Vertical Farming
Why the need for vertical farming? Our population is growing about 1% per year and current estimates are that by 2050, the world will need about 50% more food. In the last 40 years, almost 40% of our arable land used for farming has disappeared or is no longer available for farming. Houses, cities, streets, and roads take up a lot of land used to grow crops and food. By 2050, almost 80% of the people will live in urban areas and many of these areas are becoming food deserts without access to quality healthy green vegetables and crops.
With vertical farming, crops are now being grown in skyscrapers, warehouses, and even shipping containers inside cities and large metropolitan areas. The advantages are many including about 98% less water needed and 99% less land. A big advantage is reduced transportation and travel time. Crops are grown in tightly controlled areas regulating light, temperature, moisture, humidity, and nutrients. Crops are grown disease and pest free if monitored tightly and do not need to use herbicides to kill weeds.
The disadvantages include supplying supplemental heat, light, and of course all the nutrients. Many of these structures use a lot of electricity, however, some do use natural lighting as much as possible. Crops can be grown year-round in a controlled environment so weather risks (drought, floods, pest) risks are minimized. Due to multiple harvests, one acre can become equivalent to 240 acres depending upon the crop.
Vertical farming is not really that new. Babylonians and Roman hung pots in hanging gardens as far back as 2500 years. The Aztecs about 1000 years ago used floating rafts on ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers; to grow produce with the roots dangling in nutrient rich water. It’s a delicate balance keeping plants healthy in confined areas but with extensive monitoring it can be accomplished. How does it work?
Seeds are planted in a smaller area and grown to a certain size before being transplanted to a larger vertical stacked layers. The entire micro-environment is controlled including lighting (both natural and/or with electrical lighting), heat or temperature, moisture and humidity, and nutrients (generally liquid nutrients using hydronics). The biggest nutrient plants need is carbon dioxide for photosynthesis which can be supplemented in a greenhouse to maximize yield. Even oxygen can be diffused to roots to improve respiration for optimal plant growth. Multiple crop cycles can be grown and harvested throughout the year.
Here are some examples of crops that are being grown this way. Many vegetable greens and herbs like lettuce (Romain, butterhead), spinach, and kale along with herbs like lavender, basil, mint etc. Some fruits and vegetables include strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery. Some experiments are going on with melons including musk melon, water melon etc. Even rice and some small grains are being grown in Singapore today. Depending upon the crop, yields can be 240X higher on a per acre basis with vertical farming compared to horizontal traditional farming methods.
As our land is degrading due to erosion, land development, etc.; vertical farming offers a new way of growing some crops to feed our growing population. There is less water pollution, less or no conflict with wildlife, and food waste is generally limited to 3% or less if everything is controlled. Some crops, so far, can not be grown this way including potatoes, onions, and garlic.
For future space missions to the moon and/or Mars, vertical farming will be normal due to space and resource limitations. The biggest issue with vertical farming is definitely lighting and high electrical needs to make the system work on many crops.
Vertical farming is not just for vegetable crops and grains. A large pharmaceutical company in Bryan, Texas has an 18-story facility where they are conducting vertical farming. They grow 2.2 million tobacco-like plants in 50-feet high vertical stacks and they harvest the plants to make drugs and vaccines. All aspects of the operation are controlled to prevent pests, disease or outside contamination.
Vertical farming is highly adaptable with our future increased use of robotics, AI, data sensing, and data processing applications. Much of this work is repetitive and back breaking, so it makes sense to use machines that can work night and day. Soon humans will be physically working much less, but thinking and hopefully enjoying life much more.