University Sustainability Initiatives
University Strives for Self-Sufficient Food Production
In its quest to be a sustainable campus, Maharishi University of Management has an organic farming operation which in times of peak production provides most of the vegetables served in the campus dining hall.
The operation includes a one-acre greenhouse that produces vegetables year-round. There are also two smaller greenhouses, a seven-acre garden, and a half-acre plot that borders campus.
All of the produce is organic, and includes broccoli, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelons, yellow beans, green beans, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, parsley, basil, collard, chard, kale, varieties of lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, and many others, as well as melons, fruit, and flowers.
In addition to providing food for the dining hall, produce from the farm operation is sold to the greater community via Golden Dome Market, which is located on campus.
State-of-the-art organic methods are used in the greenhouse and in the outdoor gardens, including plastic mulch -- strips of plastic that cover the rows to reduce evaporation, control weeds, maintain an even soil temperature, prevent erosion, and keep the plants clean.
In addition, Maharishi University of Management is a member of Ecology Action, the parent organization of the Grow Biointensive organic sustainable gardening and mini-farming method.
The two smaller on-campus greenhouses have been converted to the Grow Biointensive method of growing food and soil, which will boost production and nutrient density while reducing inputs and energy use.
The farming operation is also doing pioneering research on how to grow crops in winter in the cold Iowa climate without using fossil fuels to heat the one-acre greenhouse, thaniks to a grant of $14,000 from Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The farm workers stopped heating the greenhouse in winter and began using a system of double plastic covering to conserve heat. They are measuring growth and yield of four crops, measuring soil and air temperatures, and estimating heating cost savings.
Not heating the greenhouse is reducing the farm’s fossil fuel consumption by about 88%. “This is an innovative study and a significant step in making the MUM Farm and the University more sustainable,” said Steve McLaskey, assistant professor of biology and agriculture and director of the farm.
The research is innovative due to the large size of the greenhouses, which grow organic vegetables in the ground. Past studies at other institutions have examined this method in smaller greenhouses.
“Most of the large greenhouses in North America are used for ornamental crops, not vegetables,” Dr. McLaskey said. “There are large vegetable greenhouses in Canada, but they mainly use hydroponic [soil-free] techniques. I do not know of any other places, besides Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City, that grow organic vegetables in the ground in one-acre greenhouses, especially in our very cold winter temperatures.”
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