A farmer is making use of electrical conduits and washing machine pipes to create a vertical farm that produces a higher yield of top-quality produce while being environmentally friendly.

Tucked away along a narrow, steep and winding path through Wied Għomor lies a DIY farm that maximises vertical space to grow its crops – an approach known as hydroponics.

“Hydroponic systems are soilless systems that some farmers use to grow crops. One of the most important advantages is the fact that we use vertical space,” said Malcolm Borg, who is also the president of Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi.

Borg showed Times of Malta the innovative homemade system his father created, which makes use of vertical space, increases yield and consumes 80% less water compared to traditional open-field farming.

The idea to make this type of farm came to Borg’s father in a dream.

They harvest three times as much 

Celery, fennel, strawberries, aubergines, lettuce, red leaf lettuce, basil, and mint are grown in this system.

The crops are either grown in long rectangular peat bags or in small pots placed inside long electrical conduits, into which Borg’s father drilled holes.

On the farm, there are three greenhouses and one open area that make use of this hydroponic system. For the most part, they are on three levels of space.

“Out of the same surface area of land, we are getting three times as many crops. For a small country like Malta, this is very advantageous as many farmers have limited land,” Borg said.

What Malcolm Borg described as a ‘sea of lettuce’.

Besides Malta’s limited space, farmers are unable to expand their businesses given the exorbitant price of arable land that is being sold to the highest bidder.

Farmers who spoke to Times of Malta said that one tumolo (1,100sqm) of land is worth around €100,000. A Eurostat report showed that Malta’s arable land is the most expensive by some margin, costing 24 times the EU average.

The plants are growing in luxury while saving water

Besides being extremely economical with space, the system is environmentally friendly as it recycles water.

“With this system, no water or nutrients are lost. They are both recycled over and over again,” Borg said, adding that the system uses 80 per cent water.

The crops are watered through an irrigation system that pumps water out of a tank that has nutrients dissolved in it. The water passes through an intricate formation of pipes that directs the water to the different plants.

Any extra water is collected in the electrical conduits, passed down washing machine pipes, and sent back to the tank to be recycled.

“One of the main issues in Malta is nitrate leaching, which happens when nitrate – which is found in fertilisers – trickles down into the ground until it reaches the water table, which pollutes it. This isn’t a problem in this system,” Borg said.

“With this system, you are pampering the plant. You are giving it exactly the right amount of nutrients that the plant needs. It is growing in luxury,” he said.

As a result, both the quality and the yield are significantly higher, Borg said.

Things need to be done urgently. Climate change is getting worse, not better

High operational costs

Having said all this, Borg made it clear that although this is a positive alternative, it is not going to solve the overarching issue that farmers face when it comes to buying arable land.

“Vertical farming is one solution that can be used, but for a limited number of crops,” Borg said when discussing its limitations.

The peat bags can only grow a restricted number of crops, and in the channels generally only lettuce and herbs can grow.

Another issue is the investment that farmers need to make to set up a system like this, which in turn has high operational costs, given that the system must continuously pump water.

Still, the system can be as expensive and complicated as desired. A system like Borg’s is much more accessible to farmers.

Besides this, there is quite a steep technical learning curve. 

“To know what the right amount of nutrients you need to give the crop according to the life stage of the plant is quite difficult,” Borg said, adding the crops need to be constantly monitored.

That being said, it is becoming more popular around the island, Borg said, as farmers are becoming a lot more open to making this investment.

Celery grows on the bottom, strawberries in the middle, and fennel on top.

Farms in urban spaces

Considering these systems are so customisable, Borg suggested that these systems should be used in urban or peri-urban spaces as well, to maximise agricultural yield, especially during such uncertain times.

“We should really come to terms with how vulnerable we are when it comes to food security. Things need to be done urgently. Climate change is getting worse, not better,” Borg said.

He noted that, on a global scale, nations are implementing export bans on food to prioritise their own supply before considering exports to other countries.

With the war in Ukraine and the pandemic, Malta “played with fire,” Borg said, questioning how much longer Malta can depend on exports.

“We have to grow food wherever we can and we have to start eating what the land produces,” he said.