Aponic to launch new vertical aeroponic farming system

Aponic develops vertical aeroponic farming systems for sustainable, commercial produce growing.  

Jason Hawkins-Rowe is the CEO of Aponic, the company is to release a new product in March aimed at large commercial farmers. It offers a new farming system in a modular form that will convert existing and under-utilised buildings into high profit areas on farms. He says: “We are now being invited onto farms to show our ways to encourage meaningful diversification, 5 years ago it was a very different story!”

The idea for Aponic emerged when Jason had his fresh produce stolen from his allotment, he saw a way to increase production within a smaller footprint and developed a vertical farming unit. He sees the system as offering the potential for diversification.

“We are constantly trialling new crops this includes pharmaceuticals and food crops that are usually grown in other climates, such as ginger. We are also experimenting with crops such as asparagus, and potatoes, they are difficult to grow efficiently out of soil but all around growing might be useful for breeding.

“For some varieties, such as herbs, vertical aeroponic farming delivers higher oil and sugar content and this can be further enhanced by light stress and other factors.
“To bring profit margins up, we are also looking at efficient ways to process fresh product before it crop leaves the farm gate. For example, ways to maximise profits from crops by extracting oils and other elements on the farm.

“This creates opportunities for farmers to gain new value from their buildings.  We are not aiming to replace broad acre farming, but instead to enable farmers to diversify in their core market and make a stable income from existing assets and we think this is only going to grow in future. ”