An experimental agriculture project has been growing crops such as strawberries, lettuce, and basil underwater for about four years, creating viable plants 20 feet under the ocean off the coast of Italy. It came into the news most recently on June 30, when the Washington Post interviewed underwater farmer Luca Gamberini, son of the project’s founder, Sergio Gamberini. He said he hopes that the project becomes economically stable enough to support developing countries where plants are challenging to grow.
The project is organized by the Ocean Reef Group, the Gamberini’s diving company. They haven’t sold any of the produce yet, only used it at family dinners. Ocean life likes it too, though: octopi and seahorses have been known to hide under the gardens.
There Are Strawberries Growing Underwater Off the Coast of Italy
Just off the coast of Noli, Italy, tethered twenty feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, hover five bulbous biospheres filled with plants, light, and warm, wet air. As Robert Gebelhoff reports at The Washington Post: The balloon-like biospheres take advantage of the sea’s natural properties to grow plants …
Filed Under: Infrastructure
