Basil, strawberries and lettuce are being grown some 20ft underwater off the Noli coast in Italy, according to news reports.
Nemo's Garden, an experimental project in its fourth year, is a cluster of five underwater ‘greenhouses’ operated by diving equipment company Ocean Reef Group, the Washington Post among other publications reports.
The balloon-like biospheres take advantage of the sea's natural properties to grow plants, press reports claim. The underwater temperatures are constant, and the shape of the greenhouses allows for water to constantly evaporate and replenish the plants. What's more, the high amounts of carbon dioxide make the plants grow at rapid rates.
The Ocean Reef Group reportedly said that they can lose multiple crops during a year and still get more out of their plants than if they were grown on land.
The group has a patent on their underwater greenhouse structures and plans to build a few more to experiment with other crops, such as mushrooms, which should thrive in the humid environment, reports said.
Sergio Gamberini, president of Ocean Reef Group, is understood to have come up with the idea of growing plants under the sea while on holiday in Italy.
He then began experimenting, sinking transparent biospheres under the ocean and filling them with air. 'I try to do something that's a little different and to show the beauty of the ocean,' Gamberini told reporters.
Although the group has not yet sold its produce, Sergio Gamberini's wife is said to have used the basil to make pesto for large parties.
'In the future, it'll definitely be something that's economically sustainable,' his son Luca Gamberini said. 'I see possibilities for developing countries where harsh conditions make it difficult for plants to grow.'
The company has reportedly already received interest from groups and countries wishing to expand on the concept, but so far they have declined to sell their product.
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