Title: Intelligent membrane culture (IMEC)
Abstract:
The current agriculture relies on soil culture and hydroponics. In soil culture there are difficult problems of soil preparation and watering which need long years of experience. In hydroponics the expensive apparatus circulating and supplying huge amount of nutrients solution to crops is needed. Furthermore, the desertification & contamination of soil and the water scarcity make the current farming more vulnerable. In order to solve the above farming problems, we have developed an unprecedented agro-technology (Intelligent Membrane Culture, Imec) using a newly developed hydrogel-based permselective membrane (“Hydromembrane”) which plays the roles of soil & water. The crops grow on “Hydromembrane”, which has two kinds of functions of “hydrogel” and “permselective membrane”. The former significantly enhances the nutrition levels of crops by the colloidal osmotic pressure derived from “hydrogel” and the later secures the safeness by protecting the crops from germ and virus infections and so leads to zero water loss. Imec enables farming at any places where the current farming is impossible, such as lands contaminated with harmful germs, heavy metals, chemicals and salt, the deserts, because Imec grows produces completely insulating from the ground with a waterproof plastic sheet. Imec enables for even amateur to grow high quality produces, because the difficult soil preparation and watering are not needed. In Japan, Imec tomato whose nutrients contents are several times higher than the general tomato are produced at about 3,500 tons/year by 160 farmers. Imec tomato has gained luxury brand sold in many exclusive stores. Quality tomatoes are produced even at giants Tsunami devastated area in Japan, contaminated sites in Shanghai and desert in Dubai.
