Jul22546 16. ith a population approaching nine billion on planet earth, and the serious issues of climate change, desertification of farmland, food (in-) security, food safety, and water shortages becoming increasingly worse, there is a huge worldwide awareness to improve conditions, particularly in arid and semi-arid environments. In these regions, traditional soil farming is struggling with these issues. Small-scale farmers in particular are being impacted and these farming practices are no longer sustainable. Soil-cultivated production yields are often decimated by droughts or floods, bush fires, or other local challenges such as locust plagues destroying farmers’ annual harvests. The future is looking bleak. Feeding the planet’s increasing population with finite resources is a major global issue making the production of high-quality, year-round, and locally cultivated nutrient and proteinrich food one of the utmost priorities for the immediate future. “There needs to be new ways of farming where we are more water wise, more sustainable, eco-friendly, and climate smart,” explains Karsten Jansen, the co-founder and managing director of private impact investor group backed Desertfoods. “We have a mission of cultivating the future by responsible, zero-waste farming in harmony with nature using decoupled multi-loop aquaponics food production systems.” Sounds complicated? Let us break it down a little further. Stand-alone hydroponics and aquaculture farming practices are long proven production methods supplying reliable and predictable food in the Global North. Both farming methodologies are independently deployed for the commercial farming of fresh vegetables and selected fruits (hydroponics), and the rearing of fresh or saltwater aquatic fish species in cages, earthen ponds, or recirculating systems (aquaculture). Since the mid-1990s the yield from wild caught fisheries has stagnated, making aquaculture the only possible source of fish-based protein to satisfy the supply deficit. This has made aquaculture the fastest growing agriculture sector over the past decade. Wild caught fish meat is also becoming increasingly contaminated with microplastics causing a food safety problem which will put even more reliance on land-based aquaculture. In contrast to conventional in-field agriculture, hydroponics cultivation practices do not rely on soil for a growing medium but Best Climate-Smart Agriculture Company 2022 Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Germany, Desertfoods International GmbH (Desertfoods) is a management, IP, and investment holding firm which aims to address food security by promoting decoupled multi-loop aquaponics farming technology by way of a ‘farming-asa-service’ approach. We find out more from the firm’s co-founder and executive leader as it celebrates a win in the European Enterprise Awards 2022. instead are cultivated using mineral nutrient solutions in water. The roots are either directly exposed to the nutrient-rich liquid or physically supported by an inert medium such as rockwool or gravel. Nutrients used in hydroponic systems can come from different external sources e.g. artificial fertilisers or organic matter such as manure or compost. Aquaponics refers to any system that combines aquaculture with hydroponics in a closed circular ecosystem which reduces wastestreams to a minimum by recovering and reutilising the nutrients. This addresses multiple issues with traditional agriculture. Desertfoods’ have taken the recovery and reuse of nutrients to a new level with their decoupled multi-loop production system. This technology creates superior growth conditions for both the plants and fish when compared to the closed one-loop methodology regularly applied in backyard or small-scale community aquaponic operations. The result is greater use of inputs, higher production, and reduced waste streams. Nutrients are recovered using the firm’s patent-granted technologies of a nutrient concentrator for the aquaculture water and wet composting of the aquaculture and processing waste streams. “You're essentially using the waste from one product and converting that into a value-contributing input to the other product”, Karsten W Contact: Karsten Jansen Company: Desertfoods International GmbH Web Address: www.desertfoods-international.com Email: [email protected] Jan23372
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQxNTg3MQ==