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Chinese Startup Gets In On Ground Floor Of High-Rise Farms
Looking ahead, the costs associated with conventional farming will match those of vertical farming around 2025, according to Zhan Zhuo, Sananbio's general manager. If this forecast is accurate, opportunities for vertical farms to spread quickly would explode, Zhan said
Sananbio Develops Techniques And
Hardware To Drive Indoor Agriculture
Sananbio has successfully grown more than 300 types of plants without the help of the sun. (Photo courtesy of Sananbio)
XIAO YAN, 36kr
August 17, 2020
BEIJING -- A Chinese company expects the future of high-rise farming to arrive in 2025. That's when the costs of conventional farming are expected to match those of vertical farming, when growing food inside urban towers will be able to address population and environmental issues in a more economical way, and when the indoor agriculture market is expected to be worth $9.9 billion.
Sananbio is the vertical farm leader in China, and the market estimate is from Grand View Research of the U.S.
The sector is still getting off the ground, but overseas startups have succeeded in raising large amounts of money.
Sananbio was created in 2015 by the Institute of Plant Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Fujian Sanan Group. It inherited the Institute of Plant Research's plant technology and Fujian Sanan's capabilities in optoelectronics, a field concerned with the use of electronics and light. With these tools, it conducts research into biotechnology, photobiology, indoor agriculture, and other areas.
It currently holds 416 patents, nearly 60% of which have been filed with the Patent Cooperation Treaty, an international organization that helps patent holders gain international protection for their inventions.
Sananbio has set up research facilities in Fujian and Anhui provinces and operates large indoor farms in Beijing, Shanghai, and other major cities.
In the U.S. state of Nevada, it is developing cultivated varieties for the North American market. In Singapore, it is developing indoor farming technologies for desert and island countries.
In 2015, Sananbio worked with another research institute to build a 10,000 sq. meter indoor farm that grows leafy vegetables with artificial light, the first such facility in the world.
Its latest triumph is Uplift, a system for unmanned agricultural factories that can create construction plans for factories based on internal layouts so that sowing, dividing roots, and daily management can be automated. The system also can reduce the use of pesticides.
The company has successfully grown more than 300 types of leafy vegetables, fruits, herbs, edible flowers, and medicinal herbs.
Sananbio's business model is to provide hardware and vertical farming solutions to farmers who want to innovate and companies looking to enter agriculture. It also provides ongoing technical support. Its research facilities in Fujian, Anhui, and the U.S. already supply technology, and globally the company either owns or services 120,000 sq. meters worth of indoor farms. More than 50 indoor agricultural facilities in the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, and Germany use Sananbio facilities.
Looking ahead, the costs associated with conventional farming will match those of vertical farming around 2025, according to Zhan Zhuo, Sananbio's general manager. If this forecast is accurate, opportunities for vertical farms to spread quickly would explode, Zhan said.
The company says it is also making progress in other areas, such as plant-based bioreactors, planters for home use, and exhibition indoor farms for educational purposes.
36Kr, a Chinese tech news portal founded in Beijing in 2010, has more than 150 million readers worldwide. Nikkei announced a partnership with 36Kr on May 22, 2019.
For the Japanese version of this story, click here.
For the Chinese version, click here.
Vertical Farming With Hydroponics
In recent years, urban farming using vertical hydroponic systems has gained a lot of attention. Using the latest technology, these hydroponic farms are able to optimize plant growth, providing fresh, local produce, while minimizing water usage, space, transport, and pesticides
In recent years, urban farming using vertical hydroponic systems has gained a lot of attention. Using the latest technology, these hydroponic farms are able to optimize plant growth, providing fresh, local produce, while minimizing water usage, space, transport, and pesticides. However, whether hydroponic farms are superior to traditional farming methods and whether they can replace them has been subject to controversy.
AeroFarms vertical farming facility source: https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2019/5733085/aerofarms/
What is a hydroponic system?
Hydroponics refers to the soilless techniques used to grow plants. There are a number of varieties of hydroponic systems, including aquaponics where live fish are used to provide fertilizer for the plants, traditional hydroponics which involves adding chemical solutions of the required nutrients, and aeroponics which uses a nutrient-infused mist. Hydroponic systems can be grown in a greenhouse using natural light, or more commonly in a vertical system using LED lights, to save space.
Aerofarms aeroponic system uses a nutrient infused mist. Source: https://aerofarms.com/technology/
Advantages of hydroponics
1. No soil
The earth has a finite coverage of arable land on which crops can be grown. Climate change and destructive farming practices cause loss of this soil. Soil erosion is one of the greatest threats to food security. As a result there is a growing demand for alternative, innovative approaches to provide food for the growing population. Hydroponics is one of these, providing a soilless system that can be used anywhere, particularly suited to cities.
2. Transport
As previously mentioned, hydroponic systems offer the advantage of the ability to be grow anywhere, even in the middle of a soilless city. As a result, fresh produce can be made available locally, sold in restaurants and farmers markets with minimal transport. This helps minimise greenhouse gas emissions as well as minimise nutrient loss and damage of produce, as leafy greens are quick to lose their nutritional content once harvested. Better yet, many hydroponic farms allow transport of the live produce to the market, providing the freshest possible option.
3. Reduced water usage
Hydroponic systems can use up to 10 times less water compared to traditional soil-based cultivation due to the recirculation of the water used. This offers a huge advantage as water shortage is of great concern, with field-based agriculture being one of the greatest consumers of freshwater sources - up to 80% of ground and surface waters in the U.S. Therefore, hydroponics offers a sustainable option for crop cultivation, with the growing population causing an increasing demand for food and water.
4. Controlled environment
Growing indoors allows better control of temperature, light, air composition and pests. As a result, crop growth rates, quality and yield can be maximised and can also be grown year-round. Therefore, these indoor farms can play an important role in filling the market gap, providing fresh produce in all seasons.
5. Less space
Indoor hydroponic farms are typically grown vertically, with LED lights for each layer of crops, this allows maximum usage of small spaces making it a viable option for growing crops in the city homes, in a spare room or basement. Moreover, in hydroponic systems plant roots don’t spread out as much in the search for nutrients like when grown in soil, as the roots are suspended directly in nutrient-rich solution. As a result, it is possible to grow crops much closer together, saving space.
6. Less need for herbicides and pesticides
Due to the controlled, soilless environment, pests and disease are minimised. As a result there is little need for use of chemical herbicides and pesticides which is a big bonus for health and food safety, with often no need to even wash the harvested crops.
Disadvantages and challenges of hydroponics
1. Organics debate
It has been subject to debate whether hydroponic systems should be permitted organic certification. Standard hydroponics typically uses a chemical nutrient solution, which are often not organically sourced. Moreover, it is controversial whether the absence of the soil microbiome may effect the food quality, with unknown impacts on the human microbiome, as increasing evidence suggests that the microbes we obtain from food may be an important contribution to our health.
2. limited crop variety
Due to the high light demands of fruiting plants, often requiring a wider light spectrum with a longer growth period, hydroponic technology is currently mostly limited to leafy greens due to costs. Therefore, hydroponics can in no way be seen as a complete replacement for traditional farming methods. Despite this, technological advancements are constantly improving hydroponic growth, possibly making it a viable option for a wider range of crops in the future.
3. Technical knowledge and difficulties
Understanding of the technical set-up of the hydroponics system and plant growth requirements is essential for preventing system failures. Leakages can occur and different crop types may require vastly different nutrient, temperature and lighting conditions. In addition, the close proximity of water and electrics poses risk and careful, regular monitoring of the system is required.
4. initial expenses
Although setting up a hydroponic system can be done on a budget with minimal costs, on a commercial scale, the specialist equipment required can be expensive. After the initial set up costs will be limited mainly to electricity and nutrient costs, the increased plant growth rates and yield often outweigh these added costs.
Concluding remarks
Despite the number of challenges and limitations associated with vertical farming with hydroponic systems, it still offers great potential to contribute to a more sustainable future of farming. It is important to emphasize that vertical farming and hydroponics is in no way a viable replacement for traditional farming practices but an alternative option, particularly suited to cities to help support the demand for fresh, locally-sourced healthy greens, with the growing population. Technological advancements are expected to further improve the costs and efficiency of plant growth in hydroponic systems, giving it high hopes for the future.
Digital Image Processing And Analysis For Plant Phenotyping
LemnaTec, based in Aachen, Germany, has been developing hardware and software for plant phenotyping since 1998
LemnaTec, based in Aachen, Germany, has been developing hardware and software for plant phenotyping since 1998. These systems use digital image processing for applications in research and development, which are used in breeding, science, agro- and biotechnology, as well as in the seed industry.
"Digital tools are the key to modern phenotyping", says Fred Corbett with LemnaTec. "Mendel's visual inspection of pea crosses has enabled groundbreaking discoveries in genetics and, even in the 21st century, phenotypic data is essential for plant research and breeding. Today, computer-aided analysis and machine learning are used for solution-oriented phenotyping."
In addition to tailor-made solutions for complex research questions - e.g. large installations for greenhouses and open field systems - LemnaTec supplies a range of products for routine applications in phenotyping and for seed testing.
"The classical "workhorses" for digital phenotyping are imaging sensors, in particular, high-resolution industrial cameras as known from other areas of image processing. These provide data on the size, shape, and color of the test objects", Fred explains.
"For the analysis of physiological properties, more complex sensor systems are also gaining in importance, such as fluorescence cameras that, in combination with special lighting and filters, provide data on the performance of the photosynthesis system of plants. Application-oriented analysis systems also include methods for evaluating plant diseases and pests."
Digital seed test
The digital seed test developed by LemnaTec is an application derived from phenotyping, which provides valuable services in the seed industry and for gene banks in determining germination capacity, germination quality, and seed quality.
"The experience gained from numerous large-scale installations and laboratory systems has been incorporated into a new product line that provides image recognition solutions for reliable documentation, analysis, and evaluation of data", Fred shows.
SeedaixpertThe Seedaixpert belongs to the new Aixpert product series and is suitable for paper-based germination and seedling emergence tests. "Unified imaging and analysis make data reproducible and standardizable. Modern image processing algorithms including machine learning provide reliable and comprehensive data, the quality and information content of which exceeds the classical visual assessment. In addition, the digital image data can be retrieved at any time so that complete documentation of the samples is guaranteed."
The Seedaixpert offers extensive accessories.
For more information:
Fred Corbett
LemnaTec GmbH
Nerscheider Weg 170
52076 Aachen, Germany
Phone: +49 2408 9818514
E-Mail: fred.corbett@lemnatec.de
Internet: http://www.lemnatec.com
Publication date: Tue 19 May 2020