The Futuristic Farms That Will Feed the World | Freethink | Future of Food
Summary
TLDRThe Netherlands, facing the global food system's immense pressure, has emerged as a food superpower through sustainable production. With a commitment to double food output using half the resources, they've become the world's second-largest food exporter. Their advanced greenhouse technology yields 20 times more tomatoes per square meter with a quarter of the water. The Dutch innovation in agriculture, including AI and drone technology, is a model for global efficiency, aiming to share their knowledge worldwide to address food scarcity challenges.
Takeaways
- 🌱 The world faces a significant challenge in securing food production due to population growth, changes in consumption behavior, and the climate crisis.
- 🌍 Achieving sustainable food production is crucial to reduce inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, and water, to prevent environmental degradation.
- 🌟 The Netherlands has emerged as a food superpower by focusing on sustainable production and efficiency, becoming the world's second-largest food exporter.
- 📈 The key to tackling the global food challenge lies in producing more with less land and fewer natural resources, as exemplified by the Dutch approach.
- 🏭 The Netherlands has a national commitment to produce twice as much food with half the resources, which has driven innovation and efficiency in agriculture.
- 🚀 Dutch greenhouse operations are a prime example of sustainable production, with yields 20 times higher and using four times less water compared to open fields.
- 💡 High technology in Dutch agriculture allows for precise control of growing conditions, from LED lighting to moth-killing drones, enhancing both yield and sustainability.
- 🌡️ The Dutch have perfected greenhouses as environments for continuous testing and optimization of growth, leveraging AI and sensor technology for autonomous climate control.
- 🌱 The Dutch lead the world in tomato yield and are among the top producers of various vegetables, achieving high yields with minimal resources.
- 🔬 At the World Horti Center, ongoing experiments aim to replicate any climate on Earth to adapt Dutch agricultural techniques for global application.
- 🌐 The Netherlands aims to be a developer for the rest of the world, exporting knowledge on creating production facilities and fostering global collaboration for innovation in agriculture.
Q & A
What is one of the world's most pressing challenges mentioned in the script?
-The security of the food system is identified as one of the world's most pressing challenges.
What would be the consequence if everyone on Earth ate the diet of the average American?
-If everyone on Earth ate the diet of the average American, all habitable land would need to be used for agriculture, and there would still be a 38% shortage.
What is the key to sustainable agriculture according to the script?
-The key to sustainable agriculture is to produce more with less inputs, including less fertilizer, fewer pesticides, and less water.
Which country has become the world's number two food exporter by focusing on sustainable production?
-The Netherlands has become the world's number two food exporter by focusing on sustainable production.
What is the result of the close collaboration between the government, science organizations, and the industry in the Netherlands?
-The close collaboration has led to a shared goal of sustainable production and has driven efficiency on a level unmatched anywhere else in the world.
What is an example of the efficiency of Dutch greenhouse growing operations?
-In the Netherlands, high-tech greenhouses can produce 80 kilograms of tomatoes per square meter, which is 20 times more than an open field situation in Spain.
How does the water usage in Dutch greenhouses compare to open field situations for tomato production?
-Dutch greenhouses use four times less water to produce 80 kilograms of tomatoes per square meter compared to an open field situation.
What is the significance of the moth-killing drone in Dutch greenhouses?
-The moth-killing drone is an example of high technology used to control pests without the need for human intervention, thereby improving efficiency in greenhouse operations.
How does the Netherlands lead the world in tomato yield while using less water?
-The Netherlands leads the world in tomato yield by using high-tech greenhouses that optimize growth conditions, allowing for higher yields with significantly less water usage.
What is the role of AI in the latest Dutch greenhouse technology?
-AI is used to learn plant behavior and constantly adjust conditions in the greenhouse without any input from a farmer, leading to more efficient and automated growing techniques.
What is the World Horti Center's ongoing experiment aiming to achieve?
-The ongoing experiment at the World Horti Center aims to replicate any climate on earth within a greenhouse to figure out what modifications need to be made to achieve the same yields in different countries.
What does the future of the Netherlands in the global food production landscape look like according to the script?
-The future of the Netherlands is not to be a producer for the rest of the world but to be a developer, exporting knowledge on creating production facilities all over the world.
Outlines
🌱 Sustainable Food Production Challenges
The script addresses the immense pressure on the global food system due to population growth, changing consumption patterns, and the climate crisis. It emphasizes the need for sustainable production methods that use fewer resources like fertilizers, pesticides, and water. The Netherlands is highlighted as a food superpower, achieving high efficiency in food production with less environmental impact. The country's commitment to sustainable practices and innovation is underscored, with a focus on greenhouse growing operations that yield 20 times more tomatoes per square meter with a quarter of the water compared to open fields.
🚀 Dutch Innovations in Global Food Solutions
This paragraph delves into the Netherlands' role as a developer and exporter of agricultural knowledge rather than just a food producer. It discusses the World Horti Center's experiment with a 'greenhouse within a greenhouse' that can replicate any global climate to optimize crop yields. The Dutch are working on projects with countries like Columbia to emulate and adapt their climates for better agricultural outcomes. The narrative concludes with a call for collective innovation and the sharing of knowledge to tackle the global food challenge, hinting at a future series on the 'Future of Cities' and inviting viewers to subscribe for updates.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Food System
💡Sustainable Production
💡Food Security
💡Efficiency
💡Netherlands
💡Greenhouse Growing Operations
💡Yield
💡Water Conservation
💡Innovation
💡Climate Control
💡Knowledge Export
Highlights
Indication of the pressure on the food system due to population growth, changing consumption behavior, and the climate crisis.
The key to securing food production is sustainable production with less input: less fertilizer, pesticides, and water.
The story of how a small country became an unexpected food superpower offers answers to global food challenges.
If everyone on earth ate the average American diet, all habitable land would be required for agriculture, and we'd still be 38% short.
With two billion more people, the focus must be on efficiency: producing more on existing land using fewer natural resources.
The Netherlands has become the world's number two food exporter by committing to produce twice the amount of food with half the resources.
Close collaboration between the government, science organizations, and industry in the Netherlands led to sustainable production.
Dutch greenhouse operations are the most efficient globally, yielding 20 times more tomatoes with four times less water compared to open field production.
High-tech greenhouses in the Netherlands allow for the continuous testing and implementation of growth optimization techniques.
Innovations include LED lights to increase pest resistance and improve nutritional value, and drones to detect and eliminate moths.
AI and climate computers in greenhouses can autonomously adjust conditions based on plant activity.
The World Horti Center replicates any global climate to adapt Dutch greenhouse yields to different countries.
Collaboration with Columbia to mimic their climate and improve crop yields demonstrates the exportability of Dutch greenhouse technology.
The Netherlands aims to be a developer of agricultural production facilities worldwide, rather than just a food producer.
Bringing networks together is crucial for innovation in sustainable agriculture, highlighting the need for collaboration.
Transcripts
And that gives a little bit of an indication
of the pressure on the food system.
We just face a huge challenge.
With the growth in population, with the change
in consumption behavior.
With the climate crisis, how do you secure
your food production?
The real secret is the sustainable production.
It should be with less inputs, with less fertilizer,
less pesticides, less water.
It needs to be sustainable.
Otherwise, we will destroy our planet, yeah?
- [Narrator] The security of the food system is one
of the world's most pressing challenges.
But the story of how this small country became
an unexpected food superpower might just
have some answers for how we tackle it.
Consider this: if everyone on earth ate the diet
of the average American, that would require
all the habitable land to be used for agriculture,
and we'd still be 38% short.
And that's right now.
What do we do when there are two billion more people?
Well, the key is more exciting than it sounds,
and that's efficiency.
Basically, how do we produce a lot more on the land
we're already using, and do it using a lot
fewer natural resources.
- When it comes to sustainable agriculture,
one country has seemed to crack the code.
Bolstered by a national commitment to produce
twice the amount of food with half the resources,
the Netherlands has become the world's
number two food exporter.
(upbeat music)
- It was very close collaboration between the government,
science organizations, and the industry.
And they started out of a common interest.
So they say, okay, we want to go for sustainable production,
but everybody was aligned.
- [Interviewer] Everyone involved in the system
was aligned and embraced innovation to reach
that shared goal, and that has driven efficiency
on a level unmatched anywhere else in the world.
If there's one place that approach is most clear,
it's in their unrivaled greenhouse growing operations.
- There's a very nice example of about tomato
which really gets a good insight on how we want
to produce our foods in sustainable ways.
So, if you produced tomatoes in an open field situation
in Spain, then you will, uh, end up at the
end of the growing season with four kilograms
per square meter.
If you do this in a high tech greenhouse in
the Netherlands at the moment, you will end up with
80 kilograms per square meter which is 20 times more.
But the best part of the story is that the 80 kilograms
of tomatoes, we do it with four times less water
compared to an open field situation.
Water is one of the big challenges that we face.
Just had a cup of coffee.
Do you know how many liters of water were needed to
produce that cup of coffee?
Rough guess.
- [Interviewer] Ten?
- 150.
So, high technology offers, really, a possibility of
producing a lot of food per square meter
in a sustainable way.
- [Interviewer] The Dutch lead the world in tomato yield
while using a fraction of the water that
other countries use.
But it's not just tomatoes.
Measured by yield per square mile,
they're the world leader in the production
of chilies, and green peppers, and cucumbers.
Number five for potatoes, onions, and carrots.
The list goes on.
But the bottom line is they've been able to get
so much out of so little.
- If we are able to produce 80 times more
with four times less water,
that's, that's great.
That's great news.
- [Interviewer] Most people know that greenhouses
allow a grower to tweak every little thing,
but the Netherlands is taking it to the next level.
They've perfected the greenhouse as the ideal
environment to continuously test and implement
all kinds of ways to optimize growth.
From things as simple as testing what hues
of LED lights can increase pest resistance
and improve nutritional value,
to things as crazy as moth killing drones.
- So we're, at the moment, we don't have any products
who can control actually the moths.
And then finally they will produce caterpillars,
and those caterpillars they can do a lot of harm
to many different crops.
A drone is able to detect the moth.
Also, to see how it's flying and with it wings,
propellers will just, will just
crush, actually, the moth.
- [Interviewer] Wow.
There's a relentless drive towards innovation to
create better and more efficient growing techniques.
They've even started taking the human touch
completely out of it.
Some of the latest tech relies on AI to learn
plant behavior and constantly adjust conditions
without any input from a farmer.
- For example, what we're testing in this
compartment is a climate computer.
So we have different sensors,
and it actually, we measure the plant activity.
Based on plant activity, the computer
is actually controlling the whole climate by itself.
- [Interviewer] Ultimately, the key to solving
our global food challenge isn't just in relying
on super efficient food producers to carry the
weight for everyone else, it's learning from and
adopting that technology.
At the World Horti Center, you see that effort
first hand in an ongoing experiment.
They've built, basically, a greenhouse within a greenhouse.
Inside the largest structure,
they're able to replicate any climate on earth
to figure out what modifications need to be made
to realize the same yields they're getting in
the Netherlands in any other country on earth.
- We have a cooperative project going on with Columbia.
And we can, in fact, mimic, we can emulate the climate,
the current climate conditions in Columbia,
put their crop in and see how crop behaves under the
circumstances that we have in Columbia.
We can totally flip the seasons around.
We can make it a sunny day on Christmas.
We can close the curtains on a sunny day and
make it completely dark.
- [Jeroen] I think, in the long run, the future of the
Netherlands should not be to be a producer for
the rest of the world.
We should be a developer for the rest of the world.
- We are the country that will export our knowledge
on creating production facilities all over the world.
- Innovation starts, really, by bringing all
these networks together.
In the world we live now a days, you need to link
up with other people.
You can't do it on your own.
We need to produce more.
We need to do it with less inputs.
And we need to do it better.
Thanks for watching.
If you like the Future of Food,
stay tuned for our new series Future of Cities.
Subscribe to Freethink now to be the first to see new episodes.
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