UK Researchers Cultivate Crops 1 Kilometer Underground
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UK Researchers Cultivate Crops 1 Kilometer Underground
- Researchers in North Yorkshire, UK, are growing lettuce and pak choi over 1,000 meters underground in what is being called the world's deepest underground farm.
- The project, a 12-month study led by the University of Sheffield and Farm Urban, aims to gather real-world evidence on the commercial viability of subterranean farming.
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In North Yorkshire, UK, a pioneering project is underway to address food security concerns by cultivating crops more than 1,000 meters below the surface. Researchers from the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with Farm Urban, have established the world’s deepest underground farm within the Boulby mine near Saltburn. This 12-month study, which began around July 2026, focuses on growing produce like lettuce and pak choi in vertical towers.
The initiative seeks to determine if disused mines can be repurposed for commercially viable food production. Proponents believe that the stable underground environment, with its consistent temperatures and existing infrastructure such as lighting and ventilation, could significantly reduce the high energy costs typically associated with conventional vertical farming. Jacob Nickles, a University of Sheffield research fellow and project leader, emphasized the urgency, stating that the food crisis is “here… now,” intensified by recent extreme weather conditions in England.
The Boulby mine, a working operation and the world’s only commercial producer of polyhalite fertilizer, also hosts a government-funded science facility known for dark matter research. The project is supported by the UK government, with former science minister Patrick Vallance highlighting its potential to strengthen food security and protect the environment by reducing reliance on changeable weather. Beyond food production, the project aims to create new jobs and improve access to fresh produce in economically deprived areas by transforming redundant mine sites across the UK. While “Growing Underground” has operated a farm in a former World War II air-raid shelter 33 meters below Clapham, London, since 2015, the North Yorkshire project represents a significant step in exploring farming at much greater depths.