Photo: Water Drops, originally uploaded by kodiyan.
From reading the daily news, horticultural, gardening and extension program websites one would have little awareness about world water shortages.
It is also poorly publicized how sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) and hydroponic agriculture save water whether in a greenhouse or your house or yard.
Over and above increased food growing productivity, it is interesting that Valcent is getting much of their positive publicity because of the water conserving benefits of their VertiCrop system.
I read about lots of folks bathing in "green goodness" while apparently oblivious to the need for conserving water in urban gardening and urban food production.
World Water Day will be celebrated by the U.N. in Bangkok on March 22 but to my knowledge apparently not in New York City.
We do, however, have a swarm of "helicopter horticulture" parents searching the city to plant dirt gardens in public schools. On the surface, it may seem like a good idea, but with deeper investigation, it isn't.
There are much better ways to teach kids about plant science, conservation and the environment. We need to empower urbanites of all ages with the knowledge of how to produce personal food using modern methods applicable to city life. The future of urban food is not in the dirt.
World Water Day March 22
The overall goal of the World Water Day on 22 March 2010 campaign is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level so that water quality considerations are made alongside those of water quantity. As issues of water quality and water scarcity are addressed; agriculture having one of the greatest impacts on the global water footprint is a primary topic of concern.
One company working at providing a partial solution is Valcent Products Inc. (OTCBB: VCTZF), with its VertiCrop high density vertical growth system technology. Chris Bradford, CEO of Valcent Products Inc noted “ World Water Day is becoming increasingly important in creating awareness of severe shortages of potable and useable water in most places in the world. In this regard, Valcent’s two core business plans to market both the Verticrop and Alphacrop is timely in that these high density vertical growing systems save up to 95% of the water used in a field crop to produce the same amount of vegetables. This sustainable water savings is becoming more critical in many drought areas which in turn has an impact on food security as well. “
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