In Chile's Atacama Desert, fog water sustains lettuce and lemon farming

Growers in Chile’s Atacama Desert are turning fog into water to grow crops, including lettuce and lemons, in one of the driest places on Earth.

In the heart of Chile's Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world, farmers and scientists are finding an unlikely water source—fog. Using specially designed nets to catch moisture from the air, they are producing crops such as lettuce and lemons in a region where rainfall is almost nonexistent. Some areas in the Atacama can go years without a single drop of rain.

"We are growing hydroponic lettuce entirely with fog water in the driest desert on the planet," said Orlando Rojas, president of the Atacama Fog Catchers Association, near Chanaral.

The system relies on a simple structure: mesh nets suspended between poles capture fog particles, which then condense into droplets. These are collected and stored in tanks, providing a sustainable water source in an otherwise inhospitable environment.

According to Rojas, efforts with other crops have not been successful, leading the team to focus on lettuce. However, lemon trees have also started growing with the collected water.

"We are able to collect 1,000 to 1,400 litres of water in these inhospitable places, where we are clearly not favoured by nature in other ways," he said.

To support wider adoption, researchers at the UC Atacama Desert Center are launching a web-based map showing areas suitable for fog harvesting across the country.

"We know its potential and we know it can be an option and a solution for different scales of water needs in different territories," said the centre’s director, Camilo Del Rio.

Fog water is not only abundant but also remarkably clean according to Mario Segovia, a member of the fog-catching group.

"This fog-catcher water is completely neutral, it has no minerals, no chlorine, nothing," said Mario.

He described the harvested crops as healthy and organic, grown with nutrient-rich hydroponic methods.

For many involved, the fog-catching project is more than agricultural innovation—it's essential for survival.

"Once we learned about this project, we haven't stopped because it is vital for human subsistence," said Rojas.

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