The Ag1054 project “Off-Grid Containerized Agriculture in the North” is an AINA-led research project with Dr. Craig Gerlach as the Principal Investigator. Ag1054 uses a shipping container, formerly known as a CropBox, as a controlled environment for hydroponic (plants grown in nutrient-enriched water instead of soil) food production. The system has automated lights, pH levels, heating and CO2 and is completely off grid, powered by solar energy with diesel backup. The system can grow up to 700 individual plants (approximately 18,000 lb of fresh produce) at a time, providing crops like leafy greens, herbs, and fruiting plants. Experimentation with root crops such as carrots, potatoes, onions, and beets can also be done. The system is designed with harsh conditions in mind and comes with R60 insulation and an Arctic Entrance to provide more space to harvest and package produce.
The seeds are planted into dirt-free compostable squares and placed under specialized grow lights to get the seedlings started. Depending on the germination time for the specific plant they could be in this process from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Once the seedlings have started to sprout, they are moved from the nurturing station to their own space within the unit where they will grow until harvest. Depending on the plant, this takes 1 – 4 weeks to produce crops such as spinach, lettuce, kale, strawberries, arugula. Harvesting is done by pulling the plant out and cutting off the bottom compostable square. Without any dirt, this process is clean and quick.
Plants were grown in the hydroponic unit during the 2021 and 2023 summer seasons. A full-time Agriculture Research Coordinator was hired in 2025 for the Ag1054 project, including operating the hydroponic system. Local operators from 2023 have stayed on the project in advisory roles to help begin operations and guide the direction of the Ag1054 project with respect to local communities. The hydroponic unit was operated from June to early October 2025, with seedlings started in May. The unit produced thousands of plants over the season (3300 lettuce, 350 cilantro, and 250 basil). The greenhouse and outdoor garden beds provided hundreds of plants, including radish (500), kale (96), broccoli (40), tomato (35), and cucumber (20). For microgreens, 120 trays of pea shoots, arugula, radish, mustard, and broccoli were grown in soil under grow lights.
The Ag1054 project is committed to community engagement and outreach; people are always welcome to visit KLRS and see the system. Harvested plants were donated to local communities throughout the season and used in the KLRS kitchen. Education is a priority for the project, including teaching local schools about hydroponics and developing a short course requested by the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. The Ag1054 team is collaborating with Kluane First Nation (KFN) and Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN) to focus on growing additional plants in the hydroponics unit that the Nations are interested in.