Agrotonomy recently set up a vertical farm featuring 40 aeroponics towers inside a Portuguese prison. The team worked hand-in-hand with the prisoners as well as the guards of the penitentiary to set up this aeroponic farm that will be managed by the prisoners themselves. Agrotonomy is a vertical farm consultant and distributor of Tower Garden and Tower Farm.
The new vertical farm is designated for prisoners that are in the last year of a long-term incarceration sentence and provides an opportunity to rehabilitate these individuals while helping them reintegrate into society upon their release.
The setup of the tower farms (Photo credits: Agrotonomy)
This aeroponic farm will produce approximately 1800 plants per month for the chefs of the prison to use and they will be growing all kinds of leafy greens and herbs including lettuce, cilantro, basil, chard, spinach, and more.
This project was implemented by our clients known as UpFarming which is a nonprofit organization based in Lisbon where they are committed to providing sustainable agricultural solutions in urban environments as well as prisons and schools throughout Portugal.
(Photo credits: Agrotonomy)
"Together, we spent two days installing the entire farm with the prisoners including the assembly of 40 aeroponic towers, the installation of the automated irrigation and nutrient dosing system, the preparation of the nutrient solution as well as creating a comprehensive planting strategy in order to ensure that there is always a continuous rotation of crops on the tower," the Agrotonomy team shared.
Together they even planted the first seedlings on the towers, and inmates seemed to be extremely committed to the best possible outcome of this project. "It was truly an inspiring experience to see how dedicated the prisoners were to the success of this vertical farm and we can’t wait to see the results of this project."
For more information:
Mathias Levarek, Founder
ml@agrotonomy.com
Agrotonomy Corp.
www.agrotonomy.com