The Parish of São Francisco Xavier da Caparica, in Pragal, Almada, is developing the project "Super Garden, Aquaponics in a Container", which combines fish farming with soil-free plant cultivation in a closed cycle of food production. The system, installed in a container with a greenhouse and photovoltaic panels, produces more than 300 lettuces per month, biological foods completely free of fertilizers or chemicals.
The project is led by Father Luís Ferreira do Amaral, a Jesuit, who explained that he was motivated by his experience in refugee camps in northern Kenya, where he witnessed the logistical operation of food aid that arrived from the port of Mombasa, with high diesel consumption and mobilization of heavy vehicles. The idea came through a friend from Aveiro who presented this sustainable method to him.
The mechanism works through a cycle in which water enables fish growth, which provide nutrients to plants, and the lettuces consume these nutrients while cleaning the water that returns to the fish tank. The system eliminates the waste found in traditional agriculture and operates with minimal losses associated only with evaporation, requiring only basic on-site monitoring for vegetable harvesting.
The experimental project is taking place on the church grounds, located in a peripheral urban area of Almada marked by social vulnerability. The initiative aims to perfect the technology for future installation in United Nations refugee camps or in structures of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). It has funding from the EDP Foundation and the Auchan Foundation, in collaboration with the company Agro Simbiose Agrícola, has a planned duration of two years, and a report on the garden will be broadcast on the "70x7" program on RTP2.
