a farm of the future, without a field

A farm in Tarascon (Bouches-du-Rhone) knows neither rain, nor frost, nor the alternation of the seasons. The air circulating there is treated. No field, everything happens inside, with high technologies. A robot harvests the basil at maturity. With his tablet, the engineer controls everything about his plants, which are three weeks old. “We know what’s in every machine. What is being irrigated, being irrigated, when is it to be harvested. The robot also knows it, that’s why there, it does the manipulations itself“, explains Vincent Truffaultresponsible agronomist.

Growing in a cylinder on three levels takes up ten times less floor space. Basil, parsley or coriander are grown in cylinders, with watering on the root, targeted and rationed. “The irrigation is done by micro-doses and we will provide only the needs of the plant on the day so we will make a fairly significant saving. In the field, we will use 300 L [d’eau] to make a kilo of basil whereas at home, we will use about 10 L to make a kilo“, says the agricultural manager.