With $36M in funding, AeroFarms plans to set up a huge aeroponics farm in New Jersey

Gabe Friedman over at Bloomberg Businessweek reports that New Jersey based AeroFarms is taking over the former District 89 nightclub in the Ironbound district of Downtown Newark to set up a test site to grow leafy greens using aeroponics in the 69,000 square foot facility.

Aeroponics does not use soil, but rather applies a nutrient rich mist into a microfleece in which seeds germinate. This should not be confused with hydroponics which grows plants in nutrient rich water rather than soil, or aquaponics which combines hydroponics with aquaculture (raising snails, fish, crayfish or prawns) in a symbiotic environment.

Bloomberg reports that the company has raised more than $36 million in venture capital and that AeroFarms plans to expand to 70 employees and will produce 1.5 million pounds of produce per year “enough to supply about 60,000 people without digging any earth or shoveling any manure”.

You can read the full article here.

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IMAGE From Wikipedia shows aeroponics from Lufa Farms in Montreal.