A hydroponic food productivity system developed with La Trobe University support has reached a commercial milestone with the launch of its first production greenhouse in Victoria and plans for deployment in India.
The system, originally developed with researchers from La Trobe's School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (SCEMS) and the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment (SABE) for the NASA deep space food program, uses controlled environment agriculture and automated plant optimisation to increase crop yields.
Funding for the system's development included $1 million from the La Trobe Eagle Fund—a joint investment initiative with Breakthrough Victoria—part of a $1.75 million seed round. Additional support came from Mandalay Venture Partners and LaunchVic's Hugh Victor McKay Fund.
YieldX is now operating in a 4,000-square-metre greenhouse at Butler Market Gardens in Lyndhurst, Victoria. The pilot has demonstrated increased efficiency in plant spacing, with projections indicating that basil production could rise by up to 1 million plants per year within the same footprint.
The system is set to be deployed in India through a multi-year agreement with Hyperpure, the fresh supply chain arm of Zomato, a publicly listed food and commerce platform. YieldX systems will be installed across multiple controlled environment agriculture sites near New Delhi, intended to support fresh produce supply during extreme heat and monsoon conditions.
La Trobe Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation Professor Chris Pakes noted that the project highlights collaboration between research institutions and industry partners. "This development shows how academic expertise can be applied to commercial solutions in agriculture," he said.
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YieldX Chief Executive Officer Nadun Hennayaka said the commercial launch represents the system's transition from research to practical application. "The system is now operating at a scale where growers can assess its performance in real-world conditions," he said.
Rick Butler, CEO of Butler Market Gardens, described the system as relevant to modern commercial horticulture. "Increasing production and labour efficiency is a priority. Adopting new technologies is part of long-term planning for growers," he said.
The YieldX technology was developed with input from La Trobe researchers Dr Alex Stumpf, Adam Console, and Fernando Galetto, who previously contributed to vertical farming projects under NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge. Dr Stumpf said the demonstration of crops at commercial scale validates the technology's potential for broader application.
The Lyndhurst site is now open to growers, distributors, and industry stakeholders, providing the opportunity to observe system performance, review data, and explore potential improvements in crop density, yield, and land-use efficiency.
Source: www.latrobe.edu.au
