Source: Farmdrop

The world’s first ever underground farm aims to feed 10 billion people by the year 2050 according to information that was released by the University of Cambridge on their website on March 29, 2021.

The underground farm is located 33 meters below London’s Clapham High Street in an abandoned World War Two air raid shelter. The farm was founded by Richard Ballard and Steve Dring in 2015 in collaboration with the University of Cambridge. This unusual project, referred to as ‘Growing Underground’ , is a ‘smart farming’ venture which means it is managed by one or more technologies, such as robots or AI, in order to optimize human labor and maximize quality and quantity.

The farm is managed and monitored by what is being referred to as a ‘digital twin’ which is a virtual representation of a real object, in this case a farm, that collects data and updates in real time by observing and learning from the original object. In 2016 “Melanie Jans-Singh from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering began installing sensors in the tunnels to capture everything you might ever want to know about how this garden grows.” The information collected and reflected by the digital twin includes details about light, temperature, and water. According to the article, this data not only provides information on how to manage the current farm but also provides a road map to opening another one.

Growing Underground aims to contribute to the UK’s goal of having net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050 and meeting the World Resources Institute’s prerequisites for feeding 10 billion people sustainably by the year 2050 according to the statistics and information provided on their website. So far, the venture is proving to be successful as the farm yields a harvest approximately every 10 days, crops grow up to 50% faster than they normally would on a regular farm, and all this is achieved without the use of pesticides and less water.  The produce from the underground farm is also sold commercially and can be purchased online via the project’s website called Farmdrop.