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Article Opportunities and Challenges in Sustainability of Vertical F...

Article Vertical farming: Skyscraper sustainability?

Indoor vertical farms have been a big trend for the past ten years in the agricultural world in order to respond, in particular, to issues of space optimization and resilience to climatic hazards. In terms of agriculture, recent years have been conducive to the revival of urban agriculture, which finds its source in various approaches: the development of green belts on the outskirts of cities; public gardens with vegetable gardens; shared gardens or crops on the roof or in cellars and car parks. indoor farming, vertical indoor farms, complete this range of devices. These correspond to a concept theorized in the 1990s by the American microbiologist Dickson Despommier, author of the book “Vertical farms: feeding the world in the 21st century”. He thus presents a form of agriculture that consists in growing plants on various superimposed floors. This horticultural method is all about maximizing the use of space by raising plants vertically, allowing more plants to be grown in less space. Currently, they are mainly used for growing lettuce, strawberries, or even aromatic herbs such as basil and chives. To achieve this, vertical farms have the constraint of artificially reproducing the natural conditions necessary for the most optimal development of plants. Plants grown in this way can benefit from various techniques such as hydroponics, a system in which the soil is replaced by a clay substrate and fed with a solution that optimizes access to oxygen, water and nutrients. . Aeroponics is also a system used. It is a technique of spraying the necessary nutrients on the roots of plants. Within these devices, nothing is left to chance: everything is designed so that the plants can benefit from optimal conditions to promote their growth: artificial light, control of temperature, humidity and other parameters are carefully managed. This permanent care given to crops allows vertical farms to display a yield that, depending on the sector, can exceed up to 100 times that of traditional agriculture, for water consumption of 10 times less.

Because they are urban and hyper-technological, vertical farms already appear very attractive to investors. In 2020, more than 520 million dollars were invested in this sector compared to 85 million in 2015. Funding that allows the sector to develop rapidly and to begin scaling up for a few pioneering startups, in the image of the American AeroFarms.

Finally, vertical farms make it possible to produce all year round and limit the risk of loss linked to natural hazards. In the future, they are therefore likely to be used to free up arable land for other types of crops and to respond to growing global food pressure. The way we cultivate the soil to produce food is not sustainable in terms of land, water and energy. However, vertical farming represents an innovative way to produce better quality food in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way. With the right investment and commitment, Vertical Farming could end up becoming the food production method of choice for future generations.

Regards

Thank you so much Dr Bachir for this elaborate answer.

Dear Navindra Boodia,

You are welcome.

Regards

Dear Navindra Boodia ,

Vertical Farming - a style of controlled environmental agriculture, or CEA - uses technology and 100% artificial light to grow more with far less real estate. that means farming indoors, whether in a greenhouse or entirely under grow lights. Just like Matt Damon’s character in The Martian, Mark Watney, these researchers and their commercial partners have been perfecting the right mix of nutrients, water, lighting, and environmental controls to grow fruits and vegetables untainted by pesticides, contaminates, or even outside air. There are lot of nvestment startups are currently occurring in vertical farming, which pave huge potentials for sustainable agriculture in future through this mechanism.

Vertical farms are best suited for plants and leafy vegetables that don't grow too high or too deep in the ground. This means that many layers of plants can be stacked in a single building, making it a more profitable farming method than traditional farming.

To sustain the population boom, it is recommended. You consult this book

Dear Navindra Boodia ,

Vertical farms can be a good option in urban residences to grow medium height plants under built conditions.

(Dr. Navindra Boodia), you have asked an interesting question in the field of vertical Farming production.But outdoor agriculture (Climate, soil, and our action) involves infinitely many environmental components, and it is difficult to control all of them in sustainability. However, in vertical agriculture, control is in the hands of the implementer and the stability of the relevant environment can be stabilized to some extent.

More investment is needed to be more sustainable in a vertical farming environment.

Yes, there is no doubt. Indoor farming is the future of agriculture. Indoor production is possible anywhere like in desert countries (the Middle East), they are producing higher yields than outdoor farming.

The vertical farming is important posibility for the plants and animals producer in citys or litle farm.

In countries with economical problems is fotos alternative.

Energy consumption is the main limiting factor ... with current fuel prices it doesn't look anything more than niche.

This looks like a good review, but behind a paywall. Suggest to email the authors to receive a copy: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00402-w

Let’s begin this discussion with the understanding that it takes energy to produce food. If you consider tradional farming and the usage of fossil fuels and the high cost of the initial start up, which includes the land, equipment, fuel, buildings for the storage of the large equipment, other systems for the drying and/or processing of the raw product then the storage of that product and the transportation of that product. Don’t forget the annual imputs, such as seeds and fertilizers. Now let’s consider controlled environment ag. Is the start up cost more that what i listed above? No. What are the life cycle replacement costs? For traditional farming how often would you have to replace a tractor or combine? Verses in CEA what you are looking at might be replacing a pump or some LED’s? For aquaponics, the imputs are the fish food and the seeds and the germinitation media. No fertilizers necessary. Since you can do CEA close to the market the cost of transportation is less. So, lets summarize by defining sustainable ag: 1- no fossile fule usage in the production or processing of food, 2- no chemical usage in the production or processing of food, 3- at least a 60%reduction in water usage. Instead of looking for answers in climate resilient crops let’s look at climate proof food production. Let’s not rely on the environment to produce our foods.

Thank you Lawrence Schaefer for your contributions to the discussion. I wonder if there are publications on a comparative cost-benefit analysis between vertical farming and traditional farming. I think that such a study will shed more light on the matter. The yield factor is worth considering in the revenue calculations.

Thank you Peter Baker , Pedro Rosas , Ihtisham M. , Seyyed Akbar Sadaty , each one of you raised pertinent points to make the discussion interesting.

@Navindra Boodia i don’t believe those comparative calculations have been done. I would be happy to work with you to do them. I would utilize prices and costs based in America. As far as harvest rates(quantity) go you will encounter the scale issue. There are a few large scale CEA operations. In order to do that comparative we could do projections.

New York Times today:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/business/vertical-farms-food.html

Es la mejor opción para alimentar a la población en crecimiento, permite usar los recursos; agua y nutrientes, en forma más eficiente. En condiciones naturales el sistema es más abierto, se pierde agua por escorrentía, infiltración y evapotranspiración, siendo el medio, por donde los nutrientes llegan a las plantas, también se pierden los nutrientes, causando eutrofización.

Cierto, que se requiere energía, para recircular el agua, pero usando paneles solares, se puede disminuir los costo añadidos.

Debido al usos de cobertores e invernaderos, se limita el ataque de plagas y enfermedades, lo cual disminuye el uso de pesticidas.

Hay buenos argumento para que sea más sostenibles.

I didn't find the article I was thinking on. But recently a big startup focused on vertical farming in containers, rooftops, ... closed. As previously said by Peter Backer, the dependency to the energy is stronger than in standard farming.

More tech means more energy as well.

I believe than self-regulating passive equipments are a good solution. For example, concerning water, irrigating only when it is needed, but without electronic control. This will make a big difference in the end.

Thank you Dr Gilles

I understand that Vertical Farms absolutely require automation. Photovoltaic systems coupled with use of sensors/ AI and machine learning stuff are recommended.

But can small family farms grow vertically with minimal investment, for example using low cost digital programmable timers and recirculation aquaponics or hydroponics systems?

Vertical farming uses considerably less land, water and soil than open field agriculture. These three key resources are likely to grow in importance over the next few decades

in my opinion yes and it can be Cheap price if connected to solar energy

Thank you Dr Metwally for your valuable contribution.

Dear Navindra Boodia . Yes. See the following useful link: https://www.cengn.ca/information-centre/innovation/vertical-farming-the-future-of-agriculture/

Kindly see also the following useful link: https://www.dell.com/en-us/perspectives/are-indoor-vertical-farms-the-future-of-agriculture/

Also check please the following useful link: Article Vertical farming: The future of agriculture: A review

The following RG links are ialso very useful:

http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1260488/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Article The Transformative Environmental Effects Large-Scale Indoor ...

Chapter How energy innovation in indoor vertical farming can improve...

Visit also the following useful RG link: Chapter Implication of Urban Agriculture and Vertical Farming for Fu...

Thank you very much Aref Wazwaz for sharing very informative resources.

Variations on the theme.

The only sustainable agriculture is that which produces for the primary needs of the population, not for large-scale distribution.

You are most welcome dear Navindra Boodia .

Wish you the best always

Please see the following regarding sustainability and viable approaches:

Article Vertical farming: Skyscraper sustainability?

Article Vertical farming: a summary of approaches to growing skywards

Regarding upscaling potential of vertical farming, please read:

Article Planning for sustainable urban food systems: An analysis of ...

Vertical farming will change agriculture as growing the crops on big farms and then transporting them is an expensive and time-consuming effort. Whereas vertical farming helps in supplying the produce from neighborhood buildings to grocery shops. It clearly shows that the food is fresher and that less fuel is needed. Vertical farming technique can cut water consumption by 95%. Due to the controlled climate, no pests or diseases are harbored by the soil, and it requires fewer farm pesticides. So organisms including farm workers, honeybees, and other plants and animals are exposed to less toxic substances. Vertical farming is considered a highly efficient and sustainable way of producing food. It uses 250 times less water than a traditional farm would need. The main advantage of vertical farming is the increased crop yield that comes with a smaller unit area of land requirement.