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Sheikh Mohammed Launches Food Tech Valley In Dubai
It seeks to triple the UAE’s food production and will include a smart food logistics hub, R&D facilities as well as agricultural technology and engineering labs
It seeks to triple the UAE’s food production and will include a smart food logistics hub, R&D facilities as well as agricultural technology and engineering labs
MAY 2, 2021
The first phase of a new initiative that seeks to triple the UAE’s food production has been launched in Dubai.
The Food Tech Valley was launched on Saturday, May 1, by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and is a partnership between the Ministry of Food and Water Security and Wasl Properties to explore urban planning of future smart and food independent cities.
The initiative that aims at helping the UAE meet its National Food Security Strategy 2051 targets, will – in the initial phase of its launch – focus on strategic projects to achieve food self-sufficiency while ensuring sustainability and conservation of resources, said Mariam Almheiri, Minister of State for Food and Water Security.
The Food Tech Valley will be home to four main clusters: agricultural technology and engineering, a food innovation centre, R&D facilities, and an advanced smart food logistics hub.
The agricultural technology and engineering cluster will have a vertical farm that will employ the latest food technologies to grow year-round vital crops, noted a statement issued by Sheikh Mohammed regarding the initiative. The cluster will also focus on developing innovative projects in bioengineering, automation, robotics and artificial intelligence and supporting capacity building across the food ecosystem.
The food innovation centre meanwhile will provide an integrated agri-business ecosystem to incubate promising ideas and support startups and entrepreneurs. The cluster, which will have a specialised food factory to produce new foods and second-generation restaurants (restaurants 2.0), will explore models that are based on sustainability and production sufficiency to reduce consumption and wastage of resources.
The third cluster will have world-class R&D facilities to train food specialists and support food establishments. The facilities will explore the use of agri-robotics to maximise yields and drought-resistant crops. Specialised researchers will also explore the application of 3D printing in algae cultivation and alternative protein production. The R&D facilities will also study the use of AI to monitor, analyse and manage agricultural crops, and detect environmental impact and climate change.
It will complement global food security research efforts by exploring successful saline agriculture, nutritional genomics, agricultural mechanisation and the use of drones in food production.
The fourth cluster will feature a fourth-generation food storage system that provides smart and automated logistical storage services. The smart storage system will apply blockchain technologies and big data in sorting, transporting and distributing various food products. It will track food quality, origin, components, processing methods, storage and delivery to ensure the efficiency of food supply chains.
The initiative aims to create an integrated modern city where over 300 varieties of crops will be produced using modern farming techniques and which will serve as a hub for future clean tech-based food and agricultural products and an incubator for researchers, entrepreneurs, startups and industry experts to develop solutions to address issued regarding food production.
It will support the use of technologies and applied research in food processing and agriculture and apply modern farming techniques – such as vertical farming, aquaculture and hydroponics – to accelerate self-sufficiency in fresh food produce and reduce wastage of resources.
“[The Food Tech Valley project] will be an economic zone, which is particularly significant considering that the size of the AgTech market is projected to grow from $13.5bn to $22bn over the next four years. The project is part of our efforts to achieve our strategic national goals with respect to food security, as it constitutes an incubator for advanced farms – including indoor and vertical farms – with more than 60 per cent of the project’s space allocated to these activities,” said Mariam Almheiri.
Read: Sheikh Mohammed reiterates UAE’s drive to enhance food and water security
“The project features a food innovation centre that has been designed to resemble a head of wheat and will incorporate laboratories, research centres and prototype agricultural systems. Strategically located close to universities and academic institutions, it will support the R&D ecosystem and explore and deliver sustainable solutions around food,” added Almheiri.
Hesham Abdullah Al Qassim, CEO of Wasl Asset Management Group, noted: “The project provides an integrated legislative framework that facilitates new food product development and access to the market. Its competitive incentives and services enable investors to utilise local and global demand for the UAE brand and leverage Dubai’s global commercial and trade networks to achieve the desired growth.”
According to the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment’s 2019 figures, the UAE has more than 177 advanced farms that use modern agricultural technologies and hydroponics, and over 100 entities that implement organic farming across the UAE. These facilitate the growth of locally sourced produce all year-round and reduce reliance on seasonal farming. The country currently hosts over 500 specialised food processing companies that supply to local markets and export globally.
As an economic zone, the Food Tech Valley is a valuable addition to the UAE’s 1,250 legislations that support agriculture and food production sectors in ensuring food safety, storage and transport. With food and beverage investments in the UAE currently totalling Dhs62bn, the initiative is expected to contribute to attracting further local and foreign direct investments within the field.
DUBAI FOOD FOOD TECH VALLEY MINISTRY OF FOOD AND WATER SECURITY SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM UAE WASL PROPERTIES
2-Acre Vertical Farm Run By AI And Robots Out-Produces 720-Acre Flat Farm
A San Fransisco start-up is changing the vertical farming industry by utilizing robots to ensure optimal product quality
Plenty is an ag-tech startup in San Francisco, co-founded by Nate Storey, that is reinventing farms and farming. Storey, who is also the company’s chief science officer, says the future of farms is vertical and indoors because that way, the food can grow anywhere in the world, year-round; and the future of farms employ robots and AI to continually improve the quality of growth for fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Plenty does all these things and uses 95% less water and 99% less land because of it.
In recent years, farmers on flat farms have been using new tools for making farming better or easier. They’re using drones and robots to improve crop maintenance, while artificial intelligence is also on the rise, with over 1,600 startups and total investments reaching tens of billions of dollars. Plenty is one of those startups. However, flat farms still use a lot of water and land, while a Plenty vertical farm can produce the same quantity of fruits and vegetables as a 720-acre flat farm, but on only 2 acres!
Storey said:
“Vertical farming exists because we want to grow the world’s capacity for fresh fruits and vegetables, and we know it’s necessary.”
Plenty’s climate-controlled indoor farm has rows of plants growing vertically, hung from the ceiling. There are sun-mimicking LED lights shining on them, robots that move them around, and artificial intelligence (AI) managing all the variables of water, temperature, and light, and continually learning and optimizing how to grow bigger, faster, better crops. These futuristic features ensure every plant grows perfectly year-round. The conditions are so good that the farm produces 400 times more food per acre than an outdoor flat farm.
Storey said:
“400X greater yield per acre of ground is not just an incremental improvement, and using almost two orders of magnitude less water is also critical in a time of increasing environmental stress and climate uncertainty. All of these are truly game-changers, but they’re not the only goals.”
Another perk of vertical farming is locally produced food. The fruits and vegetables aren’t grown 1,000 miles away or more from a city; instead, at a warehouse nearby. Meaning, many transportation miles are eliminated, which is useful for reducing millions of tons of yearly CO2 emissions and prices for consumers. Imported fruits and vegetables are more expensive, so society’s most impoverished are at an extreme nutritional disadvantage. Vertical farms could solve this problem.
Storey said:
“Supply-chain breakdowns resulting from COVID-19 and natural disruptions like this year’s California wildfires demonstrate the need for a predictable and durable supply of products can only come from vertical farming.”
(Credit: Reuters)
Plenty’s farms grow non-GMO crops and don’t use herbicides or pesticides. They recycle all water used, even capturing the evaporated water in the air. The flagship farm in San Francisco is using 100% renewable energy too.
Furthermore, all the packaging is 100% recyclable, made of recycled plastic, and specially designed to keep the food fresh longer to reduce food waste.
Storey told Forbes:
“The future will be quite remarkable. And I think the size of the global fresh fruit and vegetable industry will be multiples of what it is today.”
Plenty has already received $400 million in investment capital from SoftBank, former Google chairman Eric Schmidt, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. It’s also struck a deal with Albertsons stores in California to supply 430 stores with fresh produce.
Ideally, the company will branch out, opening vertical farms across the country and beyond. There can never be too many places graced by better food growing with a less environmental cost.
Here’s a TechFirst podcast about the story behind Plenty:
Published by Dani Kliegerman for iGrow.News
How VeggiTech Contributes To UAE's Agenda To build Food And Water Security
VeggiTech's produce utilizes less than 10 percent of the water used in traditional farms
VeggiTech farm - Image Credit: Supplied
VeggiTech's Produce Utilizes Less Than 10 Percent
of The Water Used In Traditional Farms
August 31, 2020
VeggiTech is an agrotech company with the sole aim of disrupting the agriculture industry. VeggiTech focuses on addressing the key challenges of traditional farming – soil, temperature, and water through its design of protected hydroponics and grow lights-assisted hydroponics. We have chosen the challenging conditions of the UAE to demonstrate the positive use of agro-technology to create sustainable farms aligned to the UAE’s vision of food security.
In the last 18 months, VeggiTech has built and is operating over 30 hectares of farms with protected hydroponics. It is in the process of going live with 4,500 sq meters of indoor vertical farms that employ grow light-assisted hydroponics. We produced over 1.6million kilograms of produce last year and this year (including the summer months), we are delighted to produce over 1.9million kilograms with over 500+ tones of organic produce from our farms between August 2020 and July 2021.
VeggiTech's produce utilizes less than 10 percent of the water used in traditional farms and is pesticide-free. In addition, we have deployed technology for complete food transparency through QR codes that give complete visibility of the growing process of the vegetable produced in our farms.
VeggiTech's current operations and plans in H1 2021
VeggiTech is in the business of offering farming as a service, where it builds and operates digital smart farms that are sustainable and environmentally-friendly for our customers. With a team of over 160+ professionals; and one of the strongest agronomy and engineering teams in the region, we are poised for growth over the next 3 – 5 years.
In the first half of 2020, despite the COVID–19 circumstances we have signed contracts for 13,000 sq.ft. grow area of indoor vertical farms, and are building protected hydroponic farms of 80,000 sqft. You will experience buying live produce from our indoor vertical farm installations in all Sharjah Co-operative Society stores soon with the first one going live in Al Rahmaniya Mall, Sharjah, next month.
We opened our Helsinki, Finland, offices in March 2020; joined the Association of Vertical Farming (AVF) headquartered in Munich, Germany, where we have been invited to play a lead role in creating industry standards for Indoor Vertical farms world-wide.
VeggiTech was invited by the Ministry of Education and Food and Water Security Office to host a webinar series “Grow Your Food” for students in the Youth Summer Camps across July and August 2020. We live-streamed the informative sessions from our farms providing insights on achieving food security through technology. The audience was segregated into three batches of 6 – 10-year-olds; 10 – 14-year-olds and 14 – 18-year-olds.
We are currently in advanced discussions with private investors and government organizations in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi on large scale projects to make UAE food secure with good quality local food.
Sustainable Communities
VeggiTech has recently signed up for designing and developing sustainable grow areas with major players that specialize in developing sustainable communities in UAE. This exciting development underlines our vision of bringing “grow” spaces close to our “living” spaces.
Sustainable agro - Economic model
Dubai SME, the agency of Dubai Economy, mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, collaborated with VeggiTech through their Innovation Accelerator program and commissioned it to install an Indoor Vertical farm in their Business Village campus in Deira Dubai (scheduled to go live in Q4 2020). This set-up would showcase the circular farm-to-fork economic model with the Indoor Vertical farm (IVF), growing green leafy, herbs, and microgreens, and these are converted into end consumer produce in the form of farm-fresh salads / curated recipe packages.
Food security
We are upbeat on the current pipeline of projects (10M+ sqft of farms - protected hydroponics; 200,000+ sqft of Indoor vertical farms) to be signed in Q3 / Q4 2020 and these would start producing over 25million kgs of produce every year from 2021 - 2022. The optimal use of land assets combined with the reduction in water resources and pesticide-free crops are an ideal example of using technology to align with UAE’s food security goals.
Social impact
While the COVID – 19 circumstances are charting unprecedented scenarios across our lives; we, as the local farmers, were privileged to work with Sharjah Charity Association, Shurooq, The Noodle House, and Dubai Police to support our heroes, our frontline healthcare workers, and families, with over 20 tons of our farm fresh vegetables delivered contactless.
VeggiTech is privileged to play its role in this journey.
Source Courtesy of Gulf News
Agtech Sector Blooms As More Dollars And Startups Rush In
Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years
Christine Hall | August 20, 2020.
Twitter: ChristineMHall
Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years.
In fact, in each of the last two years, venture capitalists invested $4 billion in startups in the agtech space, according to Crunchbase data. Based on the $2.6 billion already given out as of Aug. 14 of this year, 2020 is poised to repeat or even exceed the previous years.
Better Food Ventures Partner Seana Day began tracking agtech startups more than five years ago. She said that farming is an area that isn’t typically tech-enabled. In fact, COVID-19 reminded the world about the food supply chain, she added.
“There was a disconnect between demand signals and supply, which is why you saw empty grocery shelves,” she said. “At the same time, the dairy farmers were dumping milk because they didn’t have a process in place to massively produce small consumer packaging.”
Day estimates that global food and agriculture fund managers have about $130 billion in assets under management, which is driving a surge in investments as well as a shift in thinking.
Farmers have historically been resistant to change, Day said, but at the end of the day, they are rational business people. That means that if a startup can show a farmer a product or service that will boost the return on investment—increasing revenue or decreasing costs—the company will have a better chance of making the sale.
The challenge comes in for tech companies that offer apps meant to save time and increase job productivity, areas that aren’t necessarily needed for farmers, she added.
There is also a shift in legacy food companies thinking digitally. Day points to Tyson Foods as an example. The meat producer earlier this month promoted Dean Banks to CEO. He joined Tyson as president last December from Alphabet’s high-tech incubator X.
“That is a huge signal from a company making bold moves, saying ‘we want to be a leader in this space,’” Day added.
New investments
This year has been particularly busy for the agtech innovation sector, as startups secured both big and small investments.
One of the largest went to Farmers Business Network, which raised $250 million in Series F funding earlier this month. Day said the San Carlos, California-based company was one of the pioneers in e-commerce models, helping farmers optimize their financial performances by finding demand for supply.
Meanwhile, Berkeley-based Pivot Bio announced a $100 million funding round in April, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Temasek, to scale its microbial nitrogen technology. The company said the technology increases crop yields, and in turn, farmers’ revenues. Biodesign startup Geltor brought in $91.3 million in a Series B round in July, led by CPT Capital, to make proteins, such as collagen and elastin, but without animals. The startup’s products are used in beauty, and food and beverage products.
One of the newest is iFarm, a Finland-based startup providing indoor farming technology for growing fresh greens, berries and vegetables. On Thursday, it announced that Gagarin Capital led its $4 million investment with other investors including Matrix Capital, Impulse VC, IMI.VC and several angel investors.
iFarm, founded in 2017, has more than 50 ongoing projects with clients in Europe and the Middle East for 2020, Max Chizhov, co-founder and CEO, told Crunchbase News. The company will use the funding to develop its iFarm Growtune tech platform; expand into new regions in Eastern and Northern Europe and the Middle East; and will experiment with growing strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radishes and other crops.
“We think this is an interesting time to be in agtech, and we think we are in the right time and right place, especially as there is more attention on food and agtech and a pipeline of investments,” Chizhov said. “We are focusing on how to change the supply chain, and we believe we are one of the solutions to solve this problem.”
Last week, we also reported on a new company, Unfold, which is focused on vertical farming. Bayer’s investment arm, Leaps by Bayer, and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek infused $30 million into the new company.
Unfold’s President and CEO John Purcell said he is bullish on the farming sector, seeing a need for genetics in vertical farming. The company has an agreement for certain rights to germplasm from Bayer’s vegetable portfolio that includes lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
“Technology has to catch up with the promise,” he said. “There has been an overall trend in produce moving toward vertical farming and greenhouse, but the hard part is you have to have the tech to make it feasible.”
The “tech” in question is lighting, mechanics and a system in place. Then it has to be competitive with the other forms of production so potential customers will see its value, Purcell added.
New areas of agtech
Purcell sees three promising areas for the agtech industry:
Major urban areas, where there is a desire for local, fresh food;
Self-sufficiency, or helping places where there is limited arable land; and
Produce supply chains, or getting food from the farm to fulfillment centers.
Ashley Tyrner, founder and CEO of Farmbox Direct, thinks there should be one more area: food as medicine. She is in the process of raising $10 million for her East Coast-based organic and natural produce delivery service.
Tyrner said she saw her business grow more than 2,000 percent during COVID-19. In that time, Farmbox also began working with Medicare to provide box services to patients identified as those who need to eat healthier to manage chronic disease.
“The climate has changed in Silicon Valley, and VCs are welcoming because we are doing food as medicine,” she added. “We were the first to find an insurance company to work with us to help patients change their eating patterns. We are creating a new space here.”
In the area of crop protection is Canada-based MustGrow Biologics, an agricultural biotechnology company taking natural compounds from mustard seeds and turning them into pesticides that fortify the soil.
The pesticide industry is valued at $65 billion, but most are synthetics, Corey Giasson, president and CEO of MustGrow, told Crunchbase News in an interview. The biologics side of the pesticide industry is growing, but is still worth only about one-sixth that amount, he said.
The slower growth is due to biologics in the past not being as effective as synthetic fertilizers, so MustGrow has been doing a lot of studies to show that its product works.
“Farmers want to use products that are healthy and safe, but need something effective to grow a crop that will suppress pests,” he said. “We also have a growing population globally, and we need to feed people, doing it in a safe, environmentally sustainable way.”
New opportunities
Crunchbase data shows that is the most active agtech venture investor, having made 20 venture investments in the agtech space since it was founded 10 years ago. It was most recently involved in India-based Intello Labs’ $5.9 million Series A round. The company uses image matching and machine learning to measure the quality of crops.
A new player is FTW Ventures, led by Brian Frank, who on Thursday announced he is raising his first “problem-focused fund” aimed at early-stage food and agricultural startups.
Frank already raised the $4 million fund, in which he will invest in 15 to 20 deals at about $200,000 to $250,000. He has already made five investments, the most recent in April as a part of Plantible Foods’ $4.6 million seed round. He was also an investor in Plantible’s pre-seed round. The San Marcos, California-based B2B food technology company is developing plant-based protein.
Frank predicts some of the hotter areas will include hardware and automation, software and SaaS, novel products–such as Plantible–and personalized nutrition. He also said that consumers are driving the way food makes its way from the farm to the fork.
“I came into this sector from mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with a deep-seated passion for food,” he said in an interview. “There is a major shift in consumer trends as they look for more resilient and sustainable food. Climate change is both an effect of food and it impacts food. Plants can’t just move to a new climate, so we need to help them.”
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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Hydroponic Seedling Propagation Session Joins Indoor Ag-Conversations Series - August 12, 2020 @ 2pm EST
Indoor Ag-Con, LLC will bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss best practices, technology developments and more during the Free Webinar, "Hydroponic Seedling Propagation," on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, from 2-3 pm EST
'HYDROPONIC SEEDLING PROPAGATION' SESSION JOINS
INDOOR AG-CONVERSATIONS WEBINAR SERIES | AUGUST 12, 2020 @ 2 PM
LAS VEGAS (AUGUST 3, 2020) -- Indoor Ag-Con, LLC will bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss best practices, technology developments and more during the free webinar, "Hydroponic Seedling Propagation," on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, from 2-3 pm EST. The latest addition to the Indoor Ag-Conversations webinar series, the panel will be moderated by Joe Swartz, Vice President, AmHydro; and feature John Jackson, CEO, Sustainable Indoor Growing Systems, Inc (SIGS); Dr. Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D, Corporate Research Manager, Smithers-Oasis and Nick Greens, Founder | Agriculture Specialist, Nick Greens Grow Team.
"The only way to achieve high quality, uniform crops is to start with high quality, uniform seedlings," explains moderator Joe Swartz, AmHydro. During the session, Swartz and the Indoor Ag-Conversations panel will take a deep dive into hydroponic seedling propagation, covering areas including “best in class” techniques & methodologies netting outstanding yield results; technology advances from LEDs and NFTs; environmental controls and more.
The Indoor Ag-Conversation webinar is free and attendees can register at www.indoor.ag/webinar Panelists include
Joe Swartz, Vice President, AmHydro, is a master hydroponic farmer. He has more than 55,000 hours of hands-on greenhouse production time. He is a year-round grower for 35 years and a consultant to the hydroponics industry for more than 20 years. His specialties include professional grower training, system design, and crop production methods. Other specialties include biological pest control, greenhouse business management, specialty produce marketing, and food safety protocols. He has consulted for companies, growers, and investors across the globe. He also has successful growing operations in 66 countries around the world.
Dr. Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D., Corporate Research Manager, Smithers-Oasis, is responsible for new product development and technical support. He also leads the efforts to provide technical support to other Oasis Grower Solution units located globally. Bringing 12 years of industry experience to his position, Rapaka plans to continue Oasis Grower Solutions’ growth by developing innovative products and helping the customers to be more successful. Rapaka also is working to expand the Oasis Grower Solutions’ footprint into new markets and countries. Rapaka is an accomplished researcher who is regularly published in scientific journals and industry trade publications
John Jackson, CEO, SIGS, is an award-winning entrepreneur and University of Arizona alum with an MBA from the Eller College of Management and McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship where he serves as an adjunct lecturer. John has successfully launched investor and grant-funded businesses and operated tech-based companies to early stage revenue. Born in Compton, California, John continues his grandfather’s legacy as a sharecropper of tomatoes in rural Oklahoma and looks to empower all growers to be more sustainable, environmentally responsible, and efficient in their operations by providing the best young plant inputs possible. SIGS aims for growers to “Grow Plants not Seeds," ensuring an optimal head start to their production cycle.
Nick Greens, Founder |Agriculture Specialist, Nick Greens Grow Team started his growing career in 2002 as an apprentice grower for a hydroponics shop in San Diego, California. In 2010, Nick moved to his native Chicago to start growing for Blue Star Produce. During his time there, he perfected his compost tea recipes and became a pioneer in organic microgreens and leafy greens production. He worked for and advised many Chicago indoor farms, including Garfield Produce, Bright Farms, Windy City Greens, Plant Chicago, and Closed Loop Farms. Nick also created the microgreens program at FarmedHere in 2014. He built its first NFT systems, creating crop and lighting recipes, and helped improve monthly sales by nearly 20% by 2016.
Indoor Ag-Con LLC, producers of the premier event for the indoor|vertical farming industry, created the new Indoor Ag-Conversations series to share content originally planned for its May 2020 in-person annual conference that has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
To learn more about this session, as well as other upcoming programs
on the schedule, visit www.indoor.ag/webinar
ABOUT INDOOR AG-CON LLC
Founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con, LLC produces the premier event for the indoor | vertical farming industry touching all sectors of the business — produce, legal cannabis, hemp, alternate protein and non-food crops. In December 2018, three event industry professionals – Nancy Hallberg, Kris Sieradzki and Brian Sullivan – purchased Indoor Ag-Con LLC, setting the stage for further expansion of the events globally. For more information, visit: https://indoor.ag
Indoor Ag-Con, 950 Scales Road, Building #200, Suwanee, GA 30024, United States
Hundreds of Millions Are Being Invested in Vertical Farms Across North America, Europe, The Middle East, Japan And Beyond
This 1st Vertical Farming World Congress will enable you to hear from leading global players and to network with key figures from across the global industry. Bringing together vertical farming operators, investors, suppliers and experts, the event aims is to debate and help advance the sector’s future
Hundreds of millions are being invested in vertical farms across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, and beyond. How big can the industry grow? Will it replace traditional agriculture? Which technology is best – aeroponic, aquaponic, or hydroponic? Which crops are most profitable? Will they boost supermarkets or come directly to our homes?
This 1st Vertical Farming World Congress will enable you to hear from leading global players and to network with key figures from across the global industry. Bringing together vertical farming operators, investors, suppliers, and experts, the event aims is to debate and help advance the sector’s future.
Program highlights include:
Virtual vertical farm tours
1-1 video call networking opportunities
Market opportunity and funding insights
Industry leadership panel
Focus on aeroponics, aquaponics, hydroponics choices
Technology briefing from plant growth to robotics
Key innovator case studies
Plus funding panel, workshops, and one to one meetings.
Zenith Global’s Vertical Farming World Congress is where the world of vertical farming will meet virtually to develop the sector’s future. Make sure you secure your place to stay ahead of your competition.
For full event information and to register, visit: http://www.zenithglobal.com/events/vfwc2020
For information on sponsorship opportunities, visit www.zenithglobal.com/events/sponsorship, or contact Lisa Solovieva on e lsolovieva@zenithglobal.com t +44 (0)1225 327900
Farming In The Desert: Are Vertical Farms The Solution To Saving Water?
When I told people I was going to grow tomatoes in the desert, they thought I was crazy," Sky Kurtz, founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, told DW
Jul. 23, 2020
By Isabelle Gerretsen"
When I told people I was going to grow tomatoes in the desert, they thought I was crazy," Sky Kurtz, founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, told DW.
With just an average 12 days of rain a year, less than 1% arable land, a desert location, and an 80% import rate for food, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems an unfavorable place to set up a farm.
Kurtz is one of several entrepreneurs using high-tech farming techniques to boost crop production in the Emirates. Pure Harvest built the first climate-controlled greenhouse in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
Prompted by arid conditions and a desire for greater food security, the country is investing millions in technologies — such as vertical farming — that could make it an unlikely agricultural pioneer.
Vertical farms can grow a rich variety of different crops by stacking them in layers under LED lighting in climate-controlled greenhouses and watering them with mist or drip systems. The process is tailored to each crop's specific needs, resulting in high-yield, year-round harvests."
It takes 30 to 40 days to grow leafy greens out in the field. We can grow that same crop in 10 to 12 days," says Marc Oshima, co-founder of Aerofarms. The company received funding from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to build the capital's largest indoor vertical farm, with 800 different crops, by 2021.
Water Scarcity and Fossil-Fuel Reliance
The technology uses minimal land and up to 95% less water than conventional agriculture.
The hydroponics system places the plants' roots directly into a water-based and nutrient-rich solution instead of soil. This "closed-loop" system captures and recirculates all the water, rather than allowing it to drain away — useful for a country like the UAE suffering from extremely high water stress.
Globally, agriculture accounts for 70% of freshwater withdrawals, and UAE is extracting groundwater faster than it can be replenished, according to the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)."
Water is very expensive over in the UAE, but energy is cheap as it is subsidized," says Jan Westra, a strategic business developer at Priva, a company providing technology to vertical farms.
The artificially controlled environment is energy-intensive because the air conditioning and LED lights need a constant source of electricity.
This bringing forth of life in the desert could come at a high environmental cost. Most of that energy comes from carbon-emitting fossil fuels, even as the Middle Eastern country feel the effects of climate change.
By 2050 Abu Dhabi's average temperature is predicted to increase by around 2.5°C (36.5 F) in a business-as-usual scenario. Over the next 70 years, patterns of rainfall are also expected to change.
Integrating Renewable Energy
Although Pure Harvest is building a solar-powered farm in neighboring Saudi Arabia, its UAE operations get electricity from the carbon-intensive national grid.
Investing more in renewables "is a goal of ours," Kurtz told DW. He said the company has not set a clean energy target but is working on various green power projects, including a plan to integrate solar power generated in UAE into its operations.
However, Willem van der Schans, a researcher specializing in short supply chains at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, says sustainability and clean energy should be "inherent in the technology and included in plans when starting a vertical farm."
He argues that many vertical farming companies are not sustainable in terms of energy as they still view clean power as an optional "add-on."
Ismahane Elouafi, director-general of the government-funded ICBA in Abu Dhabi, acknowledges that vertical farming has some way to go before achieving "real sustainability," but she believes the innovations are "promising."
Improved battery storage, increasingly efficient LED lights, and cheaper solar panels will help, she adds.
Local Solutions
By 2050, the UAE government wants to generate almost half its energy from renewable sources.
Fred Ruijgt, a vertical farming specialist at Priva, argues that it's important to factor transport and refrigeration into the energy equation. Vertical farming uses more energy to grow crops than traditional agriculture, but because crops are grown locally, they do not have to be transported by air, sea, or truck over long distances."
The energy-saving is difficult to calculate exactly, but the advantages of locally grown crops are huge," he says, adding that those grown in vertical farms not only use less water and pesticides but that they also have a longer shelf life due to minimal transportation time.
Food Security and Coronavirus
In 2018, the UAE set out its vision to become a hub for high-tech local food production.
Companies and investors have flocked to the region, attracted by the 0% corporate tax rate, low labor costs, and cheap energy. With their help, the UAE aims to reduce its reliance on imports and make its food system more resilient to shocks like climate change and pandemics.
Oshima from Aerofarms says the coronavirus pandemic has brought "greater appreciation of how fragile the supply chain is and raised questions about food safety and security."
When the UAE went into lockdown in April, imported supplies of perishable goods like vegetables fell and business boomed for local suppliers.
ICBA's Elouafi said they have helped keep the UAE well-stocked during the pandemic."With the help of local food production and adequate imports, there has been absolutely no shortage of food in the UAE," Elouafi told DW.
Climate change, however, poses an altogether more complex threat to the country in the long-term. Given climate change's likely impact on food production, she says vertical farming has shown it is "an economically viable proposition even with harsh climatic conditions."
Reposted with permission from Deutsche Welle.
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How Can Crop Production Data Advance The Controlled Environment Agriculture Industry?
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Open Data project aims to advance controlled environment research, machine learning, and artificial intelligence through the collection and dissemination of crop production data
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Open Data project aims to advance controlled environment research, machine learning, and artificial intelligence through the collection and dissemination of crop production data.
by By David Kuack
There is a considerable amount of data being generated by both private companies and university researchers when it comes to controlled environment crop production. This data is being generated for ornamentals, food crops, and cannabis. One of the questions about all this data is whether it is being used to its maximum potential to benefit the horticulture industry.
“Data has become a big topic in the horticulture industry with university researchers and private companies,” said Erico Mattos, executive director of the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium. “People can identify with the challenges and opportunities with the amount of data that is being generated. However, we don’t yet have a centralized repository and a standard methodology for storage to allow us to explore and exploit this data.”
The formation of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Open Data (CEAOD) project aims to promote crop production data sharing from universities and private companies to accelerate CEA research.
Addressing the data proliferation
In 2018 during the North Central Extension & Research Activity–101 (NCERA-101) meeting members of this USDA-organized committee discussed what should be done with the extensive amount of data being generated by controlled environment researchers. Ohio State University professor Chieri Kubota proposed the formation of a sub-committee to address the need to develop guidelines for sharing data generated by controlled environment agriculture researchers.
“Dr. Kubota initiated the discussion about the need for a centralized platform to store data collected from controlled environment research,” Mattos said. “A task force was formed that included Chieri, Kale Harbick at USDA-ARS, Purdue University professor Yang Yang, Melanie Yelton at Plenty and myself. Since the task force was formed Ken Tran at Koidra and Timothy Shelford at Cornell University have also become members of the task force.
“We started discussing how we could make use of all this data. Researchers in the United States collect a huge amount of data. All of the environmental data such as temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide and light levels in controlled environment research is collected. There is also a biological set of data which includes plant biomass and fruit yield.”
Mattos said there is also a great deal of research data generated and collected by private companies that is not shared with the horticulture industry.
“With the advancement in sensors and environmental controls, the capability now exists that this data can be collected,” he said. “With the advancements in computing power, this data can be used to start new applications and new tools that haven’t been available before. However, in order to do this, we have to have access to a large amount of data. That’s why the task force thought it would be good to create a repository where researchers and private companies could share the data following a specific format. This data could then be used in the advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence applications to optimize crop yields in commercial CEA operations.”
An increasing number of funding agencies and organizations, including USDA, are requiring researchers include information about their data management plans in their grant proposals.
Need for collecting and organizing data
Mattos said university researchers see the value in creating a centralized database.
“There are probably millions of data points when you consider how many researchers are doing research in the U.S.,” he said. “Historically these researchers have not been required to share their data. However, an increasing number of funding agencies and organizations, including USDA, are requiring that researchers share their data. If researchers apply for a grant from USDA, they are required to include information about their data management plans in their grant proposals.
“Researchers see the value of sharing this data, but this is not a common practice which involves allocating time and resources. This means someone on their research team would have to organize and share the data. There are probably millions of data points (big data) when you consider how many horticulture researchers there are in the U.S.”
Creating a central database
Based on the need for collecting and organizing the controlled environment research data that is being generated, the task force established the Controlled Environment Agriculture Open Data (CEAOD) project [https://ceaod.github.io/]. The project aims to promote data sharing to accelerate CEA research.
The CEAOD website provides guidelines on how to upload the data. The task force developed the guidelines, which include three sets of data that can be uploaded to the website.
“One set is environmental data, including environmental controlled parameters such as temperature, carbon dioxide, relative humidity, and ventilation,” he said. “These data points are usually collected automatically by sensors. Another set of data is biological data, which is usually collected by humans. These biomass production yield parameters include shoot and root biomass and plant height and weight. The final document is the metadata which are descriptions of the experimental setups and data sets. It is a file that explains the experiments. It describes how the experiments were done.
“There is a certain format that is recommended to be followed to upload the data on the CEAOD website. The step-by-step process is listed on the website. There are no restrictions on which crops the data can be submitted. Our goal is to establish a platform to host a large number of crop production data sets to allow for the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms aimed at improving crop production efficiency.”
Leading by example
This winter GLASE will have a student collecting and organizing environmental and biological research data.
“The data will be uploaded to the CEAOD database and we will be documenting these activities,” Mattos said. “We will create a guideline of recommendations. We also plan to work with researchers from other institutions to demonstrate how the data can be organized and uploaded to create awareness and how to use the database.
“We hope this initial GLASE contribution will incentivize other researchers to share their data and will facilitate the uploading process. Access to the CEAOD database is free. It is an open platform and anyone can contribute to the development of this database tool.”
Once research data is collected and available for dissemination, the equipment used to produce controlled environment crops will be able to optimize the environmental conditions for a wide variety of crops, including lettuce, tomatoes, and cannabis.
Benefits to the horticulture industry
Mattos said private companies would also benefit from the collection of data and creating a centralized database.
“These companies need more data because it would allow them to analyze the data to develop new products and identify new markets,” he said. “Unfortunately, many of these companies don’t want to share their data. They are very proprietary about their data. They see that collecting and analyzing this data can put them ahead of their competition.
“Many private companies see the need for more data and how it can be valuable but are unwilling to share their own data. But like in other industries there are early adopters. I believe there will be companies that step up and will share their data with the horticulture industry. Hopefully, industry people will be willing to contribute and work on this database as well.”
Mattos said one of the big applications with this project is related to machine learning and artificial intelligence.
“With these applications, large sets of data are needed in order to create baselines,” he said. “Using the data, machines can be taught. Currently, growers’ production knowledge and opinion are more accurate for growing crops than artificial intelligence predictions. Growers are still more reliable, but it is just a matter of time before the use of big data and artificial intelligence will be able to match the growers in regards to optimizing growth.
“We are trying to develop this platform between the growers and controlled environment researchers and the machine learning/data computer scientists. I’m not sure the controlled environment researchers have grasped the potential that is available. We are not using this technology. Establishing this platform, as we collect and disseminate the data, there is real potential to help the advancement of the horticulture industry.”
For more: Erico Mattos, Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE), (302) 290-1560; em796@cornell.edu.
More info on CEAOD
Want to learn more about the Controlled Environment Agriculture Open Data project? Then check out these two upcoming events.
Aug. 4, 2-3 p.m. EDT
GLASE webinar: Controlled Environment Agriculture Open Data project. Presented by Erico Mattos, executive director of GLASE, and Kenneth Tran, founder of Koidra LLC.
Aug. 13, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. EDT
American Society for Horticultural Science presentation: The Promise of Big Data and New Technologies in Controlled Environment Agriculture. Presented by Erico Mattos.
David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.
Martha Stewart, J.D. Vance And Impossible Foods’ David Lee Join Board of AgTech Leader AppHarvest
Company adds executives from The Carlyle Group, Impossible Foods and raises new round from sustainability-focused investors such as Jeffrey Ubben and James Murdoch as COVID-19 heightens need for more resilient domestic supply chains
The company adds executives from The Carlyle Group, Impossible Foods and raises new round from sustainability-focused investors such as Jeffrey Ubben and James Murdoch as COVID-19 heightens need for more resilient domestic supply chains
AUGUST 6, 2020 – MOREHEAD, KENTUCKY – AppHarvest announced today that food entrepreneur and icon Martha Stewart, Impossible Foods Chief Financial Officer David Lee, and best-selling author and investor J.D. Vance, have joined the company’s Board of Directors as it prepares to open one of the world’s largest indoor farms this fall in Morehead, KY. Starting with non-GMO tomatoes, AppHarvest’s farms will provide freshly grown American fruits and vegetables for national grocers, meeting the enormous and growing demand for locally grown produce amidst the supply chain challenges created by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
“The future of food will be, has to be, growing nutrient-rich and delicious produce closer to where we eat,” Stewart said. “That means food that tastes better and food that we feel better about consuming. AppHarvest is driving us towards that future and working from within Appalachia to elevate the region.”
Added Vance, “The last few months have taught us that our food system is a little more precarious than we realized. AppHarvest will change that, and it will do so by building a sustainable, durable business in Appalachia, and investing in the people who call it home.”
Added Lee, “AppHarvest’s innovative approach to agriculture has the potential to dramatically change the way we get our produce and the impact our food has on the natural environment. I’m excited to join their mission as they enter this next phase of growth.”
Anna Mason, Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the fund led by AOL Co-founder Steve Case to back companies outside of Silicon Valley, will also join the Board. “AppHarvest’s rapid expansion and job creation is exactly what Rise of the Rest envisioned with its focus on helping companies in Middle America grow,” Mason said.
Inspired by the belief that the technology already exists today to grow dramatically more food, with far fewer resources, AppHarvest’s indoor farms reduce the need for acreage, use no harmful pesticides, lessen fuel used in shipping, and are the first of their size that will rely entirely on recycled rainwater for all water needs. AppHarvest’s closed-loop water system eliminates agricultural runoff common in open-field agriculture. This is critical as the U.S. ramps up efforts to secure food systems that can withstand health and climate disruptions.
“It’s time for agriculture in America to change,” said AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb. “The pandemic has demonstrated the need to establish more resilient food systems, and our work is on the forefront of that effort. Eastern Kentucky, with its central U.S. location, provides the perfect place to build AppHarvest’s indoor farms while also providing much-needed jobs to a ready workforce.”
AppHarvest’s 2.76-million-square-foot controlled environment agriculture facility has already created 100 construction jobs and will create more than 300 full-time permanent jobs for residents of Eastern Kentucky, where 44 percent more residents are unemployed than the national average.
With its vision to create America’s AgTech capital in Appalachia, AppHarvest has been recognized for its focus on social good. The company has been certified by the independent non-profit B Lab as a
B Corporation, passing a rigorous audit of its sustainability practices.
AppHarvest is also announcing the hires of Marcella Butler as the company’s first Chief People Officer, Jackie Roberts as its first Chief Sustainability Officer, and Geof Rochester as its first Chief Marketing Officer. Butler joins AppHarvest after serving as Impossible Foods' first Chief People Officer, where she led the tripling of employees to more than 650 individuals. Prior to joining Impossible Foods, she worked at Google, first in People Operations, followed by Corporate Development, where she led global acquisition due diligence and integration activities. Roberts joins AppHarvest from The Carlyle Group, where her roles included Chief Sustainability Officer. Prior to The Carlyle Group, she served in several senior roles at the Environmental Defense Fund. Rochester, who has decades of experience in marketing and corporate social responsibility, previously served as Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer of The Nature Conservancy with prior work at WWE, Showtime, Comcast, and Procter & Gamble.
AppHarvest’s Board and staff additions come as the company closes its $28 million Series C funding round. Combined with the company’s prior funding rounds, including project financing, AppHarvest has attracted more than $150 million in investment in just over two years.
Narya, the new venture capital firm co-founded by Vance and Colin Greenspon as well as backed by leading entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, led the investment round with participation from existing investors ValueAct Capital’s Spring Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Equilibrium, which has provided nearly $100 million in project financing to date.
New investors include Lupa Systems, the private investment firm founded last year by James Murdoch (who along with the ValueAct Spring Fund and Equilibrium, are leading the way for venture’s expansion into sustainability-focused investments); Breyer Capital, founded by early Facebook investor Jim Breyer; food and agriculture fund S2G Ventures (Seed 2 Growth); Black Capital, led by NBA legend Kevin Johnson; and Endeavor Catalyst, the co-investment vehicle through which Endeavor invests into companies founded by its entrepreneurs. Endeavor selected Webb as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2019.
“AppHarvest is poised to be a leader of the modern agricultural transformation, and we’re enthused to be a part of its upcoming launch and growth phases both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Frederic Michel, Partner at Lupa Systems. “The team is developing a compelling model that can respond rapidly to the needs for efficiency, sustainability, quality, and resiliency in the food sector today.”
The Series C funding round will allow the company to continue to recruit top-tier talent from around the globe as it prepares to build additional farms throughout Central Appalachia.
About AppHarvest
AppHarvest is building some of the world’s largest indoor farms, combining conventional agricultural techniques with today’s technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free fruits and vegetables to be sold to the top 25 U.S. grocers. The company has developed a unique system to reduce water usage by 90% compared to typical farms, as a 10-acre, on-site rainwater retention pond pairs with sophisticated circular irrigation systems. The system also eliminates agricultural runoff entirely. By locating within Appalachia, AppHarvest benefits from being less than a day’s drive to 70% of the U.S. population. That lowers diesel use in transportation costs by 80%, allowing the company's fresher produce to compete against low-cost foreign imports.
Vertical Farming Congress Makes Virtue of Virtual
The first Vertical Farming World Congress will now be held online on 22-24 September, with numerous innovations to help develop an emerging community of leading producers, funders, suppliers, and customers. Its theme will be ‘Shaping Food’s Future.’
By urbanagnews
July 30, 2020
The first Vertical Farming World Congress will now be held online on 22-24 September, with numerous innovations to help develop an emerging community of leading producers, funders, suppliers and customers. Its theme will be ‘Shaping Food’s Future.’
“We already had top speakers confirmed from around the world including North America, the Middle East and Asia as well as Europe,” commented Richard Hall, Chairman of the food and drink experts Zenith Global and the event’s organiser.
“Now, instead of one vertical farm tour, we plan to offer a selection. Beyond chance encounters, it will be possible to contact other delegates and set up meetings beforehand. Questions can also be tabled in advance and sessions will be recorded for later review. Regional welcome receptions will enable introductions to other delegates from the same geographic area.
“When you add the advantages of extra people being able to attend because of no travel, time being used more flexibly and costs being substantially lower, we believe we can deliver even greater value,” Richard Hall added. “I hope attendees will be surprised how virtual can be made to feel real.”
Full programme and booking details are available at www.zenithglobal.com/events. Topics include: market opportunity; an industry leadership panel; strategic alternatives between aeroponic, aquaponic and hydroponic systems; technology briefings ranging from lighting and robotics to overall system design; a nutrition briefing; a funding panel; and key innovator case studies.
Amongst the speakers are:
• Leading producers such as 80 Acres Farms, Aero Farms, Growing Underground, Intelligent Growth Solutions, Jones Food Company, LettUs Grow, Root AI, Square Roots, The Circle, Uns Farms, Vertical Future and YesHealth
• Association heads and academics from Germany, Japan and the Netherlands
• Investment experts from Ashfords, Innovate UK and S2G Ventures. For further information, go to www.zenithglobal.com/events or contact events@zenithglobal.com
Vertical Farming in LatAm: AgroUrbana Closes $1m Seed Funding
Access to vertical farming technologies is deepening and widening across the world, bringing down the costs and hassle of locally producing anything from Singaporean strawberries to Arctic tomatoes
July 2, 2020
Access to vertical farming technologies is deepening and widening across the world, bringing down the costs and hassle of locally producing anything from Singaporean strawberries to Arctic tomatoes.
In Latin America, however, indoor vertical farms are still largely written off on a continent thought of in terms of its abundant fertile soil and plentiful sunlight. Why pay for artificial light or indoor automation when the sun is free, and labor and land are cheap?
That said, there are early signs of a Latin American vertical farming awakening in Chile, where AgroUrbana has just closed a $1 million seed round, bringing its total capital raised to $1.5 million. The startup has created South America’s first vertical farm, according to the Association for Vertical Farming.
Leading the round by contributing 33% of the cash was the CLIN Private Investment Fund administered by Chile Global Ventures, the VC arm of Fundación Chile, a public-private initiative for innovation and sustainability in the country. Support financing also came from CORFO, Chile’s economic development agency, and private investors like company builder and VC Engie Factory, the country’s largest telecommunications company Entel, and sustainability investor Zoma Capital.
In an interview with AFN, AgroUrbana founders Cristián Sjögren and Pablo Bunster described how the funds would be put to work at their 3,000 square feet pilot facility in the suburbs of Santiago, where testing is ongoing on layered, renewable energy-powered stacks of hydroponically grown, LED-lit leafy greens and fruits. AgroUrbana’s first big offtake deal has just been inked with a major Chilean grocery retailer, they said.
A pre-planned switch from restaurant to retail
“It’s been run, run, run,” Bunster recalls, describing the political turmoil in Chile that brought curfews and shuttered restaurants months before Covid-19 locked down the country. That earlier disruption, he adds, actually had its upsides, as it got them thinking more about e-commerce and direct-to-consumer sales — so when the team’s restaurant deals dried up during the Covid-19 pandemic, the switch to retail was already scoped out.
As to scaling up further, Sjögren envisions an eventual 30,000 square foot facility to be bankrolled by Series A funding they plan to work towards later this year. The design and output would depend on the results of their pilot trials.
This size of farm sets the team somewhere in the middle of the two dominant visions of vertical farming: centralized versus distributed. Proponents of centralized systems argue that large-scale production — and financial viability — depend on ever-bigger and higher farms. These farms — or plant factories as they are sometimes called — are proliferating, aided by huge sums of capital. Plenty scooped up a whopping $200 million in Series B funding back in 2017. AeroFarms raised $100 million in late-stage funding in 2019 while Fifth Season secured $50 million last year.
Although centralized facilities have generally dominated in terms of raising capital, distributed and decentralized business models are gaining pace according to AgFunder’s 2019 industry report. One in particular, Germany’s Infarm, nabbed $100 million last year to deploy its connected growing cabinets in supermarkets.
The theatricality of these cabinets harmoniously glowing in office buildings or hospitals in a post-coronavirus world also holds sway in the popular and corporate imagination of 2020. Companies like Square Mile Farms recently crowdfunding over $300,000 on the promise of re-kitting office spaces like Microsoft’s London premises with fresh produce. In New York, Farmshelf has its own grow cabinets deployed in WeWork FoodLabs.
Learning from cash-heavy first movers
Mention of relative giants like Plenty or InFarm could be daunting for newer entrants such as Square Mile Farms or AgroUrbana and their hitherto modest sums raised. But there is perhaps an advantage in starting late, so long as the team learns from the costly mistakes and hubris of earlier endeavours. Here, both Bunster and Sjögren see parallels with the renewable energy industry — where they worked previously — and see the arrival of cheaper, more sustainable energy and capital in Chile as crucial to making vertical farming competitive.
AgroUrbana is exploring three options for solar going forward: either establish a power purchase agreement, in which they buy renewable energy from an existing plant; finance a power plant which will sell energy to them later; or build their own solar farm. But they acknowledge that the larger the facility, the less feasible it is to have solar on-site.
The pair describe how some Chilean outdoor farming is already lean and competitive, yet much of it has been geared towards high-value crops like avocados – and that stuff is primed for export. For the urbanizing local market, they see gaps for hyper-local fresh produce, where the competition would actually be with low-tech smallholder farmers with less traceable supply chains. In the context of Covid-19 and an ensuing consumer embrace of e-commerce options, better nutrition, less water use, and fewer pesticides, the pair reckon there is much to gain from providing produce that is consistently fresh, 365 days a year.
Any chance of the world’s first vertically-farmed avocados any time soon? Unlikely, replies Bunster. As for gene editing, where South American jurisdictions are known to have more lax regulations than their North American counterparts, Bunster says the plan was to work with what nature already provides, while giving “the conditions of spring every day of the year.”
VIDEO: The Supermarkets That Grow Their Own Food
There's a food-tech revolution happening in our supermarkets, and it could change the way we eat forever
Jul-2020
Ian Dickson
There's a food-tech revolution happening in our supermarkets, and it could change the way we eat forever.
To View The Video, Please Click Here.
From romaine lettuce to curly parsley, salads and herbs are leaving the fields behind to be grown in-store in front of customers' eyes.
Under the glare of artificial light and computer-controlled temperatures, these pioneering plants are part of an ambitious vertical farming project. One that could fundamentally change how fresh food is grown and help dramatically reduce food miles (the distance food travels to get to your plate) and the use of natural resources.
Behind the revolution is Germany-based Infarm, one of a growing number of companies weaving technology and food production together.
Infarm sells supermarkets a modular growing chamber, a bit like a giant fridge, with plants stacked in rows to ceiling height, where they're remotely controlled through a cloud-based and "internet of things" enabled farming platform.
Currently, Infarm supplies more than 700 local "farms" across the world, from The Netherlands to Japan, and harvests in excess of 250,000 plants a month.
So far, these farms have saved 2.4 million kilometers of transport, 27 million liters of water and 38,000 square kilometers of land.
Infarm are based in Berlin, and were founded in 2013. /Infarm
Emmanuel Evita is the global communications director at Infarm and he says it's vital to grow fresh produce as close as you can to where it will be consumed because of the environmental burden of agriculture supply chains.
He tells CGTN Europe: "At Infarm, we want to find another way. We want to practice a form of agriculture that is resilient, sustainable and beneficial to our planet."
The farms are designed to easily "plug into any urban space." As Evita says: "Our in-store farms each occupy less than 2 square meters of ground. When these plants are purchased, they are so fresh they are still living."
Over in the UK, supermarket chain M&S has been trialing Infarm at seven of its London branches. It says that each of its micro-farms produces a crop equivalent to 400 square meters of farmland.
And because they are controlled by self-learning internet of things technology, the plants are continually monitored and receive only the optimum level of light, water and nutrients.
As a result, M&S says its store-grown plants use 95 percent less water and 75 percent less fertilizer than traditional soil-grown plants.
"Infarm's innovative farming platform is a fantastic example of what can happen when passionate agricultural, food and technology experts work together," said Paul Willgoss, director of food technology at M&S Food. "We operate as part of a complex global food supply chain and want to understand the emerging technologies that could help provide more sustainable solutions, while also delivering fantastic products."
Infarm's vertical farms specialise in herbs. /Infarm
In May, Infarm partnered with Germany's ALDI SUD to grow chives, parsley, basil, mint, and coriander in stores across Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. Additionally, ALDI SUD is providing 300 more stores with fresh Infarm produce from centralized distribution centers.
"Our customers can watch the herbs grow. They are grown and harvested in our stores – they couldn't be more fresh," says David Labinsky, group buying director at ALDI SUD.
While customers can watch the plants grow, they can't pick their own. Instead, they're harvested on a regular basis and packaged in-store where they're at their freshest.
Could vertical farms be the future of food? That's certainly what Paul Gauthier, professor of plant science at Delaware Valley University, believes. As he told The Daily Princetonian newspaper: "There is no question about it, vertical farming will be part of our lives. It's important to start thinking and finding solutions for the future."
Video editor: David Bamford
Jersey City May Have The U.S.'s First Municipal Vertical Farm. Experts Share How it Can Thrive
The city has signed a three-year contract with the Newark-based vertical farming company AeroFarms and plans to begin growing leafy greens in 10 locations including senior centers, schools, public housing complexes and municipal buildings later this year
Rebecca King | NorthJersey.com
June 26, 2020
Jersey City is on track to implement the country’s first municipal vertical farming program.
The city has signed a three-year contract with the Newark-based vertical farming company AeroFarms and plans to begin growing leafy greens in 10 locations including senior centers, schools, public housing complexes, and municipal buildings later this year.
“A lot of people don’t go for regular physicals,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. “They’re not checking their sugar levels, blood pressure or cholesterol. Having people be more diligent about their diet will hopefully increase their lifespan, long-term.”
Once the microgreens start sprouting, members of the community will be able to sign up to receive free produce. They’ll be encouraged to attend seminars about healthy eating and get regular health tests done through Quest Diagnostics, which has also partnered with the city.
Because crops are stacked at this AeroFarms facility, the company says it can produce 390 times the crops from a traditional farm.~Courtesy of AeroFarms
“It’s important to be doing this prior to people getting diseases or sicknesses,” said Fulop. “A lot of what we’re doing is based on education. Many people aren’t aware of the bad foods they’re putting in their bodies on a regular basis.”
Vertical farming is one method of hydroponic controlled environment agriculture. Instead of being grown outside in soil, plants in vertical farms are stacked on shelves inside, misted with nutrients and lit with LED lights in lieu of sunlight.
Garrett Broad, an assistant professor at Fordham University whose research focuses on new food technology, food justice, and community-based organizing, says vertical farming has many sustainability boons.
Because the environment is completely controlled, the weather cannot destroy or affect crops. Vertical farming saves water. It reduces runoff. There’s no need for pesticides. And any kind of crop can be grown year-round. Fulop predicts Jersey City’s program will produce 19,000 pounds of food annually.
“The idea is that by doing vertical stacking, you can get a lot of productivity out of a very small area,” Broad said.
Farmers tend plants at AeroFarms with the help of platforms that can rise and fall.~Courtesy of AeroFarms
But, there are downsides. Vertical farming is extremely energy-intensive. Even energy-saving LED lights require a huge amount of power to shine on the crops. According to Fulop, Jersey City has no way to offset the impact of this energy use yet. Many of the farms are housed in decades-old buildings that have not been updated to include solar panels or other energy-saving technologies.
“It’s something we need to consider in the future,” said Fulop.
The other issue with vertical farming is that leafy greens are essentially the only plants worth growing, said Broad. Larger, heavier fruits and vegetables have too much biomass and require too much artificial light and nutrients to grow in a cost-effective way.
Indeed, Fulop confirmed that greens are the “easiest base material” to grow and will be the focus of Jersey City’s vertical farms.
That said, vertical farms do have the ability to create change in a community when done right, said Broad.
“Vertical gardens are similar to other urban farming projects we see,” he said. “They exist on a sort of spectrum. Some are total failures, some are a fun project and some are actually part of a social change.”
Projects that don’t receive enough funding or attention rank as “total failures.” Small community gardens rank in the “fun project” category -- “They provide small scale change. People get to know their food a bit more, they learn some horticultural skills, but it doesn’t drastically change the community,” said Broad.
According to Broad, Jersey City will have to do extensive community outreach to make vertical farming a long-term success – which means reaching out to faith leaders, schools and groups that are trusted by the community and getting them involved with the distribution of produce.
It means talking to residents about what vegetables they actually eat; planning cooking classes at times when people aren’t working; making dishes at those classes that the attendees will actually cook in their own homes.
As technology continues to improve, the company expects vertical farming to become even more cost-effective. | Courtesy of AeroFarms
“Did we ask to see if the people who are actually the target of this project have working kitchens? Are we making sure they have pots and pans? Are we growing food that’s culturally relevant to them? If we don’t ask these questions, a lot of times vertical farming projects stay in the ‘nice and fun’ category,” Broad said.
Jersey City has launched a few food initiatives in past years. The city gave grants to bodegas and corner stores to redesign display cases, putting fruits and vegetables next to their counters instead of snacks and candy to encourage healthy eating. Another program involved walking senior citizens around a supermarket and teaching them to read the labels on the back of packaged foods. At the end of the tour, they were given money and encouraged to purchase healthy meals.
Areas in which there is an extreme lack of nutritious, affordable food have been called “food deserts.” But, those who study farming technology have been moving away from that term, which brings up images of scarcity and used-up land. Instead, “food swamp” is now used to describe cities and towns that have food available, but few healthy options. Others use the term “food apartheid” to draw attention to food inequality. Poorer neighborhoods are usually the places that lack fresh, affordable food.
Jersey City is one such place, said Broad. If given the right attention, he added, a vertical farming initiative could be a step toward addressing poverty and food inequality.
“This is the kind of thing that can be fun and flashy and get media attention,” he said. “But, it’s up to us to apply pressure to the government and say, ‘OK, show us how this is part of something bigger.’”
Rebecca King is a food writer for NorthJersey.com. For more on where to dine and drink, please subscribe today and sign up for our North Jersey Eats newsletter.
Email: kingr@northjersey.com Twitter: @rebeccakingnj Instagram: @northjerseyeats
June 26, 2020
Marc Oshima on Innovations In Urban Vertical Farming and Frida Herrera-Endinjok on Nutrition Justice
Today on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg,” Dani interviews Marc Oshima, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer for AeroFarms, a technology company that operates indoor vertical farms around the world
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Today on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg,” Dani interviews Marc Oshima, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer for AeroFarms, a technology company that operates indoor vertical farms around the world. They discuss how the latest innovations in controlled agriculture can bring healthy food to urban communities while also minimizing environmental impact. Dani also interviews Frida Herrera-Endinjok, a student activist, master gardener, and food system leader from California State University at Northridge. They discuss Frida’s work eliminating food waste on college campuses and improving nutrition in underserved communities through urban community gardening education.
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