Indoor wheat: A food security solution?

DW (English)

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich are experimenting with growing wheat indoors – in a climate chamber. It's a bid to combat grain shortages as a result of extreme weather events and the war in Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00 Could this delicate little plant help fight food shortages?

00:05 The wheat in this climate chamber is still only 7 cm high, but in just 10 weeks' time

00:12 this special variety will be ready for harvesting, up to six times a year.

00:18 "It's growing well.

00:22 It's already flowered, as you can see here.

00:25 The green biomass dies, and what's left behind is the grain in the ears."

00:32 "We can provide long periods of daylight to boost growth.

00:39 We don't have to set special times where it's cooler or warmer.

00:45 We can cultivate the plant at a steady temperature of, say, 23 degrees, and daylight lasting

00:51 18, 20 or even 22 hours.

00:54 And of course, that allows for a harvest with a high yield."

01:00 The team from the Chair of Digital Agriculture at the Technical University of Munich, which

01:06 is also funding the project, control and test various key factors, such as light, temperature,

01:12 nutrient supply and most importantly, water.

01:18 They mainly use a water-nutrient mixture so the water can be recycled, as well as a layer

01:24 of water that doesn't evaporate.

01:27 This means that water consumption is up to 95% lower than in agriculture.

01:34 In recent years, water has proved to be the most unpredictable factor in agricultural

01:39 production.

01:44 In Germany, wheat production remains relatively steady.

01:49 But around the world, it's in decline.

01:53 Droughts and floods are taking a severe toll.

01:58 The Bavarian town of Ansing looks as idyllic as ever.

02:02 But farmer Bernhard Heimerer had to contend with several spells of heavy rain this summer.

02:08 One third of his harvest has been damaged.

02:11 He can now only sell it as animal feed.

02:14 "So this batch is the same variety as that batch.

02:22 But there's no way it can be used for bread.

02:27 Just when the wheat was ready for threshing, it rained torrentially.

02:32 I decided not to thresh it while it was wet because of the drying costs.

02:36 Instead, I decided to wait until it dried out.

02:39 But it rained for 10 or 12 days.

02:42 There was so much precipitation.

02:45 And then part of the harvest was damaged and there was practically no more quality wheat

02:49 left.

02:52 It was extreme this year.

02:54 It went from one extreme, very rainy, to very dry, then rainy again.

02:59 It was extreme this year for sure."

03:05 Growing wheat indoors could be viable not only in regions affected by drought or flooding,

03:10 but also in Germany to reduce the negative impact of agricultural production on the environment.

03:17 "It has many advantages.

03:20 The water requirement is extremely low.

03:23 We have no negative impact on the environment, on biodiversity.

03:28 We don't need crop protection.

03:29 We can control nutrients in a very targeted way.

03:33 But we do have a high energy input, as well as the technical setup, which has a CO2 footprint.

03:39 As things stand, it would be rash to present this to the world as a solution.

03:43 But it's a building block.

03:45 One element in the food production process."

03:49 There's already interest from countries like Singapore, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

03:55 For reasons ranging from lack of space to water shortages, wheat grown indoors is a

04:00 promising option.

04:01 (upbeat music)

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