August 26, 2025 | 20:37 GMT +7
August 26, 2025 | 20:37 GMT +7
Hotline: 0913.378.918
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Rector of La Sapienza University of Rome Antonella Polimeni attending the inauguration of new hydroponic garden at FAO headquarters (Terrace).
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and La Sapienza University of Rome have further consolidated their research collaboration in the field of sustainable agriculture with the inauguration of a hydroponic garden on the FAO terrace, the result of the study of new water-based growing techniques.
The innovative garden, sponsored by La Sapienza University, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the Italian Development Cooperation, introduces innovative techniques that mark a step forward in traditional hydroponics.
The garden, which complements the one installed in 2021 - a result of the already existing partnership between the institutions - allows tap water to be used, eliminating the need for demineralized water and thus reducing the waste of resources. Only organic fertilizers are used in it, reducing the system's ecological footprint - microorganisms dissolved in the water interact with the plants, increasing their resistance to stressors such as high temperatures and pests. In addition, the system is designed for outdoor use, eliminating the need for artificial light used in conventional hydroponics, thus maintaining exceptionally low daily energy consumption. Finally, the garden is built with 90 percent-certified sustainable wood, minimizing the use of plastic used instead in conventional hydroponic systems.
In his keynote address at the ceremony, attended by La Sapienza University Rector Antonella Polimeni and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to FAO Stefania Costanza, the FAO Director-General defined hydroponic agriculture as a combination of traditional and modern technology. He also emphasized the importance of a fruitful and ongoing dialogue between Academia and FAO, which would benefit both parties.
The hydroponic garden will serve as a test bed for research exploring the potential for improved resource management in soilless agriculture that can be an alternative or supplement to conventional agriculture, with potential applications in areas with scarcity of water and arable soil, such as mountains.
During the ceremony, the FAO Director-General and the Rector of La Sapienza University, renewed collaboration on FAO's flagship programme, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and the Mountain Partnership, with the hydroponic garden, as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding signed in December 2023.
(FAO)
(VAN) Researchers have discovered that replacing 50g/kg maize with a 50:50 mix of pineapple and orange peels could offer poultry producers a sustainable feed option.
(VAN) Global rice markets are bracing for turbulence after reports that India, the world’s largest rice exporter, is preparing to release around 20 million tonnes of stockpiled rice in September.
(VAN) FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO reiterate call for immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition.
(VAN) As wildfires rage in southern Europe and crop losses only set to increase in the coming years, producers are getting creative to beat the heat.
(VAN) A new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed by Argentinian authorities at a layer farm in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
(VAN) The German Government has inaugurated the Carbon Offsetting Rice Emissions (CORE) Project to support 12,000 smallholder farmers in climate-smart rice production across Benue, Nasarawa, and Kano States.
(VAN) Orchardists, winegrowers and livestock farmers fear the negative impact of the current heatwave on their production.