H&M Group-backed project produces garments from hydroponic-grown cotton

A project between Spanish hydroponic farming company Magtech and H&M Group’s Circular Innovation Lab is testing if cotton can be grown without soil using a closed water system and AI-powered monitoring.

The project has now moved beyond the testing stage, with an initial five-tonne batch of hydroponically grown cotton produced in Spain passing quality checks and being turned into garments. A second growing site is currently being developed in India.

The companies said that the system grows cotton roots in circulating water, using a controlled nutrient mix that can be recovered and reused. The intention is to remove the need for fertile land, reduce water use and limit the spread of pesticides and nutrients into surrounding waterways.

AI is being used to monitor individual plants, identify ripeness and detect pest infestations, allowing treatments to be targeted rather than applied across an entire crop.

David René Rodríguez, co-founder of Magtech, stated: “One hectare of our system contains approximately 30,600 plants distributed across 52 growing channels, each about 98 metres long. Walking those channels once means covering more than five kilometres.

“A skilled technician can inspect the crop, but no person can observe every plant continuously or maintain the same frequency and consistency at larger scales.”

In his own statement, Martin Ekenbark, Circular Innovation Lab lead at H&M Group, added: “Hydroponic growing, which raises the crop in water instead of soil, has the potential to solve most of these problems at once. You can basically set this up in a car park, on a rooftop, even in the desert. As long as there’s sun and a reasonable source of water.”

Rodríguez noted that the project is not intended to replace conventional cotton, but to demonstrate and independently validate an alternative method, adding: “We’re not claiming zero impact or trying to replace conventional cotton. The goal is to demonstrate, quantify and independently validate a complementary way to grow it."

The project’s environmental benefits are still subject to independent life-cycle assessment, while developers are further exploring how existing agricultural workers could transition into roles including growing, agronomy and technical operations.