Siberian Federal University: Сity Farm Opens in Krasnoyarsk
The grand opening of the city-farming laboratory of the School of Gastronomy took place at Siberian Federal University on 12 October 2022. The presentation of the laboratory was held within the framework of the first Russian Gastronomic Forum (Gastro Forum 2022).
The farm-laboratory is an interdisciplinary platform for collective use which helps synchronizing the fundamental research of scientists and applied R&D practices in the field of city farming. This work will result in new breakthrough technologies that will be commercialized in the future. The invited guests of the event are famous restaurateurs and chefs of Twins Garden Ivan and Sergey Berezutskiys.
Restaurateurs and chefs of Twins Garden Ivan and Sergey Berezutskiys welcomed the guests of the event: “The global agenda is focused on health, environmental friendliness, product quality and science now. It’s amazing that the SibFU School of Gastronomy has opened a city-farming laboratory. This is an important moment and a groundwork for the future! The students will learn about global agenda during their studies. They will know how to do the right thing and promote these ideas to the world further. It’s great that school developers aren’t just living the idea of building an innovative school, but also create eco-friendly projects within it that contribute to the development of the industry.”
“The main task of our laboratory is to produce high-quality agricultural products in urban conditions at optimal cost for the needs of the restaurant business. We work closely with the Bellini restaurant holding — the chefs of this group test the quality of the herbs produced at city farm. Discoveries and developments made with the help of the farm by the scientists of Siberian Federal University and other scientific organizations of Russia are successfully patented, becoming joint intellectual property,” said the head of the city-pharming laboratory Ivan Timofeenko.
The expert noted that there are three phytotrons (rooms with certain microclimate parameters) currently operating on the farm. Each phytotron has equipment that mixes nutrient solution for plants. Arugula, basil, lettuce and various microherbs are already growing in several chambers and vegetable seedlings are also being grown.
So far, the farm has already been a development interdisciplinary laboratory for testing new technologies in the field of cultivation of domestic plants. The scientists of the School of Engineering Physics and Radio Electronics are engaged in the introduction of new high-power lamps with variable spectrum that significantly accelerate the cultivation of microherbs and lettuce, as well as improve the quality of seedlings.
“City farm launch is a part of a large project, the Gastronomic R&D Park, which is being implemented within Priority 2030 program. The project provides for systematic work both in the fields of gastronomic education and in scientific research that solve quite serious problems related to food technology. The new laboratory is an intersection of education, science and business, and these fields are the priorities of our strategic project and our development,” SibFU rector Maksim Rumiantsev noted.
The city-pharming laboratory is expected to provide training of highly qualified researchers in food engineering, development of new methods and technologies for growing safe eco-products at small facilities with subsequent scaling up.
An automated multi-tiered storage rack system for plants growing (university vertical farm) was acquired at the expense of a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the implementation of measures aimed at updating the instrument base of leading organizations.
The purpose of the laboratory is to provide the necessary conditions for the development of research in the field of progressive plants cultivation by hydroponics and the training of highly qualified scientific personnel in the field of food engineering and the agricultural sector of the economy.