A Taiwanese IT company is using vacant space inside subway stations to grow organic vegetables in a bid to improve sustainability.

The initiative is being carried out in collaboration with the subway’s operating company, and salads and bento boxes made with the grown vegetables are sold at convenience stores on the premises.

At Taipei’s Nanjing Fuxing Station, lettuce is grown in a 40-square-metre hydroponic farm called Metro Fresh, which uses no pesticides or herbicides and uses technology to optimise conditions such as temperature, nutrients and light, including LED lighting.

These indoor vertical farming methods, also known as “smart farms”, are becoming increasingly popular in Taiwan as fewer young people are taking up farming, requiring less manpower and using technology to boost yields without being affected by weather conditions.

The footage was taken on September 30. (c)AFP