© Henrik Spohler
Cutting-edge agriculture combines ancient techniques with new innovations and extraordinary scale. The result can look like science fiction.German photographer Henrik Spohler recently documented agricultural methods including genetic engineering of plants by scientists in Germany, "gigantic outdoor monocultures in the United States" and farming "under glass and plastic in the Netherlands and Spain," to show "places where man has assumed the role of Creator."
He shared some photos here, and you can see more at his website and in his book, "The Third Day ."
Scientists grow and measure corn plants at an research facility in Germany.© Henrik Spohler
Shittake mushrooms grow on compressed sawdust blocks in Germany, which are designed to mimic dead logs.
© Henrik Spohler
At facilities like this tomato greenhouse in Middenmeer, Netherlands, scientists have tamed mother nature to grow fresh produce at any time of the year.
© Henrik Spohler
Inside the greenhouse, farmers grow rows upon rows of perfectly shaped tomatoes.
Whether mass-produced fruit tastes as good is another story.
© Henrik Spohler
Up close, you can see multiple tomato trusses (the fruit-bearing part of the plant) growing from a single plant.
© Henrik Spohler
The dry, dusty climate in Andalusia, Spain used to make it a poor place to farm. Then farmers began covering the landscape with greenhouses, building a $2.8 billion agriculture industry.
© Henrik Spohler
Fields in Paso Robles, Calif. may look like the surface of a desolate planet, but they're actually just fallow. Fields are left ploughed but unseeded to let them regain fertility for a later season.
© Henrik Spohler
Irrigation channels in California transformed an area that used to be covered with dry steppe into one of the most important fruit and vegetable farming regions in North America.
© Henrik Spohler
Grape vines grow in semi-arid King City, Calif.
© Henrik Spohler
Prior to planting, soil must be chemically treated to rid it of weeds in the seedbed that would compete with the crop for water and nutrients.
© Henrik Spohler
The soil is covered with plastic mulch to suppress weeds and conserve water. Plants grow through small slits in the sheeting. Plastic mulch has been praised for preventing rotting fruit, but disposal of the sheeting has become an environmental problem.
© Henrik Spohler
Here, the soil has been tilled and irrigated in California. Seedlings are beginning to grow.
© Henrik Spohler
At a vineyard in California, grapes are near the beginning of their growth cycle.
© Henrik Spohler
Cacti grow in perfect uniformity in Borrego Springs, Calif.
© Henrik Spohler
