Speedy Corn for The Land

Vol 1. No. 13 Date: 9/13/82

SPEEDY CORN KEEPS PACE
WITH EPCOT CENTER CONSTRUCTION

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Even the corn is cooperating as we race toward the opening of Epcot Center on October 1.

That's right, the corn!

In The Land pavilion, presented by Kraft, Disney agriculturists will be showing innovative greenhouse growing systems such as corn planted in sterile sand, then watered and fed automatically through underground plastic tubes which seep exactly the right amount of moisture and fertilizer to individual plant roots.

According to horticulturist Hank Robitaile who manages the agriculture areas of The Land, "Crops pampered this way equal the growth rate under ideal soil, weather and other environmental conditions as good as the richest Iowa cornfield in a bumper - year."

So corn planted in mid-July will be as high as the proverbial elephant's eye (about 10 feet) by opening day when the first boatload of guests will visit the unique futuristic agriculture exploration center in a waterborne adventure called "Listen to the Land".

The Land presents a dramatic look at man and his environment around the world in three major show areas.

"It could also be a real eye-opener for urban rooftop and window box gardeners," Robitaile says. They will discover ways to grow crops in minimum land areas, on moving conveyor racks, in spray tanks, styrene blocks, sand, pools of water and in twirling lettuce drum simulating gravity for use by space travelers.

Among other things, guests will see king-size cucumbers grown in "vertical fields", banana pink jumbo squash hanging high, mini-fields of rice and pineapple plus special plants which produce rubber or "gasoline".

As for the super corn, Robitaile says, "You can almost see it grow from day-to-day in the bubble-covered growing areas which are air-cooled and protected by lucite roofs. All the world's important food crops will be shown along with little known plants which offer promise to help feed the world better in the future.

18 DAYS OUT

© 1982 Walt Disney Productions

COMMENTARY

Throughout the 1970s (and even today), the US was particularly plagued by the largely disproven fear of widespread famine postulated by the profoundly pessimistic Paul R. Ehrlich in his 1968 book “The Population Bomb” which famously—and erroneously—stated that "in the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now."

Among the many things Paul did not account for was humanity’s proclivity to innovate - particularly in the form of agricultural environmentalist Dr. Carl Hodges who devoted his life to the development of technologies and methods for planting crops under less-than-ideal conditions as well as inventing desalination systems and several other accomplishments that were decades ahead of their time. Carl was also most notably the senior advisor to The Land pavilion which was by far the most prolific of Epcot’s “living laboratories” and showcased many of his principles and philosophies.

Tropical Greenhouse with newly planted crops.
From the US Department of Agriculture