PUBLISHED FÖR 14 DAGAR SEDAN.

LINDA  SÖDERLUND

In a few months the residents of Solberga in Stockholm can go and catch the dinner fish in the basement. At the same time, they can harvest salad, tomatoes and herbs. The cycling plant is tested to get locally produced food in town.

You first go through a bicycle cellar and then you come to a basement room, where the former storehouse was kept. An aquaponic cultivation has now been built, which provides both the fish and vegetables for the needs of the tenants.

THIS IS HOW AQUAPONI WORKS

- I jumped on the project right away. I am interested in food production and I also work with it. It seemed interesting to have friends with neighbors and raise fish and plants in the basement, says Markus Jantunen, one of the tenants in Solberga.

The entire plant is a biological system that works with bacteria. The plants get nourishment from the fish bait, and at the same time the plants help to clean the water so that it can return to the fish farm.

In two open tanks, tilapia swims, one of the world's most cultured fish. Tilapia grows fast and thrives on a small surface and one expects to get 200 kg of fish a year from here.

The fishermen sprinkle and swim up to the surface when Torbjörn Frisö pours half a cup of fish feed into the water.

- The only thing we add to the culture is oxygen and fish food, says Frisö.

Frisö founded Kretsloppsbolaget and he and Dag-Tore Johannessen have built the cultivation plant in the basement. Cultivation is part of the EU project Green Solberga and here in southern Stockholm several different climate-smart and sustainable innovations are tested.

The cultivation can provide 1500 basil pots per year

In the basement, three different hydroponic cultivation beds are tested, where one grows in water. Here grow lush basil, tomatoes, sugar peas, fennel and chili.

Basil is the main product right now and one expects 1500 basil pots per year.

THREE DIFFERENT HYDROPONIC CROPS

The big challenge is to maintain the balance in the biological system.

- Secondly, it is important to raise the level of bacteria, which converts the fish's poo ammonium to nitrite and then to nitrate. The pH value is important, as is the alkalinity, says Torbjörn Frisö.

With climate change, interest in urban cultivation is growing

Markus Jantunen believes that in the future it will become increasingly important that one can also produce their own food in the cities.

- We city dwellers do not have many options, compared to people living in rural areas. Then such solutions are needed to become self-sufficient in food.

He also appreciates the social part, to do something for the climate together with the neighbors.

- We are destroying our soil, we are depleting the soil and surpassing them elsewhere and we are fishing out of the sea. Then it is this that will be the future.

The ecocycle company also believes that interest in urban cultivation continues to grow. People are becoming increasingly aware of climate change and want to influence themselves with active choices.

It is hoped that this type of aquaponic plant will be built in several basements around Stockholm. According to the circuit company, the plant has many advantages.

- This food is extremely popular if you think of the tenants living in Solberga. Water consumption is smaller than in normal cultivation and so we have the premises that are already heated, says Dag-Tore Johannesson.

The cultivation requires supervision a few times a week

Now the inhabitants are learning how to manage the cultivation. It is a group of about ten people who have been allowed to register and eventually they take over the responsibility for the cultivation from the Circulation Company.

- It requires supervision two or three times a week, depending on how the plant has been set up. It takes some time, but at the same time it is fun, so I think it will be fine, ”says Jantunen.

Torbjörn shows Markus how to best sow basil. He uses regular seed soil and seeds sold for commercial use, they have much better germination than regular seeds.

- The first pots we put - oh, oh, as soon as it grew! It is amazing !, describes Torbjörn and shows with his hands how quickly the basilica grew.

"So the problem is that it gets so much that you don't know what to do about it?" Asks Markus.

- No, it's just eating it! We usually make pesto at home, it will be fine, Torbjörn tips and laughs.

The Green Solberga project also includes cultivation in pallet collars, a project with water stairs that can take advantage of stormwater and to test a biotechnology that removes bad odor during waste sorting. The project is run by IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet and Stockholmshem.