Can crops be grown without soil?

Can crops be grown without soil? A debate over the "roots" of agriculture.

Inside the greenhouse, tomatoes are growing quietly. Without soil, their roots are anchored in coir bags, sustained by a nutrient solution.

It looks a bit like something out of a sci-fi movie, yet it is happening right around us. Some hail it as "the future of agriculture," while others frown and ask, "Is this even farming? If crops are separated from the soil, aren't we betraying the roots of a practice we've cultivated for millennia?" Today, we won't take sides or get into an argument; instead, we'll calmly break it all down-examining how far soilless cultivation has come, what the key points of contention are, and what this means for the average person.

This is no longer a novelty; it is something happening right now. Let's look at the figures: China's area dedicated to soilless cultivation currently stands at approximately 500,000 hectares, with facility-based agriculture accounting for over 60% of this total-a sector that continues to grow at an annual rate of around 15%. In other words, this is not merely small-scale experimentation in a laboratory; it represents fully operational production lines. The disparity in yield is even more striking: traditional soil-based tomato farming produces roughly 5,000 to 7,000 kilograms per *mu*, whereas soilless cultivation in multi-span greenhouses yields between 25,000 and 35,000 kilograms per *mu*-an increase of four to six-fold.

Water and fertilizer utilization efficiency has risen from less than 35% to between 80% and 90%, cutting water consumption by more than half. On the same plot of land and using the same amount of water, output is higher and waste is reduced.