How To Grow Food In A Concrete Jungle

Editor’s Note: The vertical farming industry continues to evolve as more operators come online. The diversity of operators and crops being grown will allow for new products to go to market and provide the consumer with fresher choices for their shopping carts. Agritecture’s client, Agricool, is one of many CEA operators leading the way.

CONTENT SOURCED FROM BBC

BY DALIAH SINGER

Building flourishing farms in the heart of cities used to be just a utopian fantasy. Now it's an important step towards developing a smart, diversified food system capable of feeding a growing world population.

Guillaume Fourdinier has lived in Paris for six years, but he still misses the taste of the fresh cereal grains, beets, carrots, and more that grow on his family's farm in Verton. There, in northern France's countryside, eating locally is a way of life – not simply a trend or a sticker on an apple at the grocery store.

“Local food is everywhere when you are in the countryside. You get fruits and vegetables with better taste, more nutritional value,” he says. “When you are in Paris, what is local food? There is nothing coming from a local farm. I think for quality of life for people living in big cities this is a big problem.”

In 2015, Fourdinier co-founded Agricool, an urban farm that's now comprised of 11 recycled shipping containers on the north side of the city. Eight farmers plant, harvest, pack, and deliver the pesticide-free lettuces, herbs, and strawberries to 60 supermarkets (though Fourdinier expects that number to grow to at least 200 retailers by the end of 2021).

mage sourced from BBC

Urban farms like Agricool are part of a broad collection of metropolitan agricultural efforts including everything from vertical farms to greenhouses to aquaponics to community gardens. The idea of cultivating food in or near cities is not new (see the victory gardens of both world wars, for example), but these ventures have become increasingly popular in recent years as the local food movement strengthens. After the rise of the supermarkets led many people to feel disconnected from food production, consumers are again paying more attention to how and where their food is grown, along with how far ingredients must travel between field and plate.

From Brussels to Nigeria, entrepreneurs and farmers are reimagining what farms are and conceiving innovative technology to help grow food in smaller spaces and in more sustainable ways. They're attempting to fix existing food supply chain concerns, which we've all became intimately familiar with in the past year. Images of picked-over grocery shelves and farmers tossing out produce early in the Covid-19 pandemic broadcast the failures and fragility of our current systems.

By 2050, it's estimated that the global population will balloon to almost 10 billion, and 68% of those people will live in cities. That means we'll have to produce more food than ever before, to feed people who live farther from the rural areas where most crops and animals are cultivated. Bringing production closer to where consumption happens could increase food security, improve our health and lessen the industry's considerable impacts on the planet – if we're able to grow enough nutrient-rich grub, that is.

In the United States, it's estimated that urban and peri-urban farms account for almost 15% of the country's farms. Among them is 80 Acres Farms, a vertical farming operation based in Ohio but which has eight locations in four states, all of which use zero pesticides and require 97% less water consumption compared to traditional farms. (Vertical farming refers to growing crops in vertically stacked layers in a controlled environment, often incorporating soilless techniques.)

Co-founders Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston are trying to push the potential of this multi-billion-dollar industry further. To date, enterprises like theirs have primarily focused on easy-to-grow leafy greens – which won't sustain civilisation on their own – but with advancements in technology Zelkind and Livingston have been able to add more substantial crops like peppers, tomatoes and baby cucumbers. They explain how their farms have incorporated sophisticated technologies in the video below.

80 Acres is a year-round operation that optimises its growing environments based on the plants' genetics, harvests at the peak of ripeness, and relies on a smaller delivery radius to get food to customers within a day of its picking. It's “democratising high-quality food”. 

“You can enable people, no matter where they live, to reconnect to the food supply,” Zelkind says. 

Image sourced from BBC

Technology has made the duo's goals increasingly achievable – and made indoor farming both more efficient and more affordable. 80 Acres' farms are, on average, 300 to 400 times more productive than field farming, Zelkind says, because the vertical structure creates room for more crops in less space and because the produce grows faster. 

At Agricool, which also relies on a tiered growing system, Fourdinier says his containers produce 120 times more sustenance per square meter than in traditional field growing and 15 times more than most greenhouses.

“Ten years ago, this was science fiction,” Zelkind says. “Tomorrow it's going to be so ubiquitous that everybody's going to be doing it and we will think, 'Oh my God, did we really ship our berries 2,000 miles a few years ago?'”

To that end, 80 Acres is commercializing what it's learned through Infinite Acres – a partnership with Netherlands-based horticulture technology firm Priva Holding BV and the UK's online grocery giant Ocado. The project provides the technology, operations help, and necessary infrastructure to help budding farmers and interested municipalities launch their own indoor farms. 80 Acres operates a reference design and demonstration farm in Hamilton, Ohio, that's capable of robotically planting, harvesting, and packaging around 1.5 million pounds (681 tonnes) of leafy greens annually. It proves the “economic feasibility of vertical farming indoors”, Livingston says. “We intend to build a farm like this farm all over the world.”

Which gets to the big question: Can a patchwork of metro area farms actually grow enough to feed future populations?

“To say that it is a solution to all of the ails? No, it's never going to be to me because we don't grow calorie crops in controlled spaces. I think it's a compliment. It can provide resilience on a very local level in that you have multiple [food] sources and you're not relying on just one supply chain,” says Anu Rangarajan, director of the Cornell Small Farms Program, which works to advance the viability of small farms. “It becomes part of a whole platform of food supply.” 

In Paris, Agripolis recently opened Nature Urbain Farm on the seventh story of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Five gardeners currently tend to the tomatoes, strawberries, eggplant, and even butternut squash growing on the world's largest rooftop farm using a closed-circuit, aeroponics system. The facility is only one-third complete, but there will be room for 20 gardeners to harvest up to 1.1 tons (1,000kg) of 35 varieties of fruit and vegetables every day. This surprising farm on a central Paris rooftop is already bearing fruits.

Image sourced from BBC

Vertical Farming Startup Oishii Raises $50m In Series A Funding

By Sian Yates

03/11/2021

Oishii, a vertical farming startup based in New Jersey, has raised $50 million during a Series A funding round led by Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II.

The funds will enable Oishii to open vertical strawberry farms in new markets, expand its flagship farm outside of Manhattan, and accelerate its investment in R&D.

“Our mission is to change the way we grow food. We set out to deliver exceptionally delicious and sustainable produce,” said Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga. “We started with the strawberry – a fruit that routinely tops the dirty dozen of most pesticide-riddled crops – as it has long been considered the ‘holy grail’ of vertical farming.”

“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone. From there, we’ll quickly expand into new fruits and produce,” he added.

Oishii is already known for its innovative farming techniques that have enabled the company to “perfect the strawberry,” while its proprietary and first-of-its-kind pollination method is conducted naturally with bees.

The company’s vertical farms feature zero pesticides and produce ripe fruit all year round, using less water and land than traditional agricultural methods.

“Oishii is the farm of the future,” said Sparx Group president and Group CEO Shuhei Abe. “The cultivation and pollination techniques the company has developed set them well apart from the industry, positioning Oishii to quickly revolutionise agriculture as we know it.”

The company has raised a total of $55 million since its founding in 2016.

The Stock Market Discovers Indoor Ag In A Big Way

Robinhood antics aside, there’s no hotter topic in finance right now than SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies), and even indoor agriculture has become caught up in the buzz.

SPACs, or special purpose acquisition corporations, are a shell company that lists itself on a stock exchange and then uses the listing proceeds to acquire or merge with another company. It’s an attractive route to raising funds for companies looking for a faster and cheaper way to list than the rigours of the traditional IPO process. 

Though SPACs have been around since the 1990s, they have had a reputation for being “the buyer of last resort”, primarily owing to a spate of failures in the early 2000s. The approach has once more taken off in recent years. There was nearly 8x as much raised in 2020 as in 2018, and 2021’s total has already surpassed last year’s[1]. The approach has become so hot that even Goldman Sachs junior investment bankers recently complained that they were burned out by the sheer volume of SPACs they’re working on[2]. 

This newfound enthusiasm is generally traced to a combination of tighter SEC regulations, efforts by cash-rich private equity companies to exit portfolio companies and fewer traditional IPO listings. Higher quality sponsors, such as 40-year old private equity firm Thoma Bravo, lead some to believe that things are different this time around.  The lustre of famous SPAC participants – such as baseball player A-Rod and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal – has helped things along.  

Detractors point to post-listing underperformance by SPACs, high fees to sponsors and opaqueness around the acquisition of companies.  SPAC rules mean that institutional investors sometimes get to see information on potential acquisitions ahead of retail investors.[3] On a recent Clubhouse chat, one investor compared SPACs to the risky no-revenue internet listings of the late 1990s. Another questioned whether retail investors’ appetite for such vehicles would cause greater market volatility[4].

Dan Bienvenue, the interim CEO of mega public pension fund CALPERs, recently described SPACs as “fraught with potential misalignment, potential governance issues”.[5] That said, similar dire warnings have accompanied the rise of many a new approach in finance, most recently equity crowdfunding, and have proven wrong as often as right.

As is so often the case in indoor agriculture, cannabis companies have led the way when it comes to SPACs, generally listing in Canada owing to the US federal prohibition on the crop. One example is Choice Consolidation Corp, which raised $150mm in February, and says that it plans to acquire “existing strong single-state operators”[6].

Historically, food-focused indoor agriculture companies have sourced little of their capital from public markets, preferring instead to work with private equity and strategic investors. To be sure, there is a small cadre of listed CEA firms, such as Canadian greenhouse operator Village Farms (TSE: VFF) and Canadian grow system tech company CubicFarm Systems Corp (TSXV: CUB) are exceptions to this rule.

All of that changed last month when Kentucky-based greenhouse company AppHarvest raised $475mm through NASDAQ listed SPAC Novus Capital. The funds will fuel the expansion of up to a dozen new farms through 2025.

Naturally, the move has led to speculation that vertical farms and greenhouses will follow suit, though it’s worth noting that the rules that govern SPACs aren’t necessarily friendly to CEA companies. They favour large, highly valued companies that easily capture the attention of retail investors, and those are not plentiful in CEA.  

Regardless of whether the SPAC trend becomes a permanent feature of the indoor farm fundraising landscape, one more method of accessing capital for CEA can only be a good thing. For the moment at least.

For more information:
Contain
www.contain.ag

Note: None of the above constitutes investment advice.

Sources:
[1] SPACInsider figures
[2] “Goldman’s junior bankers complain of crushing workload amid SPAC-fueled boom in Wall Street deals”, CNBC, March 18, 2021
[3] For instance, where a PIPE is being considered by the SPAC
[4] “SPACS: IPO 2.0 & Agrifoodtech Exits”, March 4, 2021
[5] “CalPERS’ Bienvenue: SPACs are fraught with potential misalignment”, Private Equity International, March 16, 2021
[6] “New cannabis SPAC raises $150 million in IPO for US acquisitions”, Marijuana Business Daily, February 19, 2021

Publication date: Wed 24 Mar 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

A New Searchable Directory Focuses On Women Innovators In Agrifoodtech

Connie Bowen & Amy Wu

Image credit: Women in Agriculture Summit

Editor’s note: Amy Wu is the founder of From Farms to Incubators in Salinas, California, and Connie Bowen is the director of innovation and investment at AgLaunch in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Despite a global pandemic, agrifoodtech startups received $30.5 billion in investment in 2020 – a big increase from the $20.2 billion raised in 2019, according to AgFunder’s 2021 Agrifoodtech Investment Report. Previously emerging technology trends rapidly accelerated in the midst of increasing pressures on global food supply chains. These include everything from robotics and automation to fill the gap of human labor, to business models that enable producers to capture a higher percentage of dollars by selling their product directly to consumers.

Innovations and technologies are also tackling big impact issues such as food security and food waste. This is excellent news for investors, entrepreneurs, and growers who debated the viability of what was once a fledgeling sector.

But everywhere we look, the gender inequity in the distribution of opportunities and resources is painfully obvious. Looking at the 10 largest agrifoodtech financings in 2020, 100% of the founders of these 10 companies are men. Of the top 20 financings, just two are known to have women co-founders.

In 2019, only 7% of investment money that went into agrifoodtech deals went to startups founded by women, according to a 2019 report — ‘Money Where Our Mouths Are’ (MWOMA) — released by AgFunder, Karen Karp & Partners, and The Counter in collaboration with S2G Ventures. The data aren’t yet available for 2020 – but watch this space! 

The bottom line is that while the number of women founders, leaders, and innovators in the agrifoodtech sector — which extends into agbio and foodbio — continues to grow, the voices (and exposure) of women in the industry remain few and far between.

Challenge often creates opportunity and this is what a handful of women in agrifoodtech saw when they independently began collecting the names of women in the sector into a list simply because no such list existed. The women included agtech entrepreneurs, investors, and journalists who write about agrifoodtech. In 2020, they became aware of each others’ lists and decided to combine forces and merge them into a single directory.

Today, we’re launching the ‘Womxn in AgTech Directory’ – a searchable Airtable directory that lists the names and social media platforms of womxn founders and leaders in agrifoodtech in the US and internationally. This list is the result of a collaboration between women leaders in agtech including Connie Bowen (AgLaunch Initiative), Amy Wu (From Farms to Incubators), Allison Kopf (Artemis Ag), Pam Marrone (Marrone Bio Innovations), and Louisa Burwood-Taylor (AgFunder, AFN, MWOMA), and we hope that you’ll get involved, too.

Alison Kopf, the founder and CEO of Artemis Ag, says she was motivated to start a list in 2018 “because we have a stark vacancy of diverse voices on panels and events in our industry and wanted to elevate women to the table, especially when in ag — mostly corporate ag — there are already strong women voices at the top.”

“I want to see more women and black, indigenous, and other people of color starting companies in ag and in general,” she added.

Pam Marrone, the founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, a Nasdaq-listed company in the agbio space, had an Excel sheet where she’d been compiling whatever names she came across. Over the years it has evolved from handfuls to dozens.

“With more and more women jumping into agtech and starting companies, it is critical to track the progress and to network with each other and provide support and mentoring. In addition, this list can help those organizing conferences who are looking to diversify the speakers and panels,” Marrone said.

Louisa Burwood-Taylor says that, as a journalist, she wants to contribute to building a solid data set that connects agtech with gender to solutions to gender inequality. While there are articles, columns, and anecdotal evidence that shed light on this topic, unfortunately, there is a lack of statistics.

“There’s so little data to prove how or why gender biases persist, so I’m keen to create a community where more can be shared, learned, and reported to help change that,” she said. Through MWOMA, Burwood-Taylor is working on bringing more data to light to help change investor and entrepreneur behaviors.

We hope that this directory can serve as a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs — in and outside of agtech — for growers and investors to connect with, learn from, hire, and invest in women in agtech.

We hope that conference organizers will find it and consider adding more women as speakers, that investors and VC firms will find the list and take a deep dive into the companies, and growers will connect with founders through this portal. Finally, we believe that by working as a collective we can create a paradigm shift – more women can enter this space and will be encouraged to enter this space.

The directory will be made live today on From Farms to Incubators and is visible here. Women can add (or update) their names and info through a short survey here.

Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network

by Jennifer Marston

Image from: Little Leaf Farms

Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.

Little Leaf Farms says the capital is “earmarked” to build new greenhouse sites along the East Coast, where its lettuce is currently available in about 2,500 stores. 

The company already operates one 10-acre greenhouse in Devins, Massachusetts. Its facility grows leafy greens using hydroponics and a mixture of sunlight supplemented by LED-powered grow lights. Rainwater captured from the facility’s roof provides most of the water used on the farm. 

According to a press release, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its retail sales to $38 million since 2019. And last year, the company bought180 acres of land in Pennsylvania on which to build an additional facility. Still another greenhouse, slated for North Carolina, will serve the Southeast region of the U.S. 

Little Leaf Farms joins the likes of Revol Greens, Gotham Greens, AppHarvest, and others in bringing local(ish) greens to a greater percentage of the population. These facilities generally pack and ship their greens on the day of or day after harvesting, and only supply retailers within a certain radius. Little Leaf Farms, for example, currently servers only parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. 

The list of regions the company serves will no doubt lengthen as the company builds up its greenhouse network in the coming months.

Agritech: Precision Farming With AI, IoT and 5G

Image from: Photo by Mohd Izwan Mohd Nazam/The Edge

For a company that grows and delivers vegetables, Boomgrow Productions Sdn Bhd’s office is nothing like a farm, or even a vertical farm.

Where farms are bedecked with wheelbarrows, spades and hoes, Boomgrow’s floor plan is akin to a co-working space with a communal island table, several cubicles, comfortable armchairs, a cosy hanging rattan chair and a glass-walled conference room in the middle.

At a corner, propped up along a walkway leading to a rectangular chamber fitted with grow lights, are rows of support stilts with hydroponic planters developed in-house and an agricultural technologist perched on a chair, perusing data. “This is where some of the R&D work happens,” says Jay Dasen, co-founder of the agritech start-up.

But there is a larger farm where most of the work behind this high-tech initiative is executed. Located a stone’s throw from the city centre in Ampang is a 40ft repurposed shipping container outfitted with perception technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that mimic the ideal environment to produce more than 50,000kg of vegetables a year.

Stacked in vertical layers, Boomgrow’s vegetables are grown under artificial lights with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to detect everything from leaf discolouration to nitrate composition. This is coupled with AI and machine learning algorithms.

Boomgrow is the country’s first 5G-connected vertical farm. With the low latency and larger bandwidth technology, the start-up is able to monitor production in real time as well as maintain key para­meters, such as temperature and humidity, to ensure optimal growth conditions.

When Jay and her co-founders, K Muralidesan and Shan Palani, embarked on this initiative six years ago, Boomgrow was nowhere near what it is today.

The three founders got together hoping to do their part in building a more sustainable future. “I’ve spent years advising small and large companies on sustainability, environmental and social governance disclosures. I even embarked on a doctorate in sustainability disclosure and governance,” says Jay.

“But I felt a deep sense of disconnect because while I saw companies evolving in terms of policies, processes and procedures towards sustainability, the people in those organisations were not transforming. Sustainability is almost like this white noise in the background. We know it’s important and we know it needs to be done, but we don’t really know how to integrate it into our lives.

“That disconnect really troubled me. When we started Boomgrow, it wasn’t a linear journey. Boomgrow is something that came out of meaningful conversations and many years of research.”

Shan, on the other hand, was an architect who developed a taste for sustainable designs when he was designing modular structures with minimal impact on their surroundings between regular projects. “It was great doing that kind of work. But I was getting very dissatisfied because the projects were customer-driven, which meant I would end up having debates about trivial stuff such as the colour of wall tiles,” he says.

As for Murali, the impetus to start Boomgrow came from having lived overseas — while working in capital markets and financial services — where quality and nutritious produce was easily available.

Ultimately, they concluded that the best way to work towards their shared sustainability goals was to address the imminent problem of food shortage.

“By 2050, the world’s population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion people, two-thirds of whom will be in Asia-Pacific. Feeding all those people will definitely be a huge challenge,” says Jay. 

“The current agricultural practice is not built for resilience, but efficiency. So, when you think of farming, you think of vast tracts of land located far away from where you live or shop.

“The only way we could reimagine or rethink that was to make sure the food is located closer to consumers, with a hyperlocal strategy that is traceable and transparent, and also free of pesticides.”

Having little experience in growing anything, it took them a while to figure out the best mechanism to achieve their goal. “After we started working on prototypes, we realised that the tropics are not designed for certain types of farming,” says Jay. 

“And then, there is the problem of harmful chemicals and pesticides everywhere, which has become a necessity for farmers to protect their crops because of the unpredictable climate. We went through many iterations … when we started, we used to farm in little boxes, but that didn’t quite work out.”

They explored different methodologies, from hydroponics to aquaponics, and even started growing outdoors. But they lost a lot of crops when a heat wave struck.

That was when they started exploring more effective ways to farm. “How can we protect the farm from terrible torrential rains, plant 365 days a year and keep prices affordable? It took us five years to answer these questions,” says Jay.

Even though farmers all over the world currently produce more than enough food to feed everyone, 820 million people — roughly 11% of the global population — did not have enough to eat in 2018, according to the World Health Organization. Concurrently, food safety and quality concerns are rising, with more consumers opting for organically produced food as well as safe foods, out of fear of harmful synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, consumer demand for global organic fruit and vegetables was valued at US$19.16 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% by 2026.

Meanwhile, the precision farming market was estimated to be US$7 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$12.8 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 12.7% between 2020 and 2025, states MarketsandMarkets Research Pte Ltd.

Malaysia currently imports RM1 billion worth of leafy vegetables from countries such as Australia, China and Japan. Sourcing good and safe food from local suppliers not only benefits the country from a food security standpoint but also improves Malaysia’s competitive advantage, says Jay.

Unlike organic farming — which is still a soil-based method — tech-enabled precision farming has the advantage of catering for increasing demand and optimum crop production with the limited resources available. Moreover, changing weather patterns due to global warming encourage the adoption of advanced farming technologies to enhance farm productivity and crop yield.

Boomgrow’s model does not require the acres of land that traditional farms need, Jay emphasises. With indoor farms, the company promises a year-round harvest, undisturbed by climate and which uses 95% less water, land and fuel to operate.

Traditional farming is back-breaking labour. But with precision technology, farmers can spend less time on the farm and more on doing other things to develop their business, she says.

Boomgrow has secured more than RM300,000 in funding via technology and innovation grants from SME Corporation Malaysia, PlaTCOM Ventures and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, and is on track to build the country’s largest indoor farms.

Image from: Boomgrow

The company got its chance to showcase the strength of its smart technology when Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) approached it to be a part of the telco’s Smart Agriculture cluster in Langkawi last October.

“5G makes it faster for us to process the multiple data streams that we need because we collect data for machine learning, and then AI helps us to make decisions faster,” Jay explains.

“We manage the farm using machines to study inputs like water and electricity and even measure humidity. All the farm’s produce is lab-tested and we can keep our promise that there are no pesticides, herbicides or any preserving chemicals. We follow the food safety standards set by the EU, where nitrate accumulation in plant tissues is a big issue.”

With TM’s 5G technology and Boomgrow’s patent-pending technology, the latter is able to grow vegetables like the staple Asian greens and highland crops such as butterhead and romaine lettuce as well as kale and mint. While the company is able to grow more than 30 varieties of leafy greens, it has decided to stick to a selection of crops that is most in demand to reduce waste, says Jay.

As it stands, shipping containers are the best fit for the company’s current endeavour as containerised modular farms are the simplest means of bringing better food to local communities. However, it is also developing a blueprint to house farms in buildings, she says.

Since the showcase, Boomgrow has started to supply its crops to various hotels in Langkawi. It rolled out its e-commerce platform last year after the Movement Control Order was imposed. 

“On our website, we promise to deliver the greens within six hours of harvest. But actually, you could get them way earlier. We harvest the morning after the orders come in and the vegetables are delivered on the same day,” says Jay.

Being mindful of Boomgrow’s carbon footprint, orders are organised and scheduled according to consumers’ localities, she points out. “We don’t want our delivery partners zipping everywhere, so we stagger the orders based on where consumers live. 

“For example, all deliveries to Petaling Jaya happen on Thursdays, but the vegetables are harvested that morning. They are not harvested a week before, three days before or the night before. This is what it means to be hyperlocal. We want to deliver produce at its freshest and most nutritious state.”

Plans to expand regionally are also underway, once Boomgrow’s fundraising exercise is complete, says Jay. “Most probably, this will only happen when the Covid-19 pandemic ends.”

To gain the knowledge they have today, the team had to “unlearn” everything they knew and take up new skills to figure what would work best for their business, says Jay. “All this wouldn’t have been possible if we had not experimented with smart cameras to monitor the condition of our produce,” she laughs.

Vertical Farming ‘At a Crossroads’

Building the right business model to balance resource usage with socio-economic conditions is crucial to capturing new markets, say speakers ahead of Agri-TechE event

Image from: Fruitnet

Although growing crops all year round with Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) has been proposed as a method to localize food production and increase resilience against extreme climate events, the efficiency and limitations of this strategy need to be evaluated for each location. 

That is the conclusion of research by Luuk Graamans of Wageningen University & Research, a speaker at the upcoming Agri-TechE event on CEA, which takes place on 25 February.

His research shows that integration with urban energy infrastructure can make vertical farms more viable. Graamans’ research around the modelling of vertical farms shows that these systems are able to achieve higher resource use efficiencies, compared to more traditional food production, except when it comes to electricity. 

Vertical farms, therefore, need to offer additional benefits to offset this increased energy use, Graamans said. One example his team has investigated is whether vertical farms could also provide heat.

“We investigated if vertical farms could provide not just food for people living in densely populated areas and also heat their homes using waste heat. We found that CEA can contribute to stabilizing the increasingly complex energy grid.”

Diversification

This balance between complex factors both within the growing environment and wider socio-economic conditions means that the rapidly growing CEA industry is beginning to diversify with different business models emerging.

Jack Farmer is CSO at vertical producer LettUs Grow, which recently launched its Drop & Grow growing units, offering a complete farming solution in a shipping container. 

He believes everyone in the vertical farming space is going to hit a crossroads. “Vertical farming, with its focus on higher value and higher density crops, is effectively a subset of the broader horticultural sector,” he said. 

"All the players in the vertical farming space are facing a choice – to scale vertically and try to capture as much value in that specific space, or to diversify and take their technology expertise broader.”

LettUs Grow is focussed on being the leading technology provider in containerised farming, and its smaller ‘Drop & Grow: 24’ container is mainly focussed on people entering the horticultural space.

Opportunities in retail

“This year is looking really exciting,” he said. “Supermarkets are investing to ensure a sustainable source of food production in the UK, which is what CEA provides. We’re also seeing a growth in ‘experiential’ food and retail and that’s also where we see our Drop & Grow container farm fitting in.”

Kate Hofman, CEO, GrowUp agrees. The company launched the UK’s first commercial-scale vertical farm in 2014.

“It will be really interesting to see how the foodservice world recovers after lockdown – the rough numbers are that supermarket trade was up at least 11 per cent in the last year – so retail still looks like a really good direction to go in. 

“If we want to have an impact on the food system in the UK and change it for the better, we’re committed to partnering with those big retailers to help them deliver on their sustainability and values-driven goals.

“Our focus is very much as a salad grower that grows a fantastic product that everyone will want to buy. And we’re focussed on bringing down the cost of sustainable food, which means doing it at a big enough scale to gain the economies of production that are needed to be able to sell at everyday prices.”

Making the Numbers Add Up

The economics are an important part of the discussion. Recent investment in the sector has come from the Middle East, and other locations, where abundant solar power and scarce resources are driving interest in CEA. Graamans’ research has revealed a number of scenarios where CEA has a strong business case.

For the UK, CEA should be seen as a continuum from glasshouses to vertical farming, he believes. “Greenhouses can incorporate the technologies from vertical farms to increase climate control and to enhance their performance under specific climates."

It is this aspect that is grabbing the attention of conventional fresh produce growers in open field and covered crop production.  

A Blended Approach

James Green, director of agriculture at G’s, thinks combining different growing methods is the way forward. “There’s a balance in all of these systems between energy costs for lighting, energy costs for cooling, costs of nutrient supply, and then transportation and the supply and demand. At the end of the day, sunshine is pretty cheap and it comes up every day.

“I think a blended approach, where you’re getting as much benefit as you can from nature but you’re supplementing it and controlling the growth conditions, is what we are aiming for, rather than the fully artificially lit ‘vertical farming’.”

Graamans, Farmer and Hofman will join a discussion with conventional vegetable producers, vertical farmers and technology providers at the Agri-TechE event ‘Controlled Environment Agriculture is growing up’ on 25 February 2021.

Bringing The Future To life In Abu Dhabi

Amid the deserts of Abu Dhabi, a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators are sowing the seeds of a more sustainable future.

Image from: Wired

A cluster of shipping containers in a city centre is about the last place you’d expect to find salad growing. Yet for the past year, vertical farming startup Madar Farms has been using this site in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, to grow leafy green vegetables using 95 per cent less water than traditional agriculture. 

Madar Farms is one of a number of agtech startups benefitting from a package of incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) aimed at spurring the development of innovative solutions for sustainable desert farming. The partnership is part of ADIO’s $545 million Innovation Programme dedicated to supporting companies in high-growth areas.

“Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with our mission to ‘turn the desert green’,” explained H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, in November 2020. “We have created an environment where innovative ideas can flourish and the companies we partnered with earlier this year are already propelling the growth of Abu Dhabi’s 24,000 farms.”

The pandemic has made food supply a critical concern across the entire world, combined with the effects of population growth and climate change, which are stretching the capacity of less efficient traditional farming methods. Abu Dhabi’s pioneering efforts to drive agricultural innovation have been gathering pace and look set to produce cutting-edge solutions addressing food security challenges.

Beyond work supporting the application of novel agricultural technologies, Abu Dhabi is also investing in foundational research and development to tackle this growing problem. 

In December, the emirate’s recently created Advanced Technology Research Council [ATRC], responsible for defining Abu Dhabi’s R&D strategy and establishing the emirate and the wider UAE as a desired home for advanced technology talent, announced a four-year competition with a $15 million prize for food security research. Launched through ATRC’s project management arm, ASPIRE, in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation, the award will support the development of environmentally-friendly protein alternatives with the aim to "feed the next billion".

Image from: Madar Farms

Global Challenges, Local Solutions

Food security is far from the only global challenge on the emirate’s R&D menu. In November 2020, the ATRC announced the launch of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), created to support applied research on the key priorities of quantum research, autonomous robotics, cryptography, advanced materials, digital security, directed energy and secure systems.

“The technologies under development at TII are not randomly selected,” explains the centre’s secretary general Faisal Al Bannai. “This research will complement fields that are of national importance. Quantum technologies and cryptography are crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, for example, while directed energy research has use-cases in healthcare. But beyond this, the technologies and research of TII will have global impact.”

Future research directions will be developed by the ATRC’s ASPIRE pillar, in collaboration with stakeholders from across a diverse range of industry sectors.

“ASPIRE defines the problem, sets milestones, and monitors the progress of the projects,” Al Bannai says. “It will also make impactful decisions related to the selection of research partners and the allocation of funding, to ensure that their R&D priorities align with Abu Dhabi and the UAE's broader development goals.”

Image from: Agritecture

Nurturing Next-Generation Talent

To address these challenges, ATRC’s first initiative is a talent development programme, NexTech, which has begun the recruitment of 125 local researchers, who will work across 31 projects in collaboration with 23 world-leading research centres.

Alongside universities and research institutes from across the US, the UK, Europe and South America, these partners include Abu Dhabi’s own Khalifa University, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first graduate-level institute focused on artificial intelligence. 

“Our aim is to up skill the researchers by allowing them to work across various disciplines in collaboration with world-renowned experts,” Al Bannai says. 

Beyond academic collaborators, TII is also working with a number of industry partners, such as hyperloop technology company, Virgin Hyperloop. Such industry collaborations, Al Bannai points out, are essential to ensuring that TII research directly tackles relevant problems and has a smooth path to commercial impact in order to fuel job creation across the UAE.

“By engaging with top global talent, universities and research institutions and industry players, TII connects an intellectual community,” he says. “This reinforces Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s status as a global hub for innovation and contributes to the broader development of the knowledge-based economy.”

VIDEO: Potato Seeds Made Without Soil With Little Help From Peru

Parveen Arora

Potato Technology Centre, (PTC) Shamgarh, in the district in collaboration with Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) in Shimla and International Potato Centre (CIP), Peru, has started producing potato seeds in the air with the help of aeroponic technique.

Scientists show a potato breed at Potato Technology Centre at Shamgarh village in Karnal district. Sayeed Ahmed

In this technique, there is no need for soil and other growing media like coco-peat for production. The scientists say that in aeroponics technique, potato seeds are grown in mist environment. They claim potato seeds grown through this technology are free from soil-borne diseases.

“We have started the process of growing minituber (potato seed) plants with the help of aeroponic technique. It is the latest technique for growing plants and potato seed production in an air or mist environment. There is no need for soil and this technology is free from soil-borne diseases,” said Dr Prem Chand Sindhu, Deputy Director, PTC, Shamgarh.

He maintained that they have established three units which have the capacity to grow 10 lakh minitubers in one crop cycle which is for three months. The scientists claimed that the production of seeds through this technique is much higher than conventional methods.

Dr Manish Sainger, the senior consultant at PTC, said that on an average, 30 minitubers and maximum 50-60 minitubers can be obtained from each plant. He said that through this technique, 7-10 times more minitubers can be obtained in comparison to conventional methods like net-house or open field.

About the technology, Dr Sainger said they planted tissue culture plants in the grow chambers which have pipes and nozzles for mist spray on the roots of the plant. “The roots of the plant hang in the air in the chamber and all the nutrients are provided through the mist, which consists of all the required elements for plant growth and tuberisation, periodically. The upper part of plant remains at the top of the chamber,” he added. He said that the size of minitubers is uniform at 3-4 gm.

Dr Sainger said it is easy to transport minitubers at minimal cost. “These seeds will be given to growers at subsidised rates by the Department of Horticulture. Later, seed growers will cultivate these seeds in the soil for the multiplication of seeds.”

The Capital Expenses For Vertical Farms And Greenhouses

28-01-202 | Agritecture

Written By: Djavid Amidi-Abraham

View fullsize

Breaking down the differences in CapEx between Vertical Farms and Greenhouses. If we peer into the portfolios of some venture capital investors with funds dedicated to agriculture investments, we see a hesitance to invest in vertical farms.

View fullsize

Here at Agritecture, we have performed side-by-side analyses of vertical farms and greenhouses. For most US markets, the greenhouse model comes out ahead on both capital and operational costs.

Let’s look at an example located in a New York Metropolitan market scenario with two similarly sized facilities having similar amounts of bed space (production capacity). The below tables indicate their differing costs per lb of leafy greens grown in the first year.

This analysis focuses on production systems and has thus excluded costs relating to installation and land acquisition, but includes an additional distribution cost for the greenhouse model, as this greenhouse is likely to be located outside of an urban area but still within the “local” range. In the interest of equating production conditions, the greenhouse model also includes additional capital and operational costs for the integration of supplemental lighting in order to bring the daily light integral to equal quantities provided by most vertical farms.

View fullsize

While we may see different scenarios in the future, this assessment draws on current prices and equipment performance. 

View fullsize

Greenhouses draw a lot of their value from the fact that the production surfaces are mostly illuminated by the sun, a free resource. Vertical farms, on the other hand, have to pay for the light that their crops see, a significant added cost that often occupies high percentages of operational costs. 

In addition, a specialized HVAC system must be designed and implemented to neutralize the heat emitted by the lights. Additional dehumidification capacity is also required with design setpoints relative to the transpiration rate of the crops being grown. HVAC is often the second-highest, non-labor expenditure for VF operations and when dehumidification is added into the mix, overall HVAC operational costs can even exceed lighting electricity costs.  

As LEDs become more efficient, less power will be required to cool the space and the economic scenario for VFs becomes more attractive as two of the highest operational costs have been reduced.

View fullsize

To date, the introduction of LEDs to the agriculture industry has made VFs possible. In the future, the continued improvement of LEDs will make VFs more competitive against other modes of controlled environment crop production. It’s hard to say if VFs will outcompete greenhouses on their costs of production as greenhouses similarly benefit from lighting efficiency improvements that will enable them to serve more northern markets at lower operational costs.

View fullsize

https://design.agritecture.com/learn/?utm_campaign=capital-expenses-vf&utm_medium=agr-com&utm_source=blog

While greenhouses outcompete vertical farms today, there may be a future where those tables are turned.

It should be considered that the efficacy of either of these approaches to CEA will be informed by local market conditions. In relation to both the revenue generated and the costs of operation, markets around the world provide differing contexts for the production of crops in protected agriculture scenarios, and these varying costs and opportunities create a unique scenario in every market. 

Agritecture’s consultants have a deep understanding of these costs and opportunities and have provided these insights to over 100 clients in more than 20 countries. If any of our readers would like to explore the possibilities in their local region, reach out to Agritecture and we can assess this opportunity through our unique approach and assessment methodology.

This is the second of a two-part series on how vertical farming compares to other farming methods, from our Lead Systems Designer, Djavid Amidi-Abraham. To read Part 1, click here.

Source and Photo Courtesy of Agritecture

BrightFarms Promotes Jackie Hawkins To Director Of Food Safety & Quality

BrightFarms, a leading supplier of locally grown packaged salads, recently announced that Jackie Hawkins has been promoted to director of food safety & quality. She will report directly to Josh Norbury, BrightFarms’ senior vice president of operations.

Jackie Hawkins

Hawkins will oversee all aspects of food safety and quality assurance as the company continues its rapid growth into new markets. Her responsibilities will include the development and execution of BrightFarms’ food-safety protocols across five facilities, as well as the coordination of customer, regulatory and third-party audits.

“Under Jackie’s leadership, BrightFarms is delivering the safest and freshest leafy greens to the nation’s largest retailers,” said Josh Norbury, senior vice president of operations. “She has built an industry-leading food safety program for the indoor production of leafy greens, and our rigorous protocols have set the standard for other companies in our space. We are fortunate to have her leadership and expertise as we continue to grow.”

Since joining BrightFarms in 2016, Hawkins contributions have been critical to the success of the company’s world-class operations team. She has designed and implemented the most comprehensive food-safety program in the indoor farming industry and maintains close working relationships with leading food-safety experts in the produce industry.

In 2018, Hawkins led the development of the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Food Safety Coalition, an independent and member-governed organization whose membership is comprised of controlled environment leafy greens growers who subject their production processes to external audit. She also led BrightFarms’ early adoption of IBM’s Food Trust platform to enhance traceability with blockchain technology.

“Food safety is a personal passion that I’ve dedicated my career to, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to step into my expanded role,” said Hawkins. “I’m thrilled that I have the opportunity to work for a company that places food safety at the centre of everything we do. I look forward to continuing to advance our leading protocols and providing our consumers with the safest, freshest and most nutritious greens on the market.”

Hawkins graduated from Oregon State University in 2016 with a B.S. in Environmental Science.

For more information about BrightFarms, visit www.brightfarms.com.

Receive Insights From The 2020 Global CEA Census Report

AgTech leaders Autogrow and Agritecture Consulting have concluded our 2nd Annual Global CEA Census, focusing on understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on controlled environment agriculture (CEA) operations around the world.

Major insights of the Global CEA Census

View fullsize

“The optimism reflects what we have seen across many areas of the industry including increased technology adoption and increased consumer expenditure on fresh produce. And despite the challenges we’re seeing an overwhelming number of new entrants into the market,” says Autogrow CEO Darryn Keiller.

View fullsize

“What has not changed is the high percentage of new growers, almost 50%, that have no experience in agriculture before starting their business. That lack of experience has an impact on new technology solutions created and the need for more education to be available to support them. It also shows a real desire to make a difference considering their willingness to start during a pandemic.”  

View fullsize

Other takeaways from the Census:

• CEA businesses showing optimism and resilience despite the COVID hurdles

• 88% of growers surveyed are below age 50

• 29% of respondents receive funding from multiple sources

Receive The Full Report For Free!

View fullsize

Belgian Lettuce Grower De Glastuin Achieves Increased Production And Faster Growth Cycles Thanks To A Full LED Solution From Signify

December 17, 2020

Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Since the introduction of Philips GreenPower LED Toplighting Compact from Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, many vegetable, fruit and horticulture growers have made the choice to fully equip their greenhouses with LEDs. By combining this LED lighting with the GrowWise Control System, it is possible to both control and dim the light, giving growers a high degree of flexibility. This solution has now also found its way into lettuce growing; De Glastuin in Belgium opted for 100% LED grow lights from Signify.

Each type of lettuce requires a different amount of light. Heat is also a limiting factor when growing lettuce. As a result, in many periods it is not possible to illuminate the crops because too much heat accumulates in the greenhouse. Thanks to LED lighting, which emits less heat, it is possible to light the crop for longer hours, resulting in a increased production and faster growth cycles. The combination with the GrowWise Control System also allows the lighting to be dimmed. For example, to keep the light intensity the same on sunny days while maintaining light uniformity or to prevent climate fluctuations.

This summer, lettuce grower De Glastuin expanded its existing 1.75 hectare greenhouse with HPS lighting by 0.75 hectares. In this new part of the greenhouse, Philips GreenPower LED Toplighting Compact is installed together with the GrowWise Control System. The modules in the new part of the LED greenhouse have an output of 1800 µmol/s and require only 520 W (3.5 µmol/J). They provide a light level of 90 µmol/s/m². De Glastuin is pleased with the high quality and longer shelf life of the lettuce."With Toplighting Compact in combination with the GrowWise Control System, we can automatically adjust the amount of LED light to the amount of daylight at any given moment. As a result, there are fewer fluctuations in light intensity during the day. The lighting is much more efficient, dimmable and it offers us flexibility by allowing us to provide less light at any time," says Wouter de Bruyn, business manager at De Glastuin.

"De Glastuin's choice of Signify reinforces our conviction that we have chosen the right approach to make it easier for growers to switch to LED," says Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture LED Solutions at Signify.

The first Toplighting Compact was introduced in 2019 as a 1-on-1 replacement of HPS lighting to enable an easy transition to LED. The Toplighting Compact can be mounted on an existing HPS connection. This saves time and money during installation. In new greenhouses, installation is even easier thanks to easy-to-install brackets. The universal design of this system gives growers the possibility to fully equip their greenhouse with LED lights or to change their current set-up into a hybrid system with LED and HPS lighting. Signify's Compact range is also equipped with optics with normal and wide beam angles. The wide beam angle is ideal for growers looking for optimal light distribution or for lower greenhouses, for example. For crops where a greater distance between the plant and the grow light is possible, the normal beam is a better option.

More information about the Philips Horticulture LED solutions from Signify is available on the website.

For further information, please contact:

 Global Marcom Manager Horticulture at Signify

Daniela Damoiseaux

Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69

E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@signify.com

www.philips.com/horti

About Signify

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the global market leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings, and public spaces. In 2019, we achieved sales of EUR 6.2 billion with approximately 37,000 employees in more than 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for better lives and a more sustainable world. We achieved CO2 neutrality by 2020 and have been on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index since our IPO in 2016. We were named Industry Leader in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Signify news can be found in the Newsroom, on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.

VeggiTech Inspires People To Grow Crops Sustainably

How VeggiTech Is Changing UAE's

Agriculture Sector With Innovative Farming-Tech

View fullsize

November 18, 2020

View fullsize

Hatim Morbiwala, Head of Learning and Development,VeggiTech, controls and monitors eco systems with VeggiTech IoTImage Credit: Supplied

VeggiTech is an agro-tech organization focused on disrupting the agriculture industry to create sustainable and eco-friendly farms. Its tech-enabled solutions are:

VeggiTech digital operating system (V-DOS)

 This is a scalable, repeatable set of solutions that are focused on the controlled environment agriculture as well as farming as a service (FAAS) model for its customers and investors.

Grow operating system

 VeggiTech deploys the latest technology in terms of grow lights that provide the right amount of spectrum of light frequency to a plant-based on its type and growth cycle. This light is tuned to the grow cycle and creates the optimum environment for it to grow, coupled with the right nutrition and water quality for the plants. Internet of Things (IoT)-based sensors manage the environment and are linked to the data models that track the yield per unit of input resource so that it continually improves the quality of yield per sqm of grow space.

Farm operating system

 All of VeggiTech’s business activities are managed in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that provides complete control of the unit economics while creating a unique QR code for every crop being grown on its farms.

Learning Hub 

VeggiTech also manages its Learning Hub using a state-of-the-art learning management platform that has online and offline features to interact with the learners. This has proven to be a very useful tool during the Covid-19 times as it continues to enable the future leaders – students – with the knowledge to grow their own food.

New launches

“With our vision to create the next one billion farmers, we are delighted to announce the launch of two new products that have been conceived, designed, and developed in the UAE,” says Hatim Morbiwala, Head of Learning and Development at VeggiTech. “We have developed a mobile app – Grow App – that will enable everybody to grow their own food and they can interact with the VeggiTech agronomist in case they need support with their plants. The app also has the ability to diagnose issues with the plants and recommend solutions using a machine learning database.”

Grow Kit is another unique product, developed by VeggiTech. “This is a physical kit which will inspire everybody to start their journey of growing their own food. We believe this is a life skill and should be part of the curriculum of every citizen on the planet,” says Morbiwala.

For more information, visit Veggitech.com

Call 058 263 1317 and 06 881 1861

email: info@veggitech.com

More Than $30 Million of Additional AgTech Deals in Abu Dhabi’s Pipeline

September 24th, 2020

View fullsize

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced today upcoming developments in Abu Dhabi’s agriculture sector as part of continued plans to bolster local AgTech capabilities and innovations in desert agriculture. In the coming months, more than AED 110 million (USD 30 million) in financial incentives are to be offered to AgTech companies looking to establish or fast track their growth in Abu Dhabi.

The update was given at ADIO’s first sector-focused webinar, “Inside Abu Dhabi: Innovation in Agriculture”, which took place on 23 September and highlighted opportunities in the emirate’s AgTech space. The webinar was attended by participants from all across the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and India.

The new pipeline is part of ADIO’s incentive programme, established under the Abu Dhabi Government’s Ghadan 21 accelerator programme. The incentive packages include competitive financial incentives and other non-financial benefits for companies that develop and commercialise new arid and desert agriculture solutions based on pre-determined criteria.

The new deals will build on the milestones achieved by the four AgTech pioneers – AeroFarms, Madar Farms, Responsive Drop Irrigation (RDI), and RNZ – ADIO partnered with earlier this year to establish R&D and production facilities in the emirate.

H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, said: “We have made significant headway towards realising our mission of turning sand into farmland, prioritising innovation that has the potential to make real, lasting change in the region and beyond. Despite the current global conditions, 2020 will be a transformational year for AgTech in Abu Dhabi as we close in on deals to bring more pioneering companies to the UAE. We will continue to work closely with ecosystem players like the Ministry of Food Security, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), and ADQ to support AgTech founders and startups with the resources and infrastructure they require to achieve long-term success in the emirate.”

ADIO announced in April that it made AED 367 million (USD 100 million) in financial incentives available to four AgTech pioneers, partnering individually with AeroFarms, Madar Farms, RDI, and RNZ to establish new R&D and production facilities in Abu Dhabi. During the first “Inside Abu Dhabi” webinar, each company announced significant milestones in their respective projects over the past five months.

USA-headquartered vertical farming company AeroFarms has set up its corporate office at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to plug into the emirate’s innovation ecosystem and support R&D plans aimed at tackling agriculture problems within desert and arid climates. The company has also built out a local team, including hiring a general manager to lead AeroFarms’ Abu Dhabi strategy.

David Rosenberg, Co-Founder, and CEO of AeroFarms, commented: “Our excitement grows as we advance in Abu Dhabi the building of the world’s largest R&D indoor vertical farm in the world. We have set up corporate offices and started to build out an incredible team including our General Manager. We are working to finalise partnerships to co-innovate together in our Abu Dhabi facility as we work to solve some of the most pressing problems in agriculture in the region and the world. We are honoured to be working closely with ADIO to make Abu Dhabi a nexus for AgTech innovation and we encourage companies and universities to reach out and partner with us as we work on the next generation of agriculture breakthroughs.”

Madar Farms, a home-grown UAE AgTech innovator, has made significant progress in developing the local food offering in the market. The company has launched new products and is reaching consumers through expanded distributors and platforms. It is also partnering with a UAE education institution to teach students about AgTech and hydroponic systems, educating them about sustainable indoor agriculture from an early age.

Abdulaziz AlMulla, CEO and Co-Founder of Madar Farms, said: “We are happy to be part of the conversation. At Madar Farms, we are already leading a new agriculture revolution by growing a wide range of high-quality fresh produce every day here in the UAE with the use of advanced farming technologies. We want to create a lasting change by providing a holistic approach to sustainability and every day we are working towards achieving our vision and establishing Abu Dhabi as a global AgTech leader.”

RDI, which has developed an innovative irrigation system to transform water usage in UAE agriculture, has secured a facility in Abu Dhabi’s integrated trade, logistics, and industrial hub, KIZAD, to be used for industrial research, product manufacturing, and distribution. Given the emirate’s strategic location at the intersection of the Middle East, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia regions, the new distribution hub will allow RDI to reach more water-stressed countries that can benefit from its irrigation solution. The company is also set to install pilot projects using green technologies in Abu Dhabi over the coming months, paving the way for the development of the best AgTech practices in desert environments.

Jan Gould, Co-Founder, and CEO of RDI, commented: “The foresight and vision of Abu Dhabi’s ruler and its government leaders to focus and support innovations in agriculture has defined the UAE capital as a leader in ensuring food security for its citizens, developing local food supply chains, addressing challenges and preserving the planet’s precious resources for the future. Responsive Drip Irrigation is committed to working with ADIO and our partners in the AgTech programme to build a greener tomorrow for generations to come. With Abu Dhabi’s leadership and support, there is hope for recovery if we all work together. We just need to plant the seed.”

RNZ, which produces customised solutions for farming communities, has broken ground on a plot in KIZAD and laid the foundations for its new R&D centre, expected to be operational towards the end of the first half of 2021. The team is steadily being assembled with both a Head of Research and Head of Production appointed. The centre will look into developing effective agri-inputs to yield higher productivity, with an early focus being the development of 100% organic and residue-free solutions to support the region’s date palm farmers.   

Raza Soomar, CEO of RNZ, said: “As our new R&D centre in Abu Dhabi begins to take shape, we are just months away from looking into solving problems for farmers and bringing effective solutions to the market that are relevant in Africa, Asia, and the Gulf. We are proud to be part of Abu Dhabi’s AgTech ecosystem and excited about the possibilities for RNZ’s new R&D hub.”

ADIO will announce further details of its upcoming AgTech deals in the coming months. 

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterestShare

© 2000 - 2020 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

IGS Senior Team Expands Further As Technology Innovator Welcomes Head of HR

Donald Mackenzie Joins Edinburgh-Headquartered

Firm To Help Build Growing Team 

Edinburgh, Scotland – 14 September 2020 – Senior HR leader, Donald Mackenzie, has joined IGS, the Scottish-based agritech and smart spaces business, as Head of HR. His appointment is the latest in a series undertaken to grow the company’s management team as it continues to expand to supply a growing customer base across the world.

View fullsize

Inverness-born Donald joins IGS following more than 23 years working with Michelin in Dundee where he started out as a Trainee Industrial Engineer before moving through various people management positions. He brings a wealth of Human Resources experience, as well as skills across learning and development, community engagement, and communications in a technical environment.

Most recently, Donald was responsible for the social plan that supported 850 employees impacted by the Michelin Dundee site closure, including developing programs to re-train, relocate, and find alternative employment opportunities for all those individuals.  On joining IGS, Donald’s role will see him support a rapidly growing team as the company moves onto a global stage, all the while maintaining its ethos of continuous innovation and investment into research and development. 

Preparing for his first day in the role, Donald Mackenzie commented: “IGS seems like a natural fit for me. The people, the organization, and the outlook all appeal to me: it feels like a positive environment with loads of exciting opportunities. The whole company is about learning and growth and expansion, ultimately driven by-products that the team is fully behind and that really works.

“Obviously in a field like HR, the people side of a business is always the most important, and for me there’s a real human opportunity which has been created at IGS by the development of products that could fundamentally change the way that society and whole populations live. The possibility of developing solutions able to tackle the whole food security issue is really enticing.”

IGS CEO David Farquhar commented: “Being able to attract an HR professional with Donald’s perspective is a major win for IGS, as we look to employ new people and offer the best possible support to the immensely skilled crew we already have. We are at a very exciting point in our company history right now, and it has never been more important that we are best placed to attract, nurture, and develop highly talented people. 

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to welcome someone of Donald’s caliber to join us, and strongly believe that his wealth of experience – particularly with organizational development – is just what we need as we look to the future of the business.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

For more information: please contact Georgia Lea, IGS on georgia@intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or call +44 7897 539 954.

About IGS:

Founded in 2013, IGS brought together decades of farming and engineering experience to create an agritech business with a vision to revolutionize the indoor growing market. Its commitment to innovation has continued apace and it has evolved the applications of its technology beyond agriculture to create solutions for a wide variety of indoor environments that enhance life for plants and people alike.

IGS launched its first vertical farming demonstration facility in August 2018.

For more information visit www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.