NL2027474B1

NL2027474B1 - Crop growth system

Info

Publication number: NL2027474B1
Application number: NL2027474A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Hubers Martin; Knittel Sören
Original assignee: Floating Future B V
Priority date: 2021-02-02
Filing date: 2021-02-02
Publication date: 2022-09-05
Also published as: WO2022169356A1

Abstract

Title: Crop growth system Abstract A crop growth system for growing crops on a surface of a ﬂuid, in particular on the surface of an open water such as a river, lake or sea, comprises a crop support body for supporting one or more crops. The crop support body is carried by a ﬂoatable carrying structure comprising a bottom wall opposite the crop support body and a rigid frame for maintaining the crop support body at a height above the bottom wall defining a chamber between the bottom wall and crop support plate for containing a root system of a crop held in the crop support body in a growth medium. The bottom wall is arranged to ﬂoat on the surface of the ﬂuid and ﬂexible to follow movement of the surface.

Description

P129104NL00 Title: Crop growth system

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a crop growth system for growing crops on a surface of a fluid, in particular on the surface of an open water such as a river, lake or sea.

BACKGROUND It 1s well known that most plants including many terrestrial plants instead of ‘traditional soil cultivation may also be grown under soilless conditions, for example using hydroculture or hydroponics in which the plants are usually grown on a suitable inert support or substrate with the roots directly exposed in a layer of fluid medium comprising the nutrients and other compounds or ingredients for plant growth. When applied on large scale, i.e. crop farming, soilless cultivation is found to be more efficient in crop yield per area as compared to conventional farming on soil and moreover requires less water usage. Additionally, growing plants directly in fluid without soil enables cultivation on existing water surfaces, particularly open water surfaces such as rivers, lakes and even seas. This poses a desired potential solution to the shortage in availability of suitable soil containing farming grounds needed to keep up with the increasing worldwide food demand. Accordingly, crop growth systems have been and are being developed that enable growing of crops on a surface of a fluid.

For example a known crop growth system for growing crops on a surface of a fluid uses a crop support body having at least one opening for supporting a crop such as lettuce with a root system of the crop extending on one side of the crop support body into a layer of fluid and a leave system of the crop extending on an opposite side of the crop support body. The crop support body and crops are carried by a tray-like container having a flud tight bottom wall and side wall to contain the layer of fluid. When used on a fluid surface the known crop growth system is usually provided with floating means, particularly one or more buoys, arranged to float the system with container, layer of fluid, crop support body and one or more crops on the surface.

Although this known crop growth system enables growth of plants on fluid surfaces, it has as a drawback that when used on open water surfaces such as rivers, lakes and seas, the relatively rigid and stiff tray-like container 1s only suitable with a relatively small size as at larger sizes it quickly becomes unstable due to water surface movements caused by flow currents, waves and/or tidal motions or other changes or irregularities in the water surface. The instability may result in integrity of the system being affected, e.g. damage of parts, inefficient growth of crops or even loss of crops, spillage of fluid, e.g. growth medium, out of the container, and/or contamination of the fluid in the container by surface water. Hence only few crops per container can be cultivated, making the known crop growth system at least inefficient and in many cases even completely unusable for large scale cultivation of crops or commercial farming.

Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a crop growth system that ameliorates the drawback of the known crop growth system. A particular aim of the invention is to provide a crop growth system suited for large scale crop farming on existing open water surfaces, such as a river, lake or sea.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect there is provided a crop growth system for growing crops on a surface of a fluid, in particular on the surface of an open water such as a river, lake or sea, comprising a crop support body for supporting one or more crops wherein the crop support body comprises at least one opening for receive a crop with a root system of the crop extending on one side of the crop support body and a leaf system of the crop extending on an opposite side of the crop support body, wherein the crop support body is carried by a floatable carrying structure comprising a bottom wall opposite the crop support body and a rigid frame for maintaining the crop support body at a height above the bottom wall defining a chamber between the bottom wall and crop support plate for containing the root system in a crop growth medium, the bottom wall arranged to float on the surface of the fluid and flexible to follow movement of the surface. The bottom wall provides the crop growth system more stability on open water surfaces as any movement of the fluid surface on which the flexible bottom wall floats is partially or completely absorbed by the bottom wall following the movement and the crop growth medium contained in the chamber without noticeably affecting other parts of the floatable carrying structure or crops carried thereby. As a result relatively large sizes for the crop support body and carrying structure are possible without compromising on an integrity of the system when used on moving fluid surfaces. Thus, the crop growth system according to the first aspect is better suited for large scale crop cultivation or farming on existing open water surfaces such as rivers, lakes and seas. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific size of the crop growth system, but particular good results have been obtained in an embodiment of the crop growth system wherein the floatable carrying structure provides a crop growth surface defined by an upper surface of the chamber of at least 10m2, and preferably between 30-200 m2, more preferably between 75-150m2. At area sizes below 10 m2 the number of crops per floatable carrying structure is not optimal for efficient large scale cultivation, whereas area sizes above 200 m2 although possible render production of the required parts currently more difficult increasing costs.

In a preferred embodiment of the crop growth system the crop support body comprises a plate-like member or plate having the at least one opening for receiving a crop therein. Preferably the crop support body is light weight, for example made from a light weight material.

An option is to have the floatable carrying structure carry one crop support body.

For example the system may have one or more carrying structures with one crop support body per floatable carrying structure.

In a preferred embodiment however the floatable carrying structure carries a plurality of the crop support bodies.

Accordingly, each crop support body may be provided with a workable size smaller than the crop growth surface defined by an upper surface of the chamber.

For example, the crop support body may be sized to allow manual carry thereof to enable a user easy planting of crops in the crop support body or harvest of crops from the crop support body.

In this regard in a preferred embodiment of the crop growth system the crop support body may be manually detachable from the floatable carrying structure.

Particularly the crop support body may be supported on the floatable carrying structure with no fixed attachment or fixation therebetween.

For example the crop support body may solely be supported on the floatable carrying structure by gravity, i.e. the crop support body has a lower support surface that may be put on an upper support surface of the floatable carrying structure, such as an upper shoulder provided on the rigid frame.

Optionally the system may have a plurality of connected or directly coupled floatable carrying structures.

Particularly, the system may comprise a plurality of the floatable carrying structures arranged in sequence and/or parallel.

For example a sequence of floatable carrying structures each carrying one or more crop support bodies may be used with consecutive floatable carrying structures in the sequence being connected to each other.

Particularly the floatable carrying structure may be provided with and/or comprise any suitable connection means for connecting to corresponding connection means of a further floatable carrying structure.

For instance the rigid frame or the floatable carrying structure may comprise one or more attachment bodies such as a fastening hook, attachment eye, or any other suitable connecting means for connecting the floatable structures.

Although in some cases, e.g. for specific crops, exchange of fluid between the crop growth medium contained in the chamber and the fluid on which the crop growth system floats may be possible, for most cases it is preferred or needed to prevent contamination of the crop growth medium.

5 Therefor in an embodiment of the crop growth system the bottom wall comprises a liquid tight flexible layer. The Liquid tight layer prevents direct exchange of liquids between the crop growth medium and fluid on which the crop growth system floats.

In a practical embodiment of the crop growth system the bottom wallis formed by a flexible and liquid tight sheet or foil. A further particular embodiment of the crop growth system has the flexible liquid tight sheet or foil being formed in one piece which provides better durability and more guarantee of liquid tightness. Although the sheet or foil may be made from any suitable flexible and liquid tight material, preferably the sheet ox foil is made from a plastic that provides sufficient strength and is producible in one piece at relative large sizes. For example polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene(PE) can be easily produced at sizes over 120 m2 in one piece from rolls having widths of 10m and larger. A further embodiment of the crop growth system has the floatable carrying structure comprising a side wall extending circumferentially around the chamber between the bottom wall and crop support plate. In particular the side wall comprises a liquid tight layer, particularly a flexible Liquid tight layer, more particularly a flexible and liquid tight sheet or foil. Optionally the side wall is made integrally with the bottom wall, comprising a folded edge part of a flexible liquid tight sheet or foil extending upwards from a main part of the flexible liquid tight sheet or foil forming the bottom wall. The side wall encloses the chamber containing crop growth medium between the bottom wall and crop support plate, thus preventing any unwanted escape or discharge of crop growth medium from the chamber. A fluid tight integrity of the chamber is supported by providing the side wall as a folded extension of the sheet or foil optionally used for the bottom wall as the whole is seamless.

In a preferred embodiment of the crop growth system the side wall comprises a lower part extending from or connected to the bottom wall and an opposite upper part, which upper part comprises coupling means for coupling of the side wall to the rigid frame of the floatable carrying structure. For example the side wall may be formed from a flexible foil or sheet that with its upper part is adhered or fixed to the rigid frame, for example by gluing, welding or mechanical fixation such as using clamps, snap fit means, screws or any other suitable mechanical fixation. Preferably the side wall upper part comprises the coupling means having a protruding part extending laterally outward with respect to the lower part of the side wall arranged to be carried by the rigid frame. Optionally, the protruding part comprises or is formed by a flexible tube. Preferably the protruding part, in particular flexible tube, is light weight, e.g. made of a relatively light weight material such as plastics or aluminium.

In a further embodiment of the crop growth system the floatable carrying structure comprises one or more floatable bodies, in particular one or more gas filled containers, more particularly one or more buoys.

Optionally, the one or more floatable bodies are attached to the rigid frame.

Preferably the crop growth system has the rigid frame comprising an upward extending frame member comprising a lower end adjacent the bottom wall and an opposite upper end arranged to maintain the crop support body at a height above the bottom wall. Preferably the frame member is light weight. For example the frame member may be made from a relatively light weight material, such as plastics or aluminium, and/or may be formed to be light weight such as comprising a cavity or hollow body. Preferably at least the frame member comprises or consists of a hollow tube, such as a hollow aluminium tube as such a member for its weight provides the frame adequate strength to carry the crop support body and a plurality of crops above the bottom wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES These and other aspects of the present invention are hereinafter further elucidated by the appended drawing and the corresponding embodiment, which form part of the present application. The drawing is not in any way meant to reflect a limitation of the scope of the invention, unless this is clearly and explicitly indicated. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a crop growth system according to the first aspect; Fig. 2A shows a perspective view of the crop growth system according to the first aspect; Fig. 2B shows a detailed view of part of the crop growth system according to the first aspect; Fig. 3A shows a cross sectional side view of the crop growth system according to the first aspect in use with crops; Fig. 3B shows a detailed cross sectional side view of part of the crop growth system according to the first aspect in use with crops; and Fig. 4 shows a cross sectional length view of part of the crop growth system according to the first aspect in use on a fluid surface.

In this application similar or corresponding features are denoted by similar or corresponding reference signs. The description of the embodiment is not limited to the examples shown in the figures and the reference numbers used in the detailed description and the claims are not intended to limit the description of the embodiments, but are included to elucidate the embodiments by referring to the examples shown in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

As shown in the figures the crop growth system 1 according to the first aspect comprises a crop support body 10 for supporting one or more crops. As best seen in fig. 2B the crop support body 10 comprises a plate or plate-like body 11 provided with openings 12 for planting crops. In use of the crop growth system as shown in fig.3A and fig. 3B each crop 100 in a respective opening may extend with a root system 101 from a bottom side of the crop support body into a chamber below the crop support body. The chamber may contain a layer of crop growth medium from which the crops with the root system can directly uptake the necessary growth nutrients.

The chamber may hold other means such as supply lines for supplying fresh medium and/or gasses to the chamber. The crop growth medium may optionally be recirculated or refreshed in the chamber.

A leaf system 102 of the crop may extend from an opposite upper side of the crop support body towards a natural or artificial light source such as the sun or suitable lights. For protection of the crops, for example against heavy rainfall or other precipitation, a cover 50 may be provided over the crop support body containing crops. The cover 50 may be formed by a transparent sheet 51, for example a transparent plastic sheet. The sheet may be reinforced and/or held in a desired shape by strengthening means 52, e.g. thin, flexible metal or plastic rods.

The crop support body 10 is carried by a floatable carrying structure 20 having a flexible bottom wall 21 opposite the crop support body formed by a flexible liquid-tight PP sheet that holds the layer of crop growth medium in the chamber liquid tightly separated from the fluid surface on which the crop growth system may float. A side wall 22 extends circumferentially around the bottom wall upwards towards the cover 50 to further delimit the chamber. The side wall 22 is formed by folding a corresponding part of the PP sheet from which the bottom is formed. The side wall at an upper part has coupling means 23 in the form of a flexible hollow tube that enables coupling of the side wall to a rigid frame 25 of the floatable carrying structure 20. The rigid frame 25 is on the one hand arranged to carry the crop support body 10 at a height above the bottom wall 21 and comprises to this end upward extending frame members 30, for example a hollow tube, comprising a lower end adjacent the bottom wall and an opposite upper end arranged to maintain the crop support body at a height above the bottom wall.

The rigid frame 25 on the other hand is arranged to carry some floating bodies 60 that provide sufficient floatability to the system for growing crops on an open water surface with large scale crop cultivation or farming.

The rigid frame comprises to this end a light weight skeleton frame mainly consisting of interconnected hollow profiles 26, for example hollow tubes 27, 30, and cables 28 that additionally strengthen the bottom wall and side wall, e.g. maintain a general shape and orientation thereof for holding the layer of crop growth medium, while allowing at least the flexible bottom wall to follow movement of the fluid surface on which it floats, as illustrated in fig. 4. The crop growth system is accordingly well suited for use on open water surfaces as an integrity of the whole is maintained under normal surface movements due to flow currents, waves and/or tidal motions.

For the purpose of clarity and a concise description, features are described herein as part of the same or separate embodiments, however, it will be appreciated that the scope of the invention may include embodiments having combinations of all or some of the features described.

The word ‘comprising’ does not exclude the presence of other features or steps than those listed in a claim.

It also does not exclude that nothing else is present, i.e. it may also encompass the meaning of ‘consisting of.

Furthermore, the words 'a' and 'an' shall not be construed as limited to ‘only one’, but instead are used to mean 'at least one’, and do not exclude a plurality.

A person skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various parameters and values thereof disclosed in the description may be modified and that various embodiments disclosed and/or claimed may be combined without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

Conclusions

A crop growing system for growing crops on a surface of a liquid, in particular on the surface of open water such as a river, lake or sea, comprising a crop support body for supporting one or more crops, wherein the crop support body has at least one opening comprising for receiving a crop having a root system of the crop extending on one side of the crop support body and a departure system of the crop extending on an opposite side of the crop support body, the crop support body being supported by a floating support structure comprising a lower wall opposite the crop support body and a rigid frame for maintaining the crop support body at a height above the lower wall defining a chamber between the lower wall and the crop support plate for containing the root system in a crop growing medium, the lowermost wall wall is arranged to float on the surface surface of the liquid and is flexible to follow the movement of the surface.

2. Crop growth system according to claim 1, wherein the lower wall comprises a liquid-tight flexible layer.

Crop growth system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the lower wall is formed by a flexible and liquid-tight sheet or foil.

A4. Crop growing system according to claim 3, wherein the flexible liquid-tight sheet or foil is formed in one piece.

5. Crop growth system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the floating support structure comprises a side wall which extends around the chamber between the lower wall and the crop support plate.

Crop growth system according to claim 5, wherein the side wall comprises a liquid-tight layer, in particular a flexible liquid-tight layer, more in particular a flexible and liquid-tight sheet or foil.

A crop growing system according to claim 6, wherein the side wall is made integral with the bottom wall, comprising a folded edge portion of a flexible and liquid-tight sheet or film extending upwardly from a main part of the flexible liquid-tight sheet or film constituting the bottom wall. .

8. Crop growth system according to any one of claims 5-7, wherein the side wall comprises a lower part connected to the lower wall and an opposite upper part, which upper part comprises coupling means for coupling the side wall to the rigid frame of the floating support structure.

9. Crop growing system according to claim 8, wherein the coupling means comprise a projecting part which extends laterally outwards with respect to the lower part of the side wall which is adapted to be carried by the rigid frame.

10. Crop growth system according to claim 9, wherein the projecting part comprises or is formed by a flexible tube.

A crop growth system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the floating support structure comprises one or more floating bodies, in particular one or more gas-filled containers, more in particular one or more buoys.

12. Crop growing system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more floating bodies are fixed to the rigid frame.

A crop growing system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rigid frame comprises a frame member extending upwardly comprising a lower end adjacent the lower wall and an opposite upper end adapted to maintain the crop support body at a height above the lower wall.

A crop growth system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the crop support body comprises a plate-like member or plate having the at least one opening therein for receiving a crop.

A crop growing system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the floating support structure provides a crop growing surface defined by an upper surface area of the chamber of between 10-200 m 2 .

16. Crop growth system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the floating support structure carries a plurality of crop support bodies.

A crop growing system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of the floating support structures arranged in sequence and/or parallel.