New Agriculture Technology On Display At California State Fair

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A new technology on display at the California State Fair could change the agriculture industry.

New machines will grow vegetables three times faster while using very little water.

Dozens of varieties of fruits and vegetables are being cloned all with a snip of the stem.

"We've got tomatoes over here, Swiss chard, rainbow chard, basil, all the herbs...zucchinis, watermelons, pumpkins, cantaloupes, strawberries," said Rich Downing.

He is recreating plants from the California state garden, and they go right into the EZ Clone machine.

"We can do 459 plants all at the same time, and within 36 to 72 hours, we're ready to take those plants back out to the garden and plant them," he said.

From the cloning device, Downing transfers the plants to his tower gardens. They use up to 95 percent less water by growing plants without soil, only using air, mist and minerals in the water.

"If you're putting 100 gallons out in the garden each day, we're only using five gallons," he said.

Farmers and backyard green thumbs won't have to watch the calendar.

"We can grow things out of season, and with the Sacramento climate, there's no reason to have to bring it inside," he said. "The weather is really good, you can grow 365 days a year with these tower gardens outside."

Downing says there's no need to worry about the quality of the vegetables or whether they're safe to eat.

"The food is going to taste exactly like it did when it first started growing," he said.

The EZ Clone machine can be seen daily in the hydro-ag greenhouse at the Kaiser Permanente Farm. On the last day of the fair, guests will be able to take home their very own plants.