In a field on the outskirts of Ta' Qali, a quiet revolution in farming is underway. From the road, large greenhouses dominating the plot of land look like any others, but step inside, and you will find something altogether different.
Standing in a corner of one greenhouse is a large machine that looks like an old-fashioned watermill wheel. As it rotates, it dips trays of crops one by one into a pool of nutrient-rich water supplied by a nearby fish tank.
It is an automated crop-growing machine that uses aquaponics – a way of growing plants using water enriched with fish waste, which some other companies have started implementing in Malta.
But this one has a twist: rather than growing crops directly in water, as in most aquaponic systems, it grows them traditionally in soil. Its inventors say it is the first of its kind and can grow yields equivalent to 140 kg of rocket leaves or 650 lettuce heads per month, all while using just €15 worth of electricity.
Read more at timesofmalta.com