SINGAPORE - VIDEOS: How IoT And Machine Learning Are Automating Agriculture

A New Generation of Farmers Is Tapping The internet of Things And Machine Learning To Operate Self-Sustaining Urban Farms With Minimal Supervision

View fullsize

By Aaron Tan, TechTarget

21 Jul 2021

A new generation of farmers is turning to technologies such as the internet of things (IoT) and machine learning to automate agricultural production, alleviating the need to toil on the land while keeping a watchful eye on their crops.

Joining their ranks is Phoebe Xie, director, and co-founder of Singapore-based agrotechnology startup AbyFarm. Teaming up with technology service provider SPTel, Xie is building a smart hydroponics farm in a greenhouse that uses a plethora of IoT sensors, including video cameras, to keep the farm humming around the clock.

“To run a self-regulating farm at the optimal temperature with optimal water and nutrient supply, and to control the quality and taste of vegetables and fruits, we need IoT sensors,” she said, adding that the farm and its sensors collect and monitor thousands of data points, including humidity and temperature.

With the data and in certain environmental conditions, processes and actions are automatically triggered to protect crops from the elements. For instance, if the temperature or humidity gets too high, fans, water curtains, and roof shades are activated in the greenhouse.

Xie said the smart farm, located at a rooftop carpark in Singapore, is also equipped with sensors that monitor the pH and electrical conductivity levels of water. Among the sensors, which are connected to a Lora low-power wide area network, is a dozer that automatically releases acidic or alkaline nutrients to maintain optimal pH levels. 

View fullsize

Whereas the farmers of old had to physically inspect their crops, AbyFarm’s agronomists and farmers can do so remotely using video cameras and image recognition technology to identify crops that might be succumbing to disease.

“If the image recognition finds that a plant is likely to be sick, the farmer will be alerted to go onsite to check how the plant is right now,” said Xie, adding that agronomists will also advise farmers on taking corrective actions to prevent disease or restore the health of their crops.

Like any machine learning system, AbyFarm’s algorithms get smarter over time. Each time a crop is affected by disease, data about the occurrence and corrective action is fed into the system, enabling its algorithms to formulate solutions for other farmers with similar crop issues – without consulting an agronomist.

With that, said Xie, even those who are new to the field can use the system to guide them on treating diseased crops, which can be isolated from other crops to prevent cross-infections.

AbyFarm’s automated farming system, which is hosted on SPTel’s private cloud, can also advise farmers on the best time to transplant their crops after germination and harvest them later for sale, said Xie.

Heng Kwee Tong, vice-president for engineering and customer solutions at SPTel, said the company has built up a software-defined platform to help companies like AbyFarm overcome the challenges of deploying applications such as IoT.

“The common struggle that companies like AbyFarm face with building an IoT solution is that it is quite intensive in terms of ICT infrastructure,” said Heng. “You’ve got to find the radio connectivity like Lora, subscribe to a service provider, and connect your sensors to a sensor collector.

“We make it easy by investing in a platform and because we are a service provider with edge hub assets for deploying radio connectivity, all AbyFarm needs to do is to bring their sensors onboard.”

Going forward, Heng said SPTel is looking to support next-generation video analytics capabilities through edge cloud services that can be used to crunch workloads closer to where they reside, reducing latency.

AbyFarm was one of six companies to win contracts from the Singapore Food Agency last year to build urban farms at nine rooftop carparks in public housing estates across Singapore.

The goal is to collectively produce about 1,600 tonnes of vegetables a year in a bid by the city-state – where less than 1% of the land is used for agriculture – to become more self-sufficient in meeting the nutritional needs of its people.

That could well be achievable with technology that makes farming more efficient, scalable, and less labor-intensive than before. “We are willing to train and educate the next generation in agrotechnology because now you don’t need 10 farmers to take care of one farm,” said Xie. “It’s just looking at the dashboard and, with the alerts, doing what is required.”

Sweden: Opening of New In-Store Vertical Farm At ICA Maxi

“We are actually making a difference here, because we grow next to the consumer, literally,” says Andreas Dahlin, CEO of Swegreen. “There are still many vertical farms that claim to produce sustainable, located close to the consumer, but they don’t mention the last mile. If logistics are needed to get the product to the consumer, they can still make a much bigger difference. That’s why we think this hyper-local model really makes an impact in the supply chain.”

It was all laughs and surprised faces during the opening at the ICA Maxi supermarket in Linköping this week. The opening event of the in-store vertical farm, a service provided and managed by Swedish technology company Swegreen, gained lots of traction from surprised and sometimes confused shoppers. Andreas opened the event by giving a toast to invitees. After explaining the concept, the crowd was allowed a visit to the farm.

Andreas leading the tour. Photo credit: Vertical farm daily. 

Click here to view the photo report.

Biggest in Sweden
After successfully launching an in-store farm at ICA Focus, Gothenburg late 2020, the Swedish, fast-growing vertical farming enterprise Swegreen is now rolling out its Farming-as-a-Service concept in Scandinavia. First to get the installation in place is Ica Maxi in Linköping. The 60m2 farm supplies 10 different lettuces and herbs to the store – and more sorts are coming up – which makes this in-store growing facility the biggest in Sweden. Another share of the crops will be used in the store's own kitchen. Every day, several hundreds of crops are harvested that will end up on the shelves very soon after that.

Andreas adds, “The excessive heat from the farm is brought into the supermarket to optimally use all energy of the farm. We’re constantly looking at how we can optimize the cultivation processes up to energy use.”

Andreas explaining on vertical technologies. Photo credit: Verticalfarmdaily.

Full control
All technology is supplied and developed by Swegreen, such as the cultivation room and the AI-based control system which controls and optimizes the environment remotely. The farm is fully equipped with sensors, taking a huge relief off the farm operator who normally visits the facility 3-4 hours a day. Robot arms enable the gutters to be automatically moved from the beginning to the end-stage.

All processes are done on the farm, from seeding, breeding, cultivation and harvesting to packing the products. Everything in the farm is visible to the naked eye of store visitors.

Sepehr Mousavi, Chief Innovation Officer, and Innovation Lead at Swegreen explains that all technology is automated. “We can prevent any kind of error in the farm because the sensors will notify our technical services team immediately if something goes wrong to prevent any downtime.”

Click here to view the photo report.

Lead photo: Photo report: Swegreen launches event to celebrate project launch

For more information:
Swegreen
Andreas Dahlin, CEO of Swegreen
andreas.dahlin@swegreen.se
www.swegreen.se 

Publication date: Wed 16 Jun 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© FreshPlaza.com

USA - FLORIDA: St. Pete’s Brick Street Farms Gets Multi-Million-Dollar Investment From Lykes Bros

May 20, 2021

By Margie Manning

View fullsize

Photo credit: Brick Street Farms

Lykes Bros., one of the oldest and largest agribusinesses in Florida, is putting a big bet on the future of farming as it invests in Brick Street Farms, an urban farm and market in St. Petersburg.

Lykes is making a “significant” investment in Brick Street Farms, the two companies announced at a news conference Thursday. The amount of investment was not disclosed, but a news release described it as “multi-million dollar” investment. Lykes will take a 20 percent ownership stake in Brick Street Farms because of the deal, Mallory Dimmitt, vice president of strategic partnerships at Lykes, told the St. Pete Catalyst.

Brick Street Farms will use the investment to accelerate the expansion of Brick Street Farms hubs, an all-inclusive onsite farming and retail shopping experience in urban cores, said Shannon O’Malley, founder and CEO. The company has self-contained, environmentally sustainable THRIVE containers that will be placed in each hub. Each hub will grow between 16 to 20 acres of farmland on one-third acre lots.

View fullsize

Mallory Dimmitt, vice president at Lykes Bros., announces investment in Brick Street Farms while Nikki Fried, Florida Ag Commissioner, looks on.

The first new hub will open in St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District in late 2021, with an expansion to Tampa in early 2022 followed by more hubs on the east coast, O’Malley said.

“We are the future of farming, and our new investors have the perfect expertise to help us take our successful business model in sustainable farming to feed more people healthy food,” O’Malley said.

The two companies first connected in November at the Florida-Israel Agriculture Innovation Summit, hosted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Nikki Fried, Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner.

The collaboration meets several goals, including feeding people in urban locations, fighting urban food deserts and food insecurity, bringing farm-to-fork produce closer to people and bringing cutting edge agriculture technology to everyone.

View fullsize

From left, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Shannon O’Malley, founder and CEO, Brick Street Farms

Brick Street Farms is a hub of innovation and creativity and is the only female-founded and led company in the vertical farming industry, said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. He also highlighted the work of the company’s non-profit Desert Farms Foundation.

“Not only is Brick Street Farms working to make us healthier by providing us some of the best and freshest food around, but through its 501c3, Brick Street Farms is working to end food deserts through the Tampa Bay area,” Kriseman said.

Every urban environment struggles with food deserts, said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

“The problems that occur from those food deserts are often times for many communities insurmountable. This is a solution to so many problems,” Castor said.

She also praised the company’s business model. It is financially successful by providing produce to a number of restaurants, Castor said.

While an urban focus might seem like an unusual fit for company like Lykes, which owns hundreds of thousands of rural acres throughout the state, “We know from our experience that innovation is what moves the agriculture industry forward,” said Dimmitt, who will join the Brick Street Farms board of directors.

“In addition to innovations in sustainable production and the technology it uses, the job opportunities and related job training and skills are key to Florida’s future and to our health and wellness,” Dimmitt said. “What could be better medicine than high-quality nutrient-dense greens grown close to the consumer where they have direct access, all while creating community.”

Brick Street Farms, at 2233 3rd Ave. S. was founded in 2016 by O’Malley and her husband, Brad Doyle. Read more about O’Malley in St. Pete Catalyst‘s Hustle profile.

UPDATE - Vertical Farming Leader Kalera Welcomes Maria Sastre to Board of Directors

A seasoned executive with experience in the food, travel, and tourism industries, Sastre brings with her over 25 years of executive leadership and experience and currently sits on the boards of esteemed, Fortune 500, multibillion dollar public and private companies, including General Mills and O’Reilly Auto Parts.

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalera (Euronext Growth Oslo ticker KAL, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the fastest-growing and largest vertical farming companies in the world and a leader in plant science for producing high-quality produce in controlled environments, today announced the appointment of Maria Sastre to its Board of Directors. A seasoned executive with experience in the food, travel, and tourism industries, Sastre brings with her over 25 years of executive leadership and experience and currently sits on the boards of esteemed, Fortune 500, multibillion dollar public and private companies, including General Mills and O’Reilly Auto Parts. The addition of Sastre to the board coincides with Kalera's rapid expansion into several new markets and its acquisition of Vindara Inc., the first company to develop seeds specifically designed for use in vertical indoor farm environments as well as other controlled environment agriculture (CEA) farming methods.

“We are thrilled that someone of Maria’s caliber has chosen to join Kalera’s board,” said Daniel Malechuk, Kalera CEO. “Her resume is beyond impressive, with extensive experience leading highly successful international and growing companies, and is a strong complement to our industry-leading management team and board of directors. She has proven time and again that she is invaluable in helping scale businesses, and will be an incredible asset to Kalera during this time of rapid growth, both domestically and abroad.”

In addition to her aforementioned business experience, Sastre also served on numerous civic and non-profit boards such as the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau(Chair), the Executive Advisory Board of Florida International University School of Hospitality,and the Executive Board of the United Way of Miami-Dade County. She has been recognized as one of the Top 80 U.S. Hispanics and Top 20 Latinas and has received numerous awards in the travel and hospitality industry sectors. Sastre's education includes a Bachelor's degree and a Master's in Business Administration, both from New York Institute of Technology.

“As someone with a passion for optimizing customer experiences, I am proud to join Kalera’s board as I fully believe their product is a category leader,” said Maria Sastre, new Kalera board member. “Kalera has the opportunity to serve diverse customer segments and increase accessibility to a product that is inherently safer, cleaner, fresher, more sustainable, and more nutritious and flavorful. In a world where brands are looking for ways to differentiate their products and services to their discerning customers, the Kalera portfolio is well positioned to offer the best vertical farming product solution. I trust my years of experience in operations and customer service will prove beneficial as Kalera expands into new markets.”

Sastre previously served as the President and Chief Operating Officer for Signature Aviation, the largest worldwide network of fixed-based operations and maintenance centers for private aviation. Before joining Signature, she spent eight years at Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD, where she held the positions of Vice President, International, Latin America, Caribbean and Asia; and Vice President of Hotel Operations. Her roles included strategic growth across emerging markets as well as managing all aspects of operations and the guest experience onboard Royal Caribbean's fleet of vessels. Previously, Sastre served as Vice President of Worldwide Customer Satisfaction for United Airlines, where she led the newly created customer-satisfaction division charged with refining the customer-service experience.

Kalera currently operates two growing facilities in Orlando, and is building facilities in Atlanta, Houston, Denver, Columbus, Seattle, and Hawaii. Kalera is the only controlled environment agriculture company with coast-to-coast facilities being constructed, offering grocers, restaurants, theme parks, airports and other businesses nationwide reliable access to locally grown clean, safe, nutritious, price-stable, long-lasting greens.Kalera uses a closed-loop irrigation system which enables its plants to grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming.

About Kalera

Kalera is a technology driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and clean room standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistent high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact. To learn more visit www.Kalera.com.

Media Contact
Molly Antos
Phone: (847) 848-2090
Email: molly@dadascope.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bb487877-0d3b-4e1c-9492-9ea280c217a1

How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week

Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”

Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s. 

Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.

Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”

Is AppHarvest the Future of Farming?

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are red-hot right now, with investors clamoring to get into promising young companies.

In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.

Nick Sciple: One last company I wanted to talk about, Lou, and this is one I think it's -- you pay attention to, but not one I'm super excited to run in and buy. It was a company called AppHarvest. It's coming public via a [SPAC] this year. This vertical farming space. We talked about Gladstone Land buying traditional farmland. AppHarvest is taking a very different approach, trying to lean into some of the ESG-type movements.

Lou Whiteman: Yeah. Let's look at this. It probably wouldn't surprise you that the U.S. is the biggest global farm exporter as we said, but it might surprise you that the Netherlands, the tiny little country, is No. 2. The way they do that is tech: Greenhouse farm structure. AppHarvest has taken that model and brought it to the U.S. They have, I believe, three farms in Appalachia. The pitches can produce 30x the yields using 90% less water. Right now, it's mostly tomatoes and it is early-stage. I don't own this stock either. I love this idea. There's some reasons that I'm not buying in right now that we can get into. But this is fascinating to me. We talked about making the world a better place. This is the company that we need to be successful to make the world a better place. The warning on it is that it is a SPAC. So it's not public yet. Right now, I believe N-O-V-S. That deal should close soon. [Editor's note: The deal has since closed.] I'm not the only one excited about it. I tend not to like to buy IPOs and new companies anyway. I think the caution around buying into the excitement applies here. There is a Martha Stewart video on their website talking up the company, which I love Martha Stewart, but that's a hype level that makes me want to just watch and see what they produce. This is just three little farms in Appalachia right now and a great idea. This was all over my watchlist. I would imagine I would love to hold it at some point, but just be careful because this is, as we saw SPACs last year in other areas, people are very excited about this.

Sciple: Yeah. I think, like we've said, for a lot of these companies, the prospects are great. I think when you look at the reduced water usage, better, environmentally friendly, all those sorts of things. I like that they are in Appalachia. As someone who is from the South, I like it when more rural areas get some people actually investing money there. But again, there's a lot of execution between now and really getting to a place where this is the future of farming and they're going to reach scale and all those sorts of things. But this is a company I'm definitely going to have my radar on and pay attention to as they continue to report earnings. Because you can tell yourself a story about how this type of vertical farming, indoor farming disrupts this traditional model, can be more efficient, cleaner, etc. Something to continue paying attention to as we have more information, because this company, like you said, Lou, isn't all the way public yet. We still got to have this SPAC deal finalized and then we get all our fun SEC filings and quarterly calls and all those sorts of things. Once we have that, I will be very much looking forward to seeing what the company has to say.

Whiteman: Right. Just to finish up along too, the interesting thing here is that it is a proven concept because it has worked elsewhere. The downside of that is that it needed to work there. Netherlands just doesn't have -- and this is an expensive proposition to get started, to get going. There's potential there, but in a country blessed with almost seemingly unlimited farmland for now, for long term it makes sense. But in the short term, it could be a hard thing to really get up and running. I think you're right, just one to watch.

PODCAST: Season 2 Episode 20 - Founder And Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, Marc Plinke

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, Marc Plinke. Ceres designs and builds advanced, energy-efficient greenhouses that grow year-round while saving energy and water.

In this episode, Harry and Marc dissect Marc’s career trajectory, from his time at Synergistic Building Technologies to his current role with Ceres. Marc breaks down his passion for bringing about positive change in the world, the inspiring work he’s doing with Ceres, and the state of food in our society.

View fullsize

Listen & Subscribe

VIDEO: IGS Intelligent System Design – FTS Finds Out More

Tom Zöllner

July 6, 2020

IGS has, as a company, focused from the outset on automation, intelligent system design, and the energy equation of CEA vertical farming. This has garnered them a reputation as one of the leading and most innovative companies in the industry. We took some time to have a chat with them and find out a bit more about how this all works in practice.

FTS: Hello and thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Can you briefly introduce IGS, its history as well as its outlook?

IGS:   IGS was founded in 2013 bringing together decades of farming and engineering experience with a vision to revolutionize the indoor growing market. The two founders, farmer Henry Aykroyd and our CTO Dave Scott had an appetite for innovation and realized that there were significant gaps in the provision of scalable technology for the sector. 

Henry knew how to grow and understood the challenges which faced traditional farming: Dave knew how to manage automation and power controls in an industrial environment. The opportunity to bring greater climate control to a growing environment was significant. The ability to manage power consumption was revolutionary. The simplicity of its implementation and use is pivotal. 

We opened our first vertical farm demonstrator in Scotland in 2018. Artificial intelligence determines optimal nutritional input and the exact combination or ‘recipes’ of weather: lighting, watering, and ventilation. Data is collected continuously and machine learning used to make iterative adjustments, all of which is monitored through a web-based app. The whole Intelligent Growth platform is IOT-enabled to automate system control and management. Our degree of control is so fine that each 6m2 growth tray has its own microclimate. Technical simplicity is at the heart of our mechanical design.

Our commitment to innovation has continued apace and we have evolved the applications of our technology beyond agriculture to create solutions for a wide variety of indoor environments, developing the Intelligent Grid platform.

The Intelligent Grid uses the same IOT-enabled power and controls platform to manage and monitor lights, sensors, cameras, and communications for complete climate control and reporting. It too has a very simple, clean, and elegant design for application in any commercial building, greenhouse or livestock shed. In contrast to the vertical farm, we use our same core technology through the Intelligent Grid to create whole-space macroclimates.

Both IGS demonstrators are based at the James Hutton Institute, a world-renowned crop, and plant science research facility. IGS and the Hutton collaborate closely to help advance the understanding of plant science for indoor growing. 

Until 2018 IGS had invested approximately £7m in R&D to ensure that its platforms offered the greatest levels of control and achieved levels of economic viability, scale, and minimal environmental impact compared to other systems on the market. In 2019 IGS raised £7 million in institutional capital to enter production and take its systems to global markets. We continue to invest over £1m per annum in R&D.

FTS: You have recently shared news of two reseller partnerships – one in the Middle East and one in the UK and Italy with TEP Renewables. Can you tell us briefly a bit more about them? 

IGS: We have been talking to International Real Estate Partners (IREP), the international facilities management firm for some time in the Middle East, and we’re really pleased to recently sign this referral agreement which is specifically focused on indoor vertical farming for the UAE and Saudi Arabian markets.

We also have an opportunity to extend into Asian markets in the future. It gives us a greater capacity to service the Middle East market and secure and deploy vertical farming platforms across the region. IREP’s presence in this market is well established with many existing customers across agriculture, retail, and construction and it is a very positive development for both companies we believe.

The agreement with TEP Renewables is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) or a reseller-type partnership if we identify customers who would like to operate solar-powered vertical farms in Italy or the United Kingdom that we will work with them.

FTS: Fantastic! In the end, any vertical farm (indeed any farm!) is only as environmentally sustainable as its energy equations. But it is also only as financially sustainable as its energy cost. You have focused quite intensely on this energy cost question. As we see this dramatic collapse of fossil fuel energy production return on investment, it seems that NOW is the time to have renewable energy options on hand for CEA.  Do you believe that renewable energy can be cost-competitive – both in terms of installation, sustainable life-cycle and with regard to the price of the final product for the consumer?   

IGS: We consider a variety of power distribution and supply methods. Renewables can have considerable benefits from an environmental perspective and also specific to grants and other financial support for utilizing renewable energy resources.   

The “virtual power plant”  capabilities of our systems indicate strong Demand Side Response (DSR) potential. We can manipulate our growth cycles to respond to power availability and respond to inherent instabilities in power networks. This is already having an influence on our engagement in circular energy projects to utilize spare energy for growing and allows for more renewable power sources to be adopted.

FTS: Labor cost is the other biggest outlay for any vertical farm. You have invested heavily in automation. Is the trade-off of increased capital expenditure for automation worth the reduction in operational expenditure for labor, in your experience? 

IGS: Absolutely. Driving down the farm gate price is the ultimate goal and while labor costs vary from region to region, we believe that this investment in the automation (and indeed the associated patents) within our growing operations is imperative and differentiates our systems considerably.

FTS: You’ve set about designing modular and intelligent systems. Such a bespoke system offers advantages of course, as we’ve seen above.  But it can also present challenges if it cannot be integrated with other equipment and systems later. Do you future-proof your systems to be able to accommodate such updates and integrations over time? 

IGS: We have thought about this from the outset, and our systems are designed in a plug and play model, rather than being bespoke as such. Scalability is paramount for our customers and this has been a consideration throughout our R&D development.  Rather than using proprietary systems for processes such as sowing and harvesting, we use off-the-shelf equipment and components. This means we can keep startup and maintenance costs down by providing items with which farmers are already familiar. If a section of the vertical farming system needs to be replaced or upgraded, such as a water filter, a lighting panel or a tray, it can be done with almost no interruption. 

However, what is also imperative to think about in terms of future proofing, and a hugely important part of our approach, is how we work so closely with the science community to better understand plant light interactions. The level of control we have designed into our hardware systems allows us to flex and adapt as we need to deploy the most up to date plant light information through our software development, which is continuously evolving. 

The approach of our software development has also involved maximising security of our systems and ensuring simplicity of operation. This will be continuously updated, but with seamless integration for our customers. 

FTS: Along with FTS, you’ve joined a number of other associations and similar collaborative groups. Why is this important to you as a company, and how do you balance the proprietary needs of your company against this desire to cooperate?

IGS:  Collaboration and cooperation across this sector is essential. Our vision is that sustainable change will only be delivered not only when we collaborate, but when we are all open and honest about the limitations, as well as the opportunities for this sector.  We want to work alongside technology vendors with complementary products, and with growers and producers, supported by science and greater understanding of growing plants indoors, all backed by far-sighted investors.

We firmly believe that through innovation, collaboration and investment we can create an economically and environmentally sustainable global indoor food industry.

FTS: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us today. We wish you every success and look forward to working with you in the future.

IGS: Thanks very much indeed. We look forward very much to be part of Farmtech Society as we all move forward in the development and innovation of agricultural technology.

For IGS

View fullsize

David Farquhar

CEO

Is Indoor Farming A Solution? UF/IFAS Scientists Explain

At one time, the concept of vegetables growing inside a temperature-controlled facility where LED lights and advanced technology set the pace for year-round harvesting, promoted photosynthesis and water use efficiency, and required no pesticides, was considered a scene from the future.

Today, the concept of indoor vertical farming is increasingly becoming a reality. As an industry in early stages, experts indicate that the market has seen more start-ups fail than succeed. Nonetheless, proponents of indoor vertical farming continue to tout it as a food production method with multiple added environmental and social benefits which drives technology in favor of its existence.

View fullsize

Jiangxiao Qiu is an assistant professor of landscape ecology at FLREC

In the latest EDIS publication entitled ‘Indoor Vertical Farming Systems for Food Security and Resource Sustainability’, UF/IFAS scientists give consumers an inside look at the current status of the industry globally.

“The publication explains what we have learned so far about indoor vertical farming, the different techniques and innovations available, as well as the benefits, limitations, and challenges with this young industry,” said Jiangxiao Qiu, Assistant Professor of landscape ecology at UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. “As we seek ways to curb food insecurity and advance sustainability, we also look at the current state of the methods for their economic, environmental, and social viability.”

Indoor vertical farming is the practice of producing food on vertically inclined surfaces. Instead of farming vegetables on a single level, such as in a field or a greenhouse, this method produces vegetables in vertical layers inside structures including skyscrapers, shipping containers, repurposed warehouses just to name a few. The method relies on artificially controlling temperature, light, humidity, and nutrients to promote the growth of food, and uses much less space. Examples of production methods include hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, vegetable towers, modular container systems, and cubic production systems.

“The primary goal of indoor vertical farming is to maximize crop output of healthy organic food in a limited space such as an urban environment, while promoting water and nutrient use efficiencies, eliminating chemicals, and ultimately reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through reducing reliance on external food transports,” he said. “One of its goals is to enhance the connection of local food production to consumption.”

The other side of the message for indoor vertical farming systems is that in urban food production, it can be an important piece of the puzzle to finding solutions for global food insecurity and environmental challenges like climate change and sea-level rise, notes Qiu.

“The methods can serve to promote sustainability and community resilience in the face of situations like COVID-19, hurricanes, and environmental crisis,” he adds.

Now that consumers have experienced first-hand the vulnerability of a supply chain when confronted by natural and man-made disasters like hurricanes and COVID-19, Jiangxiao noted, consumers are starting to ask about the potentials of this method. Meanwhile, UF/IFAS Extension office statewide reports an increase in consumer requests for information, webinars, and videos on how to set up indoor gardens.

Contributing scientists to the publication provides some insight into the constraints and challenges that vertical indoor farming currently experiences. For example, production methods limit the range of crops suitable for growing in vertical indoor farms. Those crops include lettuce, tomato, strawberries, peppers, and microgreens. Staple crops, such as corn, soybean, and rice, at least with the current technology, are not ideal for indoor production at present. Costs related to start-up along with a lack of pervasive incentive or policy initiatives, and technical training for workforce development that can facilitate the adoption of vertical indoor farming at a large scale are also barriers to promoting success in the industry.

However, for residents interested in learning about vertical indoor farming, a series of Sustainable Urban Agriculture Workshops is in the works for August at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. The program, now in its second year, is organized by Qiu, in partnership with UF/IFAS Extensions in Broward and Collier counties. The series covers a variety of sustainable practices through informational and hands-on training on how to establish indoor farming on a small-scale. More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks as executive orders continue to lift facility lockdowns throughout the state.

Meanwhile, the publication cites environmental and social benefits. For example, indoor farming serves as an enterprise that can create jobs, it can also create a sense of community by providing a variety of urban environments with local places to obtain healthy food.

“This reduces the social inequality among communities targeting food desserts. Having a farm in an urban center revives some of the less developed and neglected neighbors by transforming abandoned warehouses, buildings, and vacant lots into a source of food production and while creating jobs and revenues,” added Qiu. “Ultimately, if the industry gains momentum it will eventually create jobs in sectors of engineering, biotechnology construction, and research and development.”

Source: University of Florida (Lourdes Rodriguez)

View fullsize

Publication date: Thu 14 May 2020

World Intelligent Farming Summit MARCH 26-27, 2020 BERLIN | GERMANY

Join us and global executives for our first annual World Intelligent Farming Summit on March 26th and 27th in Berlin, Germany 2020. The summit will focus on technological advancements and real-world applications of smart sensors, precision agriculture, vertical farming, industrial monitoring, as well as UAV and robotics applications in agriculture.

This event will bring together agribusiness professionals from global brands to discuss the use of AI and machine learning technologies to improve company performance in the digital era. Gain exceptional knowledge on the latest trends in intelligent farming and how other technologies are rapidly changing the farming and agriculture industry.

This is an invaluable 2-day opportunity to network with industry leaders and discuss all of the latest AgriTech solutions to drive your business forward. Request Your Free Brochure Today!

Please Click Here to Register or Request A Brochure