. Since hydroponic systems are highly specialized, they demand qualified workers who understand how they can operate and maintain the devices. “When it comes to the greatest costs, I don’t know whether work No. 1 or electricity is No. 1,” says Masabni. Universities such as Auburn and Texas A&M train new managers in this area, but both experts agree that a lack of qualified workers is another hurdle for interior farmers.
In addition, hydroponically grown tomatoes are sold with a premium, often over $ 3 to $ 6 per pound, compared to $ 1 to £ 2.50 per pound for field tomatoes. However, the payment can be worthwhile for consumers – especially when it comes to taste. Wells reports that growing in greenhouses can lead to a higher quality, consistent product. “The greenhouse production enables us to get (tomatoes) near vice and then to get a consumer within a day or two. I love the tomatoes that we grow in the greenhouse in our research facility, but I also buy tomatoes grown in the grocery store because they are simply better,” he says.
Masabni adds that the quality goes beyond the taste. “We breed according to higher quality, so I hope that more antioxidants and more vitamins, not just a better taste, have been proven to have more antioxidants and more vitamins. Hopefully, the nutritional quality will help justify the higher costs.”
Is the interior scalable?
Masabni and Wells mention the Netherlands and Spain as the world leader in practice, and Wells applauds Canada, name forces Nature fresh farmsPresent Pure taste And Red sun farm. Auburn University in more detail at home has its own successful model entitled “Food U.” The breeders of the university keep some tomatoes for research, but use the rest to supply campus restaurants and local restaurants as well as other vegetables that are grown in the school facilities.
Nevertheless, the United States has not yet fully assumed inner competence. Instead, the industry has found more traction with leaf green. The reason? Green need much less light to grow, which makes it more practical for full inner systems. Tomatoes, on the other hand, are a different story. “Even if you were able to produce enough light for a tomato system, you would have an enormous amount of warmth that you have to manage. Tomatoes are simply no sense in a complete inner system. They make a lot, much meaning in a greenhouse where they have a certain control over the environment, but they use free sunlight,” explains Wells.
Our expert
So do tomatoes grow inside the answer to a world led by droughts? “Long -term, yes,” says Masabni. “A highlighted house-controlled environment is the solution because the technology improves and becomes more efficient and recycled every drop of water. In the future it will not be promising-maybe not now.” Thanks to educational and research programs such as its, we get closer every day to be a global reality in the interiors.
