Seoul grows vegetables in the subway
South Korean tech startup Farm8 has been growing leafy greens literally in a subway station in Seoul since fall 2019.
Metro Farm is a glass nursery with rows of hydroponic growing trays located at Sangdo Station on Seoul Subway Line 7.
Under the light of LEDs and the attention of an automated technical network, 30 varieties of organic edible plants grow, including microgreens, flowers and sprouts. As Farm8 reports, the underground vertical farm is 40 times more efficient than its traditional counterpart.
Despite the fact that the agricultural experiment covers a modest 394 square meters, it produces about 30 kilograms of fresh vegetables daily. Most of them go straight to salad bowls and cocktails for diners at the nearby Farm8 cafe.
“We want to change the way we think about agriculture,” says Lee Hwang-myung, senior project manager. "We strive to encourage people to look at agriculture not as something from the past, but as part of the future."
In Seoul, Metro Farm has already become so popular that Farm8 has installed four more at subway stations throughout the city. The underground landscapes serve as both a viable food source and an advertisement for a startup that offers different levels of its vertical farms to corporations and individuals looking to make their space – and the world – greener.
Interest in urban agriculture has been growing for some time in Asia, where innovators in some of the world's most populous cities are looking for ways to cut carbon emissions and ensure food security for their people.
