Feeding the world
Furrows of artificial light lend an otherworldly aura to the greenhouses in Westland, the Netherlands
A farmhouse surrounded by greenhouses in Westland
Inside one of the biggest greenhouses in the world
What was the inspiration for the project?
Science, technology and the environment is my specialism, and this was one of a series of stories we were doing about sustainable innovations. We were trying to discover the most brilliant examples of technology designed to solve our planet’s most pressing issues, like climate change.
The Netherlands is actuallyfood in the world after the USA, and it’s about 75 times smaller in area. In the last 30 years they have developed their agricultural technology to produce 10 times more useful crops in the same space, using 95% less water. They don’t use pesticides or GM crops – it’s all about cross feeding. They are the leader in farming technology, and have the biggest university in the world for agriculture. About 60% of the students are from abroad, so the innovations are being studied and adopted around the world.
