In a field on the outskirts of  Ta’ Qali, a quiet revolution in farming is under way.

From the road, large greenhouses dominating the plot of land look like any others, but step inside and you will find something altogether different.

Standing in a corner of one greenhouse is a large machine that looks like an old-fashioned watermill wheel.

As it rotates, it dips trays of crops one by one into a pool of nutrient-rich water supplied by a nearby fish tank.

In essence, it is an automated crop-growing machine that uses aquaponics – a way of growing plants using water enriched with fish waste and which some other companies have started implementing in Malta.

But this one has a twist: rather than growing crops directly in water, as in most aquaponic systems, it grows them traditionally, in soil.

Its inventors say it is the first of its kind and can grow yields equivalent to 140 kg of rocket leaves or 650 lettuce heads per month, all while using just €15 worth of electricity.

The machine is the brainchild of Jo and Alex Sakota, who say the vegetables it grows are organic and of a consistently high quality. And they think it could be a game-changer for Malta.

“The beauty of it is that it can be done in industrial areas, even inside... our hope is to see many more greenhouses filled with our technology growing healthy greens and healthy fish,” said Alex.

Alex is from Serbia and moved to Malta around 20 years ago. His wife, Jo, is Maltese and together they have a daughter, who is at secondary school, and a company, Bio Aqua Garden.

“The benefits of this system are that it’s autonomous and all natural, [with] no chemical or synthetic additives added... so one can have fish and greens together,” he said.

Jo and Alex first set their sights on alternative farming in 2020 while the world was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seeing vital services grind to a halt across the globe got the pair thinking about the importance of self-sufficiency, both for individuals and Malta as a whole.

The fish tank on the right supplies nutrient-rich water for the plants being grown in the trays above.

Describing their crop-growing invention as “perfect for Malta”, a country which must import much of its food, Alex said that despite the benefits, he and Jo were struggling to secure funding from authorities.

“When you’re doing something innovative, people see your solution differently... We struggled a bit on our road, I must admit, to access any of the European or national funds. However, we are hoping now for better cooperation,” he said.

Benefits of this system are that it’s autonomous and all natural

And while aquaponics is already being used commercially in Malta, the Sakotas think their machine offers time, energy and cost savings over existing solutions, and have submitted a patent application to the World Intellectual Property Organisation to stake their claim to it.

Their machine uses a variant of aquaponics called soil-based aquaponics.

Aquaponics is a way of growing vegetables that combines hydroponics – where plants are grown in nutrient-rich water rather than in soil – with aquaculture, or fish farming.

Soil-based aquaponics is similar, but with the plants being grown in soil as usual.

The process creates a symbiotic system where nutrient-rich water from fish farming is used as fertiliser for growing crops. And as the plants use up the nutrients, they purify the water, which is then sent back to the fish tank and the whole process starts anew.

It is seen as an effective and reliable way to grow vegetables, and because it is such a controlled process, it lends itself to being done organically.

The Sakotas’ invention looks like a wheel from an old-fashioned water mill but employs modern technology to grow plants..

Rather than being grown vertically in large tubes – a method common to many hydroponic solutions and one the couple are also employing separately – plants in the Sakotas’ new machine are grown in pots of organic soil with clay pellets at the base.

The pots are packed in rectangular trays and, as the wheel rotates, are regularly dipped into the pool at the base of the machine which is supplied by the nearby fish tank.

Only the clay pellets at the bottom of the pots are dipped in the water to not drown the plants. Clay is an absorbent material that soaks up the water, allowing it to be gradually absorbed by the soil and plants further up inside the pots.

And this, along with the strip of LEDs supplying infrared light to the trays when they occupy the top position of the wheel, allows the machine to operate almost completely independently – something the Sakotas know will be necessary if their invention is ever to be used on a large scale.

While the couple is yet to produce crops on a commercial scale, they hope that, with further support, they will be able to expand their operations and market their machine to other farmers in Malta.

“I understand that with something new, it’s hard to get your message across. People might not understand the vision we have,” said Alex. “But hopefully, we will get some support.”