Based in Château-Thierry, in Aisne, the company grows food plants without soil or sun. This is the principle of vertical farms, where plants grow using violet light and a hydroponics system, in sheds.
Vertical farms are sometimes considered a future solution for feeding the planet. On the floors of these hangars, plants grow without soil and without a ray of sunlight.
An international exhibition is being held on September 13 and 14 in Dubai, dedicated to this slightly futuristic agriculture, but already very real in France. In Aisne, in Château-Thierry, the Jungle company is home to the largest vertical farm in France.
>> It’s my job, for an ecological transition. “Jungle” builds vertical farms.
When fields become sheds
Vast trays of basil or coriander plants are stacked ten stories high. “There, we are in one of our production modules: 45 m2 on the ground, for 320 m2 of culture”, describes Nicolas Séguy, co-founder and general manager of Jungle. Here, no fields but a hyper-controlled shed nine meters high, because at Jungle, we cultivate without soil, via hydroponics: an irrigation technique which combines water and nutrients.
“We didn’t invent anything! We simply modernized this method as old as time thanks to technology”
Nicolas Séguy, co-founder of Jungleat franceinfo
Between the four walls of building, not a ray of sunshine either, but horticultural LEDs. They diffuse purple light, dosed according to the needs of each plant. Cameras, located high up, control the stages of growth, while a robot installs then removes each plot of this agricultural pyramid. “We really define ourselves as an ‘industrial cultivator’, even if it may seem contradictory.” summarizes Nicolas Séguy. The seeds are sown for germination in this same warehouse, where around thirty employees work.
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10 times more yield than conventional agriculture
A little over a third of what Jungle produces here is destined for the cosmetics industry. The majority of production is intended for food. Young salad shoots, but above all aromatic herbs with perfectly regular productivity all year round. And in this, at least ten times superior to conventional agriculture.
In the regions most spoiled by the sun, that is to say mainly in the PACA region, there must be between 3.5 and 5 harvests per year. We, here – on basil, coriander, parsley – we have 15 harvests per year!
Nicolas Séguy, co-founder of Jungleat franceinfo
All without any pesticides! To move around this hangar, you must wear protective clothing and pass through numerous airlocks to avoid letting an insect pass through.
Farms that are less greedy than agricultural greenhouses?
“There, you are in the packaging part, with Alex who makes the labels: there, it goes towards Grand Frais”, continues the farmer 2.0. For mass distribution, Monoprix is also already placing orders with Jungle. The Rungis market, too, without counting the players in the cosmetics industry. However, with all these LEDs lit 16 hours a day, the technology is questionable.
>> Agriculture: vertical farms, consuming less water, but more energy consuming
Nicolas Séguy nuance: “we will always consume more energy in a vertical farm than in the open field, of course. But if we divide the energy consumption by the volume by weight of plant material that we produce, we are already more efficient than the majority of greenhouse growers”, says the co-founder. Not enough to resolve the question of food sovereignty immediately, recognizes the management, but the technique still makes it possible to relocate certain varieties in Europe.
In the coming weeks, Jungle will double its production area in Château-Thierry. Within two years, it will even open two other vertical farms: one in the South, and the other in the West of France.
Welcome to the largest vertical farm in France, in Château-Thierry. Report by Agathe Mahuet