World’s only year-round greenhouse on permafrost opens in Yakutia
© RIA Novosti. Alexey Malgavko

World’s only year-round greenhouse on permafrost opens in Yakutia

The world's only year-round greenhouse center built in a long-term permafrost area with extremely low temperatures has opened in the Yakut village of Syrdakh in the Tulagino-Kildyamsky district, according to a statement released on the official website of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

"Twenty years ago, it was difficult to imagine that such a greenhouse could survive in Yakutia. But in the near future, thanks to modern science and innovation, residents of the entire republic will be able to get fresh organic vegetables and herbs during the whole year," Prime Minister of Yakutia Yevgeny Chekin said at the opening of the center.

Under the investment project, the second and the third stages of the year-round greenhouse center will be constructed in 2018-2020. The center will be equipped with special equipment and engineering and technological systems, which allow for the continuous production of vegetables in the protected soil with automatic microclimate and mineral nutrition control, and a minimum of manual labor.

By 2025, the greenhouse center will provide the residents of Yakutsk and neighboring areas with 56.4 percent of cucumbers, 15.7 percent of tomatoes and 8 percent of herbs.

The project will increase consumption of vegetables and improve food security in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) by reducing vegetables imports.