Time-lapse video of quinoa growing in Italy
FAO and the Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Systems in the Mediterranean (IsaFom) have released a time-lapse video showing the remarkable growth of quinoa over a three-month period. The video was shown during the quinoa event “Potential for growing quinoa in Europe” (Italian National Research Council [CNR]) on 17 October as part of the celebrations to mark World Food Week.
The pilot field filmed is located in Ercolano, Naples. It is part of the “ Quinoa Felix” project which aims to introduce Italian farmers to the cultivation of different quinoa varieties while promoting the production of quinoa-derived food products amongst various stakeholders.
FAO provided a professional GoPro camera which IsaFom assembled mounting a closed system to protect the camera from the elements. The camera, which included a wide-angle lens, was mounted 50 cm from ground level and took pictures every minute throughout the three-month period. FAO edited thousands of images to create the final video.
The images capture the entire three-month cycle of growth of the Titicaca variety (Danish variety) from the planting of the seeds at the end of May 2013 to the harvesting, which took place at the end of August 2013. During this period, the plants were irrigated five to six times. They grew to 1.70 m and were harvested manually as it has been done for centuries in the Andean region.