Sarah Gardner
Year 1 MArch
Sugar
Beet Stock Exchange
Wisbech, Fenlands
The Fenlands are a large agricultural area in eastern England, where 7% of the UK’s fresh produce is grown on just 4% of the land. With over 4,000 farms employing 80,000 people, this region is vital to the UK’s economy, biodiversity, and self-sufficiency in food supplies.
Current soil and plant treatment methods are causing a decline in crop production. This project focuses on sugar beet, which is widely grown in the Fens and meets 50% of the UK’s sugar demand. The impact of fertilizers, particularly Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potassium (NPK), on soil quality and crop yields is a significant concern. In recent years, there has been a substantial decline in sugar beet production due to climatic factors, affecting the entire industry.
The Sugar Beet Stock Exchange aims to locally address these issues by providing a visual indicator of soil management, sugar beet yields, and the need for appropriate fertilizers to increase yields. Central stock towers are filled with byproducts of the sugar production process, with levels indicating the yield of sugar beets, NPK content in the soil, and overall soil health. The towers are surrounded by sugar production spaces and facilities for byproduct material testing. New methods to create fertilisers are trialled on-site. This small development showcases the complete cycle from soil management to sugar bagging. Positive results from this investigation can be implemented on a larger scale.
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