Hippo Harvest is revolutionizing the agriculture industry with its innovative approach to growing produce hydroponically.
Utilizing cutting-edge technology, such as plant science, machine learning, and robotics, the company is leading the way in the field of controlled environment agriculture.
Positive Environmental Impacts
By producing crops in an environmentally sustainable way, Hippo Harvest is doing its part to help combat climate change.
In fact, the company is backed by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge “to build a cross-sector community of companies, organizations, individuals, and partners working together to address the climate crisis and solve the challenges of decarbonizing our economy”.
Traditional farming practices, including fertilizer, land use, transportation, and landfill methane from wasted produce, create significant greenhouse gasses. According to an Environment Protection Agency (EPA) 2022 report, “agriculture accounted for 11.2 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.
With its closed loop and direct-to-root fertilizer and water system, Hippo Harvest is growing produce that requires significantly less water than traditional farming. Lack of runoff in its self-contained farms all but eliminates harmful fertilizers in runoff water. This has been a concern with traditional farming.
On its website, Hippo Harvest offers these compelling facts in support of its mission:
- 92% less water use compared to traditional soil farming
- 80% fewer transportation miles given gardens are located close to consumers
- No use of pesticides
- 55% less fertilizer as nutrient doses are delivered directly to roots
Technology at Hippo Harvest
As seen in the picture above, the company relies heavily on small robots for routine farming tasks. Watering, cleaning, transportation, and data collection are some of the tasks these robots perform.
Automation aids efficiency while reducing labor costs. And, labor costs have historically been a large expense for hydroponic farms.
Hippo Harvest’s system utilizes machine learning to test various levels of fertilizer, water, light, and other variables to produce the most vibrant crops with maximum efficiency.
Summary
Hippo Harvest represents another great example of the important work being done in the field of sustainable agriculture. By combining the latest advancements in plant science, machine learning, and robotics, the company is leading the way in creating a more environmentally-friendly and efficient method of growing produce.
The world continues to face the challenges of food security and sustainability. Innovative solutions like those employed by Hippo Harvest will be critical in meeting these needs.
Interested in learning more about recent events in the hydroponics space? Click here for more articles!
