New artificial soil is ready for crops in one month, even on the moon!

J-STORIES ー It usually takes three to five years to prepare good quality soil. But a university start-up from Nagoya has developed an artificial soil that can be ready for farming in just one month. Not only is this soil suitable for earth-bound agriculture, but it could even be used to create farmland on a lunar base planned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

In natural soil, microorganisms called nitrifying bacteria decompose organic matter to produce inorganic nutrients, which are then absorbed by growing crops. However, creating good quality soil takes several years, and if pathogens increase in the soil fallow time is necessary.

TOWING, a start-up from Nagoya University in Aichi Prefecture, has commercialized a new soil called High Performance Soil. This artificial soil can be ready for crops much more quickly and require fewer fallow days.

One limitation of previous artificial soils is that when organic fertilizers are used, they tend to rot in the soil. But because High Performance Soil converts organic fertilizers into nutrients with high efficiency, it can reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers made from fossil fuels. It is also expected to absorb and store carbon, enabling sustainable, recycling-oriented farmland with low environmental impact.

TOWING is now developing and marketing a next-generation crop cultivation system called “sora no.” The system’s aim is to develop recycling-oriented agriculture and realize farming in space using High Performance Soil.

In the spring of 2022, the company will rent a 5,000-square-meter farm in Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture, and start a farm of its own. Meanwhile, since the fall of 2020 it has participated in an agricultural project for a lunar base planned by JAXA and other organizations.

 Translation and Editing by Tony McNicol 

 Top page photo by https://towing.co.jp

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