Providing Tailored Crop Recipes, So Clients Can Hit the Ground Running

By Rebekka Boekhout

July 8, 2021

“You could best divide our products and services into three parts, being: external research and in-house contract research in our R&D labs, providing total indoor farming solutions, and collaborating in research projects,” explains Maarten Vandecruys, co-founder and CTO at Urban Crop Solutions (UCS). 

The Plant Biology team

UCS, a Belgian pioneer company in the indoor farming scene, recently made headlines with the announcement that the research consortium with whom they are developing the next generation of bread products to support future space missions, SpaceBakery, won the Gold Prize at the Global Space Exploration Conference. But intergalactic missions aren’t the only thing on the company’s mind…

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UCS's ModuleX growing solution in action

Tailored recipes
“We are already looking into expanding our Research Centre due to the high demand for our contract research services, and our indoor biology research expertise. Our added value is to provide a completely tailored plant recipe as part of our end-to-end solution offering,” said Maarten. Normally, a product will be delivered and it’s up to the customer to see how the product works. However, UCS firmly believes that aftercare delivers the best results.

Depending on the crops to be grown, the client first has to give certain specifics about the preferred crop. Then UCS will look into its existing growing recipes, and whether it fits their needs. Eventually, if it’s something new or deviating from it, then UCS starts research on finding the best growing envelope for the client. “We’d rather sit down with them, providing the right solution so clients can hit the ground running,” Maarten notes.

Read the complete article here

For more information:
Maarten Vandecruys, Co-founder & CTO
Urban Crop Solutions
maarten.vandecruys@urbancropsolutions.com
www.urbancropsolutions.com

Polygreens Podcast Episode: 34 Vijay Rapaka - Oasis Company

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In this episode, Joe and Nick interview Vijay Rapaka, an experienced technical professional, passionate and motivated to deliver commercial value through research and innovation. Skilled in Research and New Product Development, Strategic Planning, and Research Management. Successfully developed and launched several groundbreaking technologies.

Latest Episode

Agrify Enters Into Multi-Year Vertical Farming Research And Development Partnership With Curaleaf

Partnership To Study Impact

of Cultivation Environment on

Plant Health And Harvest Yields

July 06, 2021

BILLERICA, Mass

Agrify Corporation (NasdaqCM:AGFY) (“Agrify” or the “Company”), a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software cultivation solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, today announced that it has signed a definitive Collaboration Agreement (“the Agreement”) forming a long-term research and development (“R&D”) partnership with Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (“Curaleaf”). Curaleaf is one of the largest multi-state operators (“MSOs”) in the United States and the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe as Curaleaf International.

The research will be focused on evaluating the impact of certain environmental conditions created and controlled by Agrify’s Vertical Farming Units (“VFUs”) and Agrify Insights™ software platform on harvest yields, plant terpene profiles, and flavonoid concentrations. It will also explore and analyze techniques to enhance the aesthetic appeal, aroma, and overall chemical profile of cannabis flower. In addition, the joint research team plans to study the effect of regulated environments on the overall health and longevity of cannabis plants, including research on the maturation of the chemical profile of the plants over their lifecycle.

“We are thrilled to announce our first MSO collaboration and honored to partner with Curaleaf to advance this important research,” said Raymond Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Agrify. “Curaleaf is a cannabis industry leader, and our shared research will demonstrate the critical importance that an optimally controlled environment can play on the cultivator's ability to consistently produce high-quality flower. I am proud to showcase our cutting-edge indoor vertical farming grow cultivation technology and assist Curaleaf in growing the high-quality, consistent cannabis they are known for in the most cost-effective manner possible.”

“Since our inception, we have been committed to providing our customers with premier and innovative cannabis products and experiences, with a relentless drive for quality,” said Joseph Bayern, Chief Executive Officer of Curaleaf. “The cultivation environment plays a critical role in the plant’s chemical composition, and we believe this research will help to further increase understanding of the conditions required to optimize a plant's genetic potential.”

Under the terms of the Agreement, Agrify will supply its VFUs and provide use of the Company’s Agrify Insights™ software platform for a period of three years at Curaleaf's primary R&D facility located in Massachusetts, with an option to extend another three years. The collaboration combines Agrify’s technology and expertise in creating optimized cultivation environments with Agrify Insights™-based data and Curaleaf’s expertise in cultivation and production of quality cannabis products. All test data collected by Agrify Insights™ will be jointly owned.

About Curaleaf Holdings, Inc.

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf") is a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis with a mission to improve lives by providing clarity around cannabis and confidence around consumption. As a high-growth cannabis company known for quality, expertise and reliability, the company and its brands, including Curaleaf and Select, provide industry-leading service, product selection and accessibility across the medical and adult-use markets. In the United States, Curaleaf currently operates in 23 states with 107 dispensaries, 22 cultivation sites and over 30 processing sites, and employs over 5,000 team members. Curaleaf International is the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe with a unique supply and distribution network throughout the European market, bringing together pioneering science and research with cutting-edge cultivation, extraction and production. Curaleaf is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol CURA and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol CURLF. For more information, please visit https://ir.curaleaf.com.

About Agrify (NasdaqCM:AGFY)

Agrify is a developer of premium grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace. The Company uses data, science, and technology to empower its customers to be more efficient, more productive, and more intelligent about how they run their businesses. Agrify’s highly advanced and proprietary hardware and software solutions have been designed to help its customers achieve the highest quality, consistency, and yield, all at the lowest possible cost. For more information, please visit Agrify’s website at www.agrify.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning Agrify and other matters. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the research to be performed under the Agreement. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, including those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 with the SEC, which can be obtained on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and filings with the SEC.

Agrify
Niv Krikov
Chief Financial Officer
niv.krikov@agrify.com
(617) 896-5240

Investor Relations
Rob Kelly
ir@mattio.com
(416) 992-4539

Media Contact
Renee Cotsis
renee@mattio.com

A Primer On Vertical Farming As The Industry Gains Steam

MAY 28, 2021

RICH ALTERMAN

The modern concept of vertical farming was put forth in 1999 by Columbia University microbiologist Dickson Despommier, who along with his students, came up with a design of a skyscraper farm that could feed 50,000 people.

Since then, vertical farming has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. And it’s growing rapidly.

According to PitchBook data, nearly $1.9 billion of global venture capital was invested in indoor farming in 2020, nearly tripling investment in 2019.  And just this week, New York-based vertical farming startup Bowery Farming raised $300 million in its latest funding round, valuing the company at $2.3 billion.

Vertical farming growth may be accelerating at the ideal time, as concerns about population growth and climate change push the food industry to innovate to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

By 2050, around 68% of the world population is expected to live in urban areas, and this growth will lead to an increased demand for food. The use of vertical farming could play a role in preparing for such a challenge. At the same time, it could help restore forests depleted by commercialized agriculture and curb planet-warming emissions caused by farming and transportation. Agriculture and forestry alone account for about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases.

What is it?

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers as opposed to a single level, like a field or greenhouse.

Through the artificial control of temperature, light, humidity, and gases, food can be produced indoors in a way that optimizes plant growth and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics. The benefits of which are reliable, environmentally friendly, year-round crop production, significantly reduced water usage (by some estimates up to 95% less), efficient land use, and less exposure to chemicals and disease.

Among its downsides, vertical farms are costly to set up and operate and are too dependent on technologies that have yet to reach full maturity. Further, with its heavy reliance on electricity for lighting and climate control, it uses more energy than traditional farming methods and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

With that, the sector continues to innovate. And with vertical farming merely in its infancy, it’s reasonable to expect big things in the coming decades.

Investors certainly think so.

In fact, the global vertical farming market is projected to reach $12.77 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 24.6%, according to Allied Market Research.

OnePointOne And Sakata Seed America Aim To Accelerate The Quality And Variety In Vertical Farming

Industry News

May 28, 2021 | Urbanagnews

Industry-Leading Partnership Will Drive Data, Growth, and Consumer Options

SAN JOSE, CA — OnePointOne and Sakata Seed America announced today a game-changing collaboration in the acceleration of vertical farming. Together, the two leading entities will share intelligence and analysis focused on maximizing plant outputs while minimizing environmental impact.

The large-scale research program begins today at OnePointOne’s facility in San Jose, CA. Their 25-foot vertical structure uses LED lights to supplant the sun, a nutrient-rich mist to replace the soils, and a clean-room environment, akin to a computer lab, as the production field.

OnePointOne’s system consists of advanced aeroponics and a fleet of robotic growers to perform most of the day-to-day production functions – from planting, to watering, to harvesting.

Sakata’s wide array of state-of-the-art genetics coupled with OnePointOne’s industry-leading, proprietary tech promises to drive further innovations and discovery.

Dave Armstrong, President/CEO of Sakata adds, “We are taking the Controlled Environment Agriculture arena very seriously. By working with OnePointOne on product research and development, we aim to push the segment’s development in a real-world vertical production environment. Working together directly and fully sharing information enables both sides to capture data that might otherwise take years to generate.”

“Working with OnePointOne gives us the opportunity to test many of our varieties in a true vertical system and highly precise indoor environment. The performance data we’ll collect will help us continue to refine our varieties and fine-tune our breeding programs for the CEA space,” said Tracy Lee, Sakata’s Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Lead.

“We are on a mission to unleash the power of plants to feed, fuel and heal the world,” explains Sam Bertram, CEO, and Co-Founder of OnePointOne. “As we launch Willo, the world’s first personalized vertical farming experience, this Sakata partnership will help amplify our ability to bring an exciting list of cultivars to our members. Furthermore, it will drive the innovations and advances needed to bring a more sustainable growth platform to the market at scale.”

About Sakata Seed America, Inc.: Headquartered in Morgan Hill, CA, Sakata Seed America is a major research, seed production, and marketing-distribution subsidiary of Sakata Seed Corporation, established in 1913. Sakata Seed America, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, serves as the headquarters for the North American/Central American operations. Their mission is to quickly and efficiently meet industry expectations for quality seed, innovative genetics, and excellent greenhouse and field performance.

About OnePointOne: Founded in Silicon Valley, OnePointOne is revolutionizing vertical farming by building the most technologically advanced plant cultivation platform on the planet through innovations in automation, AI, and plant science. In 2020, OnePointOne launched Willo (www.willo.farm) the world’s first personalized vertical farming program designed to amplify human health.

Bowery Farming Unveils Research And Breeding Hub, Farm X

May 18, 2021

NEW YORK, May 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Bowery Farming, the largest vertical farming company in the United States, today announced the opening of Farm X, its newest state-of-the-art innovation hub for plant science in Kearny, N.J., adjacent to Bowery’s original R&D Center of Excellence and first commercial farm.

Farm X is one of the largest and most sophisticated vertical farming R&D facilities in the world, and will further accelerate the commercialization of products specifically designed for Bowery’s indoor system.

From the cultivation of strawberries, root vegetables, tomatoes, peppers and beyond, to the discovery of the next generation of wildly flavorful leafy greens, Farm X expands Bowery’s R&D capacity by nearly 300%.

“We’re proud to be the largest vertical farming company in the United States that is consistently and reliably delivering our customers a wide variety of high quality, flavorful produce that’s local, safe and sustainable,” said Irving Fain, founder, and CEO of Bowery Farming.

“From day one, our R&D team has been working tirelessly to unlock the next frontier in agriculture, and Farm X enables us to expedite the discovery of new vibrant crops and pioneering technological advancements that will further accelerate our momentum as the category leader.”

Bowery’s world-class team of plant breeders, plant physiologists, biochemists, and more, are constantly innovating from seed-to-shelf. At Farm X, they will be able to test more, faster—ultimately accelerating the discovery of new crops, growing recipes, and efficiency improvements that can be replicated at scale across the company’s network of commercial farms.

Featuring proprietary, highly customizable, modular growing environments managed and monitored by new technology developed in-house, Farm X will further unlock the next phase of Bowery’s growth.

Farm X also features a sensory lab where Bowery will continue its quest for the perfect cultivars for indoor growing, as well as launch the first-ever on-site breeding program at a vertical farming company.

Under the new breeding program, Bowery’s team will be able to develop varieties that thrive in its unique growing conditions and evaluate each one for optimal taste, quality and yield, rather than to survive outdoors, pest-resistance, and long-haul transportation. While a traditional breeding program takes up to ten years, Bowery’s controlled indoor environment and 24/7 monitoring of crops will enable the company to bring new groundbreaking products to market at scale in a fraction of the time.

Bowery’s R&D team works year-round to uncover flavor-packed produce and bring new and exciting culinary experiences to consumers. Beyond the cultivation of new fruits and vegetables at Farm X, they are also developing the next generation of greens.

The Farmer’s Selection category, which launched in January 2021, emerged as a way to let consumers in on the process, bringing the thrill of discovering a new ingredient at your local farm stand to the grocery store. Bowery is launching a new small-batch green every four months under this new category.

The first greens released, Bowery Mustard Frills — hearty mustard greens with a tingly start and a fiery, wasabi-style finish — were available through April 2021. Green Sorrel, bright, tart baby greens with a zing and the next release in the series, is now available from May through August 2021.

Farm X also serves as an experimental space for innovation in farm design, data science, computer vision, autonomous robotics, hardware, and software that can be deployed in Bowery’s growing network of commercial farms.

As Bowery continues to advance the integration of proprietary smart farming technology, it recently announced Injong Rhee (formerly VP at Google and CTO of Samsung Mobile) as its Chief Technology Officer. Rhee will ensure that every farm continues to benefit from the collective intelligence of the BoweryOS, the company’s proprietary operating system which integrates software, hardware, sensors, computer vision systems, machine learning models and robotics to orchestrate and automate the entirety of operations.

Rhee’s team is ensuring the advanced technological learnings discovered at Farm X will be seamlessly integrated and applied at scale across Bowery’s network.

Bowery has experienced more than 750% brick-and-mortar sales growth, and more than quadrupled sales with e-commerce partners, including Amazon, since early 2020. Bowery’s newest commercial farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, will bring local, pesticide-free produce, harvested year-round at peak freshness, to a surrounding population of 50 million people within a 200-mile radius, and will be its largest and most technologically-advanced commercial farm yet, further automating the growing process from seed to store.

About Bowery Farming
Bowery Farming, the Modern Farming Company, was founded in 2015 with the belief that technology and human ingenuity can grow better food for a better future. Propelled by its proprietary software system, the BoweryOS, Bowery builds smart indoor vertical farms that deliver a wide variety of Protected Produce — in little time, near cities they serve, for a truly local approach.

Bowery’s farms are growing the next generation of vibrant and flavorful produce. With BoweryOS, farms are 100 times more productive on the same footprint of land than traditional agriculture and grow traceable pesticide-free produce with a fraction of the water and land.

The largest vertical farming company in the U.S., Bowery’s produce is available in more than 850 grocery stores and via e-commerce platforms serving the Tri-state and Mid-Atlantic region, including Amazon Fresh, Giant Food, Walmart, Weis, Whole Foods Market, Albertsons Companies and specialty grocers.

Based in New York City, Bowery has raised more than $172.5 million from leading investors, including Temasek and GV (formerly Google Ventures), General Catalyst, GGV Capital, First Round Capital, Henry Kravis, Jeff Wilke, and Dara Khosrowshahi, as well as some of the foremost thought leaders in food, including Tom Colicchio, José Andres, and David Barber of Blue Hill.

Tagged greenhouse, research, technology, vertical farming

Latest Research On Indoor Farming Now Just A Click Away

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By Brian Sparks

May 19, 2021

Greenhouse growers now have access to a new online resource to help make their indoor farming businesses more productive and profitable. OptimIA is a website featuring research results from six horticulture, engineering, and agricultural economics professors and Extension specialists, and their graduate students and technicians, at Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, and the University of Arizona. Born from a four-year, USDA grant-funded project, the website is one tool researchers are making available to anyone interested in overcoming the technological, environmental, and financial challenges common to indoor farming.

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In addition to the latest published research, the website offers trade articles authored by OptimIA project scientists, indoor production research highlights, recorded webinars presented by top national and international indoor farming experts, upcoming events related to indoor farming and the OptimIA project, and FAQs.

The OptimIA project’s ultimate goal is to define the environmental parameters within which leafy greens such as lettuce perform best in indoor vertical farms. While the work of each project researcher is unique, it all centers around the effects of light, carbon dioxide, humidity, temperature, air movement, and economics (operating, labor, equipment, etc.) on the sustainability and profitability of using indoor farms to produce leafy greens and microgreens.

The site will be frequently updated with new research results, as they become available.

To access the OptimIA project website, click here.

OptimIA is funded by the USDA‘s Specialty Crop Research Initiative.

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NYC’s Bowery Farming Unveils Farm X - A Science, Breeding Hub

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By AMY SOWDER

May 18, 2021

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(Photos courtesy Bowery Farming)

New York City-based vertical grower Bowery Farming has opened Farm X, an innovation hub for plant science in Kearny, N.J., next to Bowery’s original R&D Center of Excellence and first commercial farm.

Farm X will accelerate the commercialization of products specifically designed for Bowery’s indoor system, according to a news release. The hub will expand the company’s research and development capacity by almost 300%, including cultivation of strawberries, root vegetables, tomatoes, and peppers.

“From day one, our R&D team has been working tirelessly to unlock the next frontier in agriculture, and Farm X enables us to expedite the discovery of new vibrant crops and pioneering technological advancements that will further accelerate our momentum as the category leader,” founder and CEO Irving Fain said in the release.

At Farm X, Bowery’s plant breeders, plant physiologists, biochemists, and others will be able to test more, faster—ultimately accelerating the discovery of new crops, growing recipes, and efficiency improvements that can be replicated at scale across the company’s network of commercial farms.

Farm X also features a sensory lab where Bowery will seek ideal cultivars for indoor growing, as well as launch an onsite breeding program. In that program, Bowery’s team will develop varieties that thrive in its unique growing conditions and evaluate each one for optimal taste, quality and yield. Bowery’s controlled indoor environment and around-the-clock crop monitoring should increase the speed and efficiency of these goals.

Researchers are also developing new greens, such as the Farmer’s Selection category, which launched in January. Bowery plans to release a new, small-batch green every four months under this new category. The first, Bowery Mustard Frills — “hearty mustard greens with a tingly start and a fiery, wasabi-style finish,” according to the release — was available through April 2021. Green Sorrel, bright, tart baby greens with a zing and the next release in the series, is now available from May through August.

Farm X also serves as an experimental space for innovation in farm design, data science, computer vision, autonomous robotics, hardware, and software that can be deployed in Bowery’s growing network of commercial farms.

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To further that mission, Bowery hired Injong Rhee, formerly vice president at Google and chief technology officer of Samsung Mobile, as its chief technology officer. Rhee will work on ensuring that every farm continues to benefit from the collective intelligence of the BoweryOS, the company’s proprietary operating system which integrates software, hardware, sensors, computer vision systems, machine learning models and robotics to orchestrate and automate the entirety of operations. The technological learnings discovered at Farm X will be integrated and applied at scale across Bowery’s network.

Bowery has experienced more than 750% brick-and-mortar sales growth, and more than quadrupled sales with e-commerce partners, including Amazon, since early 2020, according to the release. Bowery’s newest commercial farm in Bethlehem, Pa., will bring local produce year-round to a surrounding population of 50 million people within a 200-mile radius.

(Assistant) Professor Crop Modelling In Greenhouses And Vertical Farms (Tenure Track)

The chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is keen to hire an Assistant Professor (0.7-1.0 ft). As an Assistant Professor, you will take a leading role in developing research and education and the opportunity to establish your own research and education in crop modeling in greenhouses and vertical farms.

This position also involves experimental physiological work at the plant organ, whole plant or whole crop level, which is necessary to build, calibrate and validate models.

In this challenging career trajectory:

• You will perform research on modeling, combined with experimentation, of growth, development, and quality of horticultural crops and products (vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and/or pot plants).

• You acquire, lead and implement together with the chair holder and other staff members innovative and creative (inter-)national research projects for our group. Once acquired you also implement and lead these projects.

• You supervise Ph.D., MSc, and BSc students, and you will develop and teach courses (lectures, practicals) on the modeling of key plant processes in greenhouses and vertical farms.

• Your work will focus on the development of models, which are a combination of multiscale Spatio-temporal data-driven, as well as knowledge-based models. Model applications may include predictions of yield, plant development and growth, quality, post-harvest behavior, resource use and running costs for crops grown in greenhouses and vertical farms

• You collaborate with colleagues and establish a personal research portfolio that is embedded in the Horticulture and Product Physiology group

• You undertake research on modeling and data analytics, combined with experimentation, that leads to high-quality research output.

• You will perform research on modeling, combined with experimentation, of growth, development, and quality of horticultural crops and products (vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and/or pot plants).

Tenure Track is a career path for scientists who pursue to excel in education and research. We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.

Requirements:

• You hold a Ph.D. degree in plant science, mathematical science, biological science, data science, or similar.

• You have experience in modeling and data analytics, as well as a keen interest in combining these activities with experimentation with plants.

• You have published research in high-quality journals and are willing to develop your skills in teaching and grant proposal acquisition.

• You are strong in stakeholder management because you need to communicate the importance and significance of your research.

• This position requires excellent English language proficiency (a minimum of CEFR C2 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page.

The chair group Horticulture & Product Physiology
The chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology conduct high impact research and educate students providing the scientific basis required to answer questions that are of utmost importance for sustainable crop production and product quality in horticulture.
The research focus is on how physiological processes in crops, plants, and plant organs interact with the abiotic environment and how this affects crop production and product quality. Questions arising from horticultural practice are translated into fundamental research topics, aiming to explain mechanisms. The research and education contribute to sustainably feeding the World with healthy high-quality products.
The chair group is an international team consisting of 15 permanent staff members, about 25 Ph.D. candidates and postdocs, and a number of guest researchers. Each year about 40 MSc students conduct their thesis study (6-month research) at our group. We organize and participate in a variety of courses for BSc and MSc students to transfer knowledge on horticulture (pre-and post-harvest), environmental physiology, and product quality.
More info about the chair group can be found at www.hpp.wur.nl or see the video below:

Salary Benefits:

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and paid parental leave;

• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;

• the option to accrue additional flexible hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;

• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;

• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;

• excellent ABP pension regulations.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will be offered a fixed-term, 7-year contract which, upon positive evaluation based on criteria elaborated in the University's Tenure Track policy, can lead to a permanent employment contract as a professor. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive salary of between € 3.746,- and € 5.127,- (assistant professor position) for a full-time working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 11). The position can be part-time or full-time (0.7-1.0 ft).
Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the "Best University" in the Netherlands for the 16th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research center for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Work Hours: 38 hours per week

Address: Droevendaalsesteeg

Sustainable Food Leads £6m Research Project To Transform The UK food System

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By India Education Diary Bureau Admin

January 10, 2021

A new £6m research project titled Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people (H3) seeks to transform the UK food system from the ground up via an integrated programme of interdisciplinary research.

Social and natural scientists from the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield will collaborate on a whole-system approach to emphasise the links between production and consumption and identify practical paths towards food system transformation.

Food security and sustainability are among the greatest challenges facing the world today, and traditional approaches of intensifying food production are coming under criticism for not looking at the whole picture of how we produce, and supply food to the nation.

The Covid-19 pandemic also shone a light on the fragility of the UK’s food systems resilience and how its reliance on foreign imports during a global crisis meant people in the UK experienced empty shelves, and shortages of basic staples such as flour and pasta.

The H3 consortium – which draws on the combined strength of researchers from the University of Sheffield, University of Leeds, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge and City, University of London as well as a wide range of stakeholders from government, business and civil society – will focus its research on horticulture, hydroponics and hybrid farms, and on the health benefits of biofortification and increased fibre consumption.

This is an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to use cutting-edge research to have a genuinely transformative effect on the health and sustainability of the UK food system.

“We are delighted that the Institute for Sustainable Food will be leading one of the four consortia to be funded by the UK Research and Innovation’s Transforming the UK Food System for Healthy People and a Healthy Environment programme.

Professor Peter Jackson

Co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield

The project will identify practical paths towards food system interventions: on farm, in food manufacturing and retail, and improve dietary health and environmental sustainability of the agri-food industry in the UK.

This will include finding ways to increase the production of health-promoting vegetables while reducing reliance on harmful agricultural inputs and imported food by integrating hydroponic production systems within conventional soil-based farms. The project will also look at how improving the microbiomes of growing mediums has the potential to increase nutrients in our food systems and reduce our reliance on pesticides.

We are absolutely delighted by this award and excited to apply the food systems-level thinking we’ve developed at the Institute for Sustainable Food to the real world.

“Backed up by our world-leading research, this work has huge transformational potential to improve the sustainability, the quality, and the equity of our agri-food system here in the UK. Working closely with our external partners will add a real world perspective to shape how our initiatives are applied.

“In terms of fighting the climate crisis, this kind of transformational research is sorely needed. We are delighted that the Institute for Sustainable Food will be leading the way in developing and applying that research.”

Vertical Farming: IDTechEx Research Asks How Big Is Too Big

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NEWS PROVIDED BY IDTechEx 

Oct 05, 2020

BOSTON, Oct. 5, 2020,/PRNewswire/ -- Vertical farming is growing quickly. The concept of vertical farming, the idea that crops can be grown far more efficiently indoors under controlled environmental conditions than would be possible on conventional farmland, has captured the imagination of entrepreneurs and investors alike, with dozens of start-ups being founded across the world raising ever-increasing amounts of investor capital. The recent IDTechEx report, "Vertical Farming 2020-2030" explores the technologies and market factors that are shaping this rapidly expanding industry.

An ongoing argument within the industry is a question of size – is it better to focus on building a large, highly automated plant factory to minimize production costs, or is a small, more flexible approach the best way to set up a vertical farm?

This question stems from some of the challenges facing the vertical farming industry. Setting up and running a vertical farm is not cheap and many vertical farming companies have struggled to overcome spiraling labor and power costs, alongside unforeseen logistical complexities, and issues with maintaining an optimum growing environment.

A potential solution to some of these problems is to build a very large vertical farm, which allows the power costs to be averaged out over a large quantity of crops. Additionally, large vertical farms make it easier to justify using advanced automation systems that can help reduce labor costs, with the cost of the automated systems also being spread out over large quantities of crops. These sorts of economies of scale can help a vertical farm begin to reach price parity with a conventional farm, something which has long eluded smaller vertical farms, which are often forced to sell produce in premium categories. Large vertical farms producing large quantities of crops can also be more easily incorporated into existing food supply chain structures, for example, next to a supermarket's main distribution center.

One company attempting to use this scale-based approach is Jones Food Company, a British vertical farming start-up that currently operates Europe's largest vertical farm. The company believes that the only way that vertical farming will be successful in the long term is by reaching price parity with conventional farming, which it hopes to achieve through automation and by operating large scale facilities close to distribution centers.

The company takes its inspiration from car factories – it is far more cost-effective to produce cars in a large central facility than it would be to produce them in small facilities near the dealerships and Jones Food Company believes this same logic applies to vertical farming. Crops grown in distribution centers are still able to reach consumers rapidly, often within a day of harvest, and the company doesn't believe that the hyper-local model promoted by certain competitors is worth the inefficiencies and costs of many small facilities located in city centers.

Several other vertical farming companies are following this approach, with New Jersey start-up AeroFarms announcing in 2019 that it was investing $42 million to construct a 150,000 square foot facility in Danville, Virginia, which the company claims will be the largest in the world. Jeff Bezos-backed Plenty operates a 52,000 square foot facility in South San Francisco, with the company aiming to maximize production efficiency to improve the economics of vertical farming.

Not everyone agrees with this large-scale approach, however. Large facilities and automation are expensive, with large scale facilities costing tens of millions of dollars to set up. Whilst this approach might make sense for a factory producing cars or other high-margin products, for low margin products such as fresh produce, it can take decades to pay back this initial investment.

Additionally, supply and demand for fresh produce is not always consistent and pricing can change frequently, making it difficult to accurately predict returns on investment, which can be very problematic for a vertical farm that cost several million dollars to build. Furthermore, many of the processes required to grow crops cannot yet be addressed through off-the-shelf automation solutions, creating difficult engineering challenges that can make scale-up very complicated.

A further problem for very large-scale vertical farms is that operational complexity can increase vastly for larger farms. Plants are living organisms that can behave in unpredictable ways, making it difficult to grow them in a manner resembling a factory production line. Plants give out heat and water vapor as they grow, whilst also needing a supply of carbon dioxide and oxygen, in addition to nutrients. Keeping the crop inputs consistent across the whole vertical farm and managing waste heat and water vapor can also be very difficult in a high-density growing space. Careful consideration of the plant science, alongside planning the logistical workflow to maximize efficiency are needed to successfully operate a large-scale vertical farm.

Because of these challenges, some companies have chosen instead to focus on smaller vertical farming facilities, choosing to focus on flexibility instead of economies of scale. For example, Freight Farms, which manufactures turnkey modular vertical farms inside 40' containers, believes that smaller vertical farms enable a more flexible and targeted business model than large, centralized facilities. Small vertical farms can be tailored to certain markets with gaps, such as crops that can't be imported, transient falls in supply for high-demand crops, and restaurants or food suppliers that need a specific ingredient. These are all markets in which large, warehouse-like vertical farms cannot easily access.

Rather than focusing on mass-produced, wholesale crops, where vertical farms will always struggle to compete on price with traditional farms and greenhouses, it may make more sense for vertical farm operators to focus on high-value crops that command a price premium, perhaps within niche markets or specialized applications.

The debate over the best size for a vertical farm is still ongoing. There is no easy answer on which model is best, and a would-be vertical farm operator should carefully consider their options and target market before starting a business. For more information and discussion over business models in vertical farming, as well as industry evaluations and 10-year market forecasts, see the recent IDTechEx report "Vertical Farming 2020-2030".

For more information on this report, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/VertFarm or for the full portfolio of AgTech research available from IDTechEx please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/AgTech.

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.  

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SOURCE IDTechEx

Salmonella Has Found A Way To Evade Plant Defenses

By Chrissy Sexton

Earth.com staff writer

Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered that wild strains of salmonella can evade a plant’s immune defenses by invading the leaves through the stomata. The invaded plant does not show any obvious signs of infection, and the pathogens cannot be simply rinsed off, which means they can easily jump to people.

Stomata are tiny pores that open when there is plenty of sunlight for photosynthesis and close at night. The pores also close upon detection of threats such as drought or microbial pathogens.

Study co-author Professor Harsh Bais explained that some pathogens like fungi can barge into a closed stoma using brute force. Since bacteria lack the enzymes needed to use this type of force, they search for openings in the roots and stomata.

According to Professor Bais, however, bacterial pathogens like salmonella have now found a way to reopen closed stomata and gain entry to the plant.

“What’s new is how the non-host bacteria are evolving to bypass plant immune response. They are real opportunists. They are absolutely jumping kingdoms. When we see these unusual interactions, that’s where it starts to get complex,” said Professor Bais.

The risk of pathogen contamination increases when plants are bred to produce higher yields, or when low-lying crops are grown too close to a livestock field. The researchers have been investigating these issues for about five years.

Companies take various precautions to kill surface bacteria, but they can’t see or treat human pathogens that already have gotten into the leaf.

“The food industry works tirelessly to make the product as safe as they can,” said study co-author Professor Kali Kniel. “But even then, we are growing these products outside, so they’re accessible to wildlife, wind, dust, and water that may transmit microorganisms. It’s a tough situation.”

Graduate student Nicholas Johnson conducted extensive lab experiments to examine how stomata on spinach and lettuce respond to salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli – three human pathogens that leave no trace of infection. He tracked the size of the stomata openings every three hours after the bacteria were introduced.

“He had to sit under a microscope and count the aperture sizes,” said Professor Bais. “And he has to be meticulous.” The tedious work revealed that the salmonella strain was reopening the stomata. “Now we have a human pathogen trying to do what plant pathogens do. That is scary,” noted Bais.

The researchers said it would be particularly scary if salmonella invaded plants on a vertical farm, where plants are grown in vertical rows hydroponically. “If this hits vertical farms, they don’t lose a batch, they lose the whole house,” said Bais.

“This project has mutant Salmonella strains and that allows us another angle on the molecular biology side,” said Professor Kniel. “The individual mutations are important for the salmonella structure and the regulation of stress.”

“When we used mutant strains we saw big differences in the ability to colonize and internalize – and that’s what consumers hear a lot about. You are not able to wash it off.”

“We can also look at which genes or part of the organism might be more responsible for the persistence on the plant – making it last longer and stronger. That is so important when you think of food safety issues.”

The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Aquaponics Can Have Both Environmental And Cost Benefits

By Siobhán Dunphy 

22.05.2020

Aquaculture is the farming of fish and other aquatic animals, while hydroponics involves growing plants without any soil. Both approaches have been successful on their own, however, combining fish and vegetable production — so-called aquaponics — could also be profitable, according to a new analysis published on 19 May in the journal Aquaculture Research (1).

Although aquaponics systems, which combine conventional aquaculture with hydroponics, have become a hotly debated topic in future food production, data on the economic feasibility of aquaponics is relatively limited.

To figure out how realistic the approach might be, researchers from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) analyzed one year of real production data from an existing aquaponics system — the “Mueritzfischer” — located in Waren (Müritz) in Germany. The research system was build as part of INAPRO, an EU-funded project led by IGB aimed at demonstrating the viability of an innovative aquaponics system.

The 540-square-meter facilities produce fish and vegetables on a large scale in a combined recirculating system. The fish and plants are grown separately within the two recirculating systems and sensors are used to continuously monitor can connect the two systems when needed to create optimal growth conditions.

The authors examined two different scenarios and performed an extensive profitability analysis. One scenario showed that the aquaponics approach can be profitable if facilities are sufficiently large. Using this scenario, the researchers developed a model case, which they used to calculate figures for different sized facilities.

Under the right conditions, aquaponics can have both environmental and cost benefits, according to the authors. The main barriers to the commercialization of aquaponics are the high investment costs and high operating costs such as for fish feed, labor, and energy, particularly in countries like Germany. Another challenge is that profitability largely depends on the market environment and the production risks, which can be difficult to predict.

Lead author Goesta Baganz believes there might be huge potential for aquaponics in urban areas: “The already profitable model case would cover an overall space of about 2,000 square meters. This would mean that professional aquaponics would also be possible in urban and peri-urban areas, where space is scarce and often relatively expensive.”

“If, therefore, urban aquaponics can make a profit on such a scale, there is even greater opportunity for local food production, which is becoming increasingly important throughout the world as urbanization progresses”, Baganz explained.

In a global context, Professor Werner Kloas, who led the project, said: “Considering current problems like climate change, population growth, urbanization as well as overexploitation and pollution of natural resources, global food production is the largest pressure caused by humans on Earth, threatening ecosystems and the stability of societies. Consequently, one of the key societal goals is to achieve eco-friendly, efficient food production,”

(1) Baganz, G. et al. Profitability of multi‐loop aquaponics: Year‐long production data, economic scenarios and a comprehensive model case. Aquaculture Research (2020). DOI: 10.1111/are.14610

The First Online Dashboard For Aquaponics

Aquaponics AI, a US-based aquaponic technology research company, just unleashed their software into the wild.  It’s the system every aquaponic grower has been waiting for. 

It has traditionally been difficult to get started in Aquaponics because of the steep learning curve but they are making it easy to get started and maintain a system with features like a project template that gets your system running with recommended maintenance schedules by big players in Aquaponics.

They’re bringing innovative usage of artificial intelligence and big data to Aquaponics for the betterment of the global aquaponics community.  Their vision is to unleash your Aquaponic growing powers.  You’re the beneficiary of high-quality produce and revenue streams created from your system.

In addition to being the forerunner in Aquaponic technology, they also have invaluable libraries for fish, plants, and diseases, as well as calculators for managing your system. 

“We’re about empowering people to be the best aquaponic growers possible. Tech is what gives people the tools to do awesome things.” - Jonathan Reyes, CEO, and Co-founder of Aquaponics AI

You can see the latest developments on their website https://aquaponics.ai alongside invaluable resources and calculators that are available for free.

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Researchers Aim To Cut The Energy Footprint Of Indoor Farms

Indoor farms can grow vegetables close to cities, where there are lots of people to feed. Farming indoors can also extend the growing season in cold climates and protect crops from damage during extreme weather.

But growing food indoors is energy intensive, so it can produce a lot of carbon pollution.

“Lighting is a big factor,” says Erico Mattos of the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering Consortium. “You have the heating and cooling systems, ventilation systems, all the systems that you have to control. So it’s really important for us to reduce this energy demand.”

Mattos’s group is working to reduce the energy used in indoor farms and greenhouses.

“The challenge is, how can we still provide all these inputs that the plants require, the crops require to grow, but using energy with the most efficient way as possible?” he says.

Researchers are tackling the problem from multiple angles. For example, they’re designing high-efficiency LED lights and they’re experimenting with ways to optimize specific crops’ growth with customized lighting, ventilation, and humidity controls.

Mattos says these technologies and systems will help make greenhouses and indoor farms more cost-effective and better for the climate.

Lead Photo Credit: Terry Rice

Pandemic Proof: S2G Ventures on Why Resilient, Sustainable And Healthy Food Systems Are More Important Than Ever

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by guest 18 May 2020

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Sanjeev Krishnan

This is a guest post by Sanjeev Krishnan, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director at S2G Ventures

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health and economic crisis like none we have seen in our lifetime. In the food supply chain, this has impacted employees that ensure that food is planted, harvested, and processed, grocery shelves are stocked and food is available to all people. It takes a global village to feed the world, and we have seen selfless sacrifice and silent grit to ensure the continuity of our food system. Because, if our food supply breaks down, this pandemic may move from a crisis to a catastrophe.

Over the past several month’s several cracks have shown up in the food supply chain. The pandemic is challenging the nature of our global supply chain, stressing logistics networks, and reinforcing the importance of labor. There are concerns about food nationalism, continued access to labor, and redefining the nature of food security from global to national systems. While now is the time for urgent action – from government and private sector – there is a need for longer-term investments required for building a more innovative and resilient future food system.

Our team at S2G Ventures spent several months researching and monitoring COVID-19 and its implications to better understand these questions, keeping a close eye on the news cycle, conducting extensive desktop research, and speaking with various experts across many fields. We spoke to epidemiologists, healthcare professionals, farmers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and other investors to gather insights and develop our perspective on the implications of COVID-19 on the world of food and agriculture. We have compiled our findings into a report that explores the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic to the food and agriculture industry and identifies the areas of innovation critical to building a healthier and more sustainable food system.

As an investor in companies across all stages of the food system, we believe our role in the recovery is to ensure we build a more stable, resilient, sustainable, and healthy system. We will continue to invest in entrepreneurs and innovations that are the catalysts for meaningful progress. Below, we offer a summary of our report, which can also be downloaded in full here.

Pandemics 101: A History of Recovery & Innovation

Taking a look back in time, the world suffered a deadly pandemic in 1918. The Spanish flu, whose origin is believed to be a farm outside of Kansas City, spread quickly across the globe. Although the world was not as connected, World War I was still ongoing, and troops were being shuttled between the United States and Europe. Between 1918 and 1919, the Spanish flu is believed to have infected nearly a third of the global population and killed between three and 20 percent of those who were infected. In the end it killed between 40 and 50 million people. In the years following the Spanish flu, there was a bright period of innovation that included the adoption of the Bell telephone and modern medicine. It was an event that helped shape the future.

Between the Spanish flu and today’s pandemic, there have been seven major epidemics or pandemics. Each varies in mortality, duration, and contagion, but ultimately all come to an end. The economic recovery period that follows a pandemic-induced recession is generally different from traditional economic recessions. Pandemic-induced recession recoveries have generally seen a V-shaped recovery, while traditional recessions have varied between V-, U-, W-, and L-shaped recoveries. The global financial crisis of 2008 saw an L-shaped recovery. Typically, economic recessions have a longer duration and deeper economic consequences.

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The coronavirus pandemic is unique among prior events. While many events have temporarily shut down regions, none have had the same global shutdown that we are currently facing today. So, despite being able to draw comparison and insights to learn from pandemic economics, the situation is different due to a staggering rise in globalization, digitalization across many sectors, and the rise of fiat currencies. Pandemic economic history teaches us that one of the hallmarks is that innovation plays a critical role in the future normal that emerges. As Professor Katherine A. Foss notes, “disease can permanently alter society, and often for the best by creating better practices and habits. Crisis sparks action and response.”

While the direct effect of COVID-19 is on the population – with infection rates, social distancing, and shelter-in-place restrictions and continued operations of only essential businesses – there are significant implications across many industries. The second-order consequences of coronavirus are reshaping industries, catalyzing innovation, and encouraging resilience in business planning. Although the lasting impact on many industries is unknown, we see exciting innovation accelerating across automation, telemedicine, virtual reality, and transparency systems (i.e., blockchain or similar technologies).

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Everyone Eats – Pandemic Proof Demand, but Supply?

While the food and agriculture sectors are generally more resilient in bad economic situations, there are several sub-sectors that rely heavily on in-person labor and are currently strained due to the unique social distancing pressures placed on businesses. One significant pressure point is meat processors. Several large meat companies have been forced to shutter processing facilities due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Smithfield had to shut down one of its pork processing facilities that supplied roughly 5 percent of the U.S. pork supply, while JBS had to close a Pennsylvania facility that processed beef. The second-order consequence of these closures is the farmer, who may be forced now to cull their herds of cattle and hogs. The strain on this pressure point affects not only the farmer but also the consumer. Wendy’s felt the effects of this during this past week when nearly one-fifth of all 1,043 locations ran out of beef.

While it will take an extended period of time to fully understand the implications of consumer purchasing data coming out of the pandemic – more specifically if the duration of the consumer behavior shift will be a ‘fad’ or ‘trend’ – certain areas of the market are seeing a quick adoption of trends that were previously accelerating. As slaughter-house closures have increased, plant-based meats sales have jumped 200 percent. Plant-based meats remain a small portion of the market, but this is a significant and notable demand signal from consumers.

Coronavirus is notably changing how consumers shop, prepare and consume food. Between 2009 and 2018, out-of-home eating rose from 50.1 percent to 54.4 percent of the market. Now, with social distancing limited the ability to eat at restaurants, many are turning to preparing food at home or ordering delivery or takeout. And, despite food being a resilient sector, the bifurcation between grocery and foodservice has become clear.

In the grocery store, private label market-share gains are poised to accelerate, as consumers tighten spending and look for value-focused alternatives. However, we expect consumers to prioritize a balance of value and better-for-you brands instead of a complete tradeoff to value, consistent with the consumer megatrend towards better-for-you products.

Taking a step back, and observing the broader food value chain, we observed three primary delivery vulnerabilities in the food system:

1. Agricultural inputs to farms (e.g., seeds, animal feed, fertilizer, et al.)

2. Farm products to processors, packagers, spot markets and export markets

3. Food to retail distribution

This is important because the global food system relies on a just-in-time economy, where inventory levels are intentionally kept low. Meaning, that regardless if there is enough supply in existence, it may not be able to reach its proper destination if the supply chain is disrupted.

China, which provides a good example because it is further along in the lifecycle of the pandemic, has been suffering from this problem in the last several months. Upstream and downstream logistics are a major challenge; at the ports, there are thousands of frozen meat containers piling up because the trucking has effectively collapsed. Meanwhile, ports are running out of power, stoking fears that much of the food currently stored there will go bad. There is also an American company that makes immunization equipment for chicken that said their containers had been docked at Chinese ports for four weeks. Although China is doing its best to ensure that the grain planting season is not missed, the logistics of this supply chain are making it increasingly difficult.

 The Future of Food – COVID-19 and Calories

While we continue to watch the situation and the strain it is placing on the food system, we view the common threat that could bridge the existing system to the future as technology. Consumer purchasing behavior coupled with innovation may drive changes in market share and pressure existing players in the market. Although we have not seen COVID-19 create a new trend, we have seen several trends that were in motion pre-coronavirus further accelerated by the pandemic, including alternative protein, indoor agriculture, digitalization of agriculture, and grocery and food as medicine.

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Although animal agriculture remains a large and growing market, the pandemic has exposed challenges with the industries long production cycles, centralized production and limited processing facilities. It has allowed for faster consumer adoption of alternative proteins, including plant-based protein, fungi, algae and other biomass concepts including cellular meat. Notably, some of these technologies are further along than other, for example plant-based protein has been a trend for several years, while cellular meat remains in a research and development phase. We continue to believe that whatever the next generation of protein is, it will be driven by production speed, price and taste.

A second trend we believe is accelerating is food as an immunity. The convergence of food, science and technology may unlock this sector and usher in a new era in microbiome, functional ingredients, precision and personalized nutrition and medical foods. Prior to COVID-19, this was largely driven by nutrition-related disease, but the pandemic has exposed at-risk populations, with approximately 90 percent of hospitalized patients having one or more underlying condition, with the most common underlying condition being obesity.

Beyond specific trend acceleration, several themes emerge throughout this research that we believe may be catalyzed and emerge in a post-COVID-19 world. Digitalization will likely be driven by dis-intermediation to allow for new relationships with the consumer and to reduce risk throughout the supply chain. Decentralized food systems allow for the automation of local (alternative protein and produce) and the reshaping of complex perishable supply chains to reduce shrink and waste. They are also more omnichannel congruent as e-commerce, specifically online grocery, adoption accelerates. De-commoditization in the food supply chain, coupled with technologies that place deflationary pressure on the industry, may help catalyze breeding for attributes beyond yield (taste, protein content, et al), a return to polyculture farming and a shift from a strict focus on yield to profit per acre. Lastly, food as an immunity has the potential to bridge healthcare and food production and consumption for the treatment of specific nutrition-related chronic lifestyle diseases, as well as change the future of brands to focus on unique, functional ingredients. a

Our full report, The Future of Food in the Age of COVID,  is available online.

_____________________________

Sanjeev Krishnan, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director at S2G Ventures

Sanjeev has nearly 20 years of experience in sourcing, executing, managing, and exiting venture and private equity investments, including a focus in agriculture and food companies. As Managing Director, Sanjeev is active in developing investments and managing portfolio companies including, serving on many portfolio company boards. His portfolio work ranges from genetics, crop protection, soil health, digital/IoT, crop insurance, merchandising, indoor agriculture, novel flavor, and ingredients, new protein development, unique processors, and brands that will feed this changing consumer.

He is passionate about the role of innovation, entrepreneurship, markets, and system investing as a theory of change. Sanjeev has worked in the intersection of sustainability, technology, and health in many regions, including Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America.  He has invested over $500 mm in venture and growth-stage firms throughout his career.

Sanjeev began investing as a co-founder of the life sciences practice of the IFC, the $99 billion private investment arm of the World Bank. His previous investment roles include CLSA Capital Partners, Global Environment Fund, World Bank Group’s IFC, and JPMorgan. Sanjeev is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

About S2G Ventures: 

S2G Ventures (Seed to Growth) is a multi-stage venture fund investing in food and agriculture. The fund’s mission is to catalyze innovation to meet consumer demands for healthy and sustainable food. S2G has identified sectors across the food system that are ripe for change and is building a multi-stage portfolio including seed, venture, and growth-stage investments. Core areas of interest for S2G are agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, IT and hardware, food safety and technology, retail and restaurants, and consumer brands.

For more information about S2G, visit www.s2gventures.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Texas A&M AgriLife Expands Urban Agriculture Research

A living, vertical salad bar in the employee break room is more than just a novelty at the Texas A&M AgriLife Center at Dallas. It is a small, and delicious, sign of the comprehensive urban agriculture research ramping up at the center in 2020.

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Genhua Niu, Ph.D. Texas A&M AgriLife Research professor of controlled environment agriculture, with an indoor vertical garden system at the Texas A&M AgriLife Center at Dallas (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Patricia Moran)

The purple-glowing installation arrived at Dallas with Genhua Niu, Ph.D., and Texas A&M AgriLife Research professor of controlled environment agriculture. Her research team represents one component of an overarching push by Texas A&M AgriLife to realize sustainable production of nutritious food within cities — the next frontier in commercial agriculture.

Niu’s research is in urban horticulture specifically. This can conjure images of community and backyard gardens, or rooftop and balcony plant installations, but her focus is producing quality food in controlled environments. Her studies are especially relevant in Dallas — of which certain communities are urban food deserts — and they carry promising implications for agriculture industries across rural Texas, too.   

“AgriLife’s substantial investments in urban agriculture innovation reflect our commitment to better human nutrition and health at every interval along the food supply chain,” said Patrick Stover, Ph.D., vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of AgriLife Research. “In addressing these obstacles, we can bring to bear the considerable research and extension resources of the Texas A&M University System.”

Bringing urban horticulture to Dallas
Niu comes to Dallas from the AgriLife Center at El Paso, where her work since 2004 hinged on research conducted in varying greenhouse settings. Now, controlled environments at the renovated urban center at Dallas allow her to direct innovation toward vertical farming systems housed fully indoors.

Niu earned her doctorate in horticultural engineering at Chiba University in Japan as controlled environment agriculture there gained momentum in the 1980s. The research area has seen rapid growth in recent years on the heels of climate change concern and increasing limitations of global open-field production. 

Greenhouses, the focus of much of Niu’s research to date, also pose obstacles to agricultural economics and environmental sustainability.

Niu said plants utilize about 43% of sunlight to grow; the surplus becomes heat. And glass and clear plastics — typical greenhouse covers — can make temperature control difficult during harsher outdoor conditions. Consequently, these systems require energy-intensive heating and cooling in winter and summer. 

“There are still problems to economic feasibility, like very high upfront investment and operational expenditures,” Niu said.

But opportunity for controlled environment agriculture, or CEA development, is ripe across Texas.

Niu peers into vertical grow rack. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Patricia Moran)

On the horizon: Seedlings
For example, she said, many open-field crop producers — who comprise the majority of Texas farmers — acquire transplant seedlings from out-of-state sellers who grow them in controlled environments. Valuable Texas examples include tomato and pepper transplants produced in winter. Dollars for out-of-state seedlings might be kept in Texas down the line by bolstering the state’s own urban production capacity, and by delivering emerging knowledge to farmers and urban upstarts via the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

On the practical side of implementation, Niu said, “In my opinion, it would be easier to do in Texas because we have high temperatures, which means lower heating costs in winter than northern states.”

Better technology: Controlled environment agriculture
She also seeks opportunities for improving controlled environmental agriculture technology.

“How can we design lighting systems in a way that the plants use most efficiently?” she asked. “How do we use less energy and produce more lumens? Can we reduce labor costs through automation? Do we need to heat the whole greenhouse or just the nutrient solution? How do we control temperature efficiently while improving quality and productivity?”

These are the questions her team works to answer in Dallas. At the same time, the second edition of Niu’s co-edited and co-authored textbook, Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, is available following its publication in late 2019.

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LED light fixtures in a vertical grow rack at Dallas (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Patricia Moran)

The 33-chapter text is a collaboration with Niu’s Chiba University mentor Toyoki Kozai, Michiko Takagaki and other contributors to the CEA field. It covers the latest information on each area of controlled environment horticulture: plant-light responses, advances in LED technology, environmental effects on plants as well as production for pharmaceuticals and transplant production among a range of other CEA topics.

Niu’s research in Dallas over the next year aims to expand emerging knowledge in these areas. Her laboratories now house controlled environment studies of leafy greens, and she will pursue future research on specialty greens, pharmaceutical-grade plant production and a range of other controlled environment agriculture systems.

“It is a field of innumerable possibilities,” Niu said.

Find urban horticulture program information, a curriculum vitae and listing of Niu’s publications at dallas.tamu.edu/urbanhort. 

Source: AgriLife Today (Gabe Saldana)

Publication date: Wed 19 Feb 2020

Institute For Advanced Learning And Research And Virginia Tech Launch The Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center in Danville

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By urbanagnews

February 17, 2020

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The partnership will create a hub of innovation and economic development in an industry expected to grow to $4 billion

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) is partnering with the Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center to launch a Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center on IALR’s campus in Danville, Virginia.

The Innovation Center will leverage technology and research to accelerate advancements, economic development, and regional participation in the developing industry of indoor farming. The value of U.S. greenhouse-grown food crops is expected to exceed $4 billion this year.

“We are delighted that the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research and Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have combined their expertise to create a top program in controlled environment agriculture. This collaborative effort is creating tremendous energy and excitement because of its potential to provide innovative solutions to the agricultural community,” said Alan Grant, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “Partnerships like this will help us realize the vision of the SmartFarm Innovation Network Initiative to support the agriculture industry.”

Convening industry, academia and producers, the Innovation Center will be housed primarily within a modern greenhouse complex on IALR’s campus. Features will include various hydroponic systems, which grow plants in a soilless root medium with optimal amounts of water and nutrients. Vertical growing racks will maximize space, and high-tech engineering and technology will be integrated and on display throughout the center.

High-value demonstration crops will include lettuce, herbs, strawberry, blackberry, hemp, and more. In addition, faculty and staff involved in the center will research and educate on raising fish in controlled environments using aquaponics, or recirculating aquaculture systems that integrate plant and fish production. While traditionally viewed as separate fields, plant and fish production share many similar technologies, issues, and needs.

“We are excited to partner with Virginia Tech, a fellow champion of cutting-edge innovation, to expand the impact of agriculture in promising new ways,” said Mark Gignac, executive director of IALR. “While agriculture is a longtime industry of Southern Virginia, economic factors have demanded a new identity. We believe controlled environment agriculture is one of the defining solutions, and we are proud to work with Virginia Tech to introduce the concept to our region’s growers and attract industry.”

According to Michael Schwarz, director of the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center, this new collaboration will further bolster domestic seafood production.

“The U.S. currently has a national seafood trade deficit in excess of $15 billion, with more than 50 percent of the seafood we consume originating from aquaculture,” he said. “Through this new programming and leveraging of expertise and infrastructure, we have the opportunity to drastically increase domestic seafood and produce production within the state, region, and country, enhancing food safety, security, sustainability, and, most importantly, socioeconomically within our agriculture economies.” 

Controlled environmental agriculture helps protect plants from disease and stress while providing ideal growing conditions for high-quality, quick-to-harvest food products — sometimes in as fast as two weeks depending on the crop. In addition to hydroponic systems, the Innovation Center will use data management, sensors, and vertical structures to ensure ideal distribution of water, energy, capital, and labor. Plus, strict entry protocols will prevent pests. Together these factors result in a high-quality, consistent product with significantly more harvests than outdoor conventional production methods. Other advantages of controlled environmental agriculture include uniform, year-round production, potentially pesticide-free agriculture, and greatly reduced land and water requirements.

AeroFarms, a leading controlled environmental commercial producer based in New Jersey, recently announced the world’s largest indoor farm to be located in Cane Creek Centre in Pittsylvania County, just minutes from IALR. While this industrial-sized operation demonstrates scalability, Michael Evans, director of Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Science, believes the technology is accessible to even small farmers in the region.

To encourage market growth, and in line with IALR’s role as a regional catalyst for economic transformation, the Innovation Center will introduce controlled environmental technologies to regional parties interested in entering the market. Conferences, workshops, site visits, and a web presence will comprise part of the outreach and educational activities. According to Evans, controlled environment agriculture is a rapidly growing sector that offers many potential opportunities in Southern Virginia.

“We are excited to house this facility on the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research’s campus and to benefit from both the technology developed and the associated economic development opportunities it provides for the region,” said Scott Lowman, director of applied research at IALR. “Consumer demand for healthy, local, and pesticide-free produce is high and will continue to increase in the coming decades. We look forward to serving this need through controlled environment agriculture.”

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves Virginia as a regional catalyst for economic transformation with applied research, advanced learning, advanced manufacturing, conference center services, and economic development efforts. IALR’s major footprint focuses within Southern Virginia, including the counties of Patrick, Henry, Franklin, Pittsylvania, Halifax, and Mecklenburg, along with the cities of Martinsville and Danville. For more information, visit www.ialr.org.

For more information on IALR, contact Allison Moore at allison.moore@ialr.org or 434.766.6766

• TAGS Business Controlled Environment Agriculture Education Leafy Greens

• Research Virginia Tech

Researchers Tackling Viability of Leafy Greens In Vertical Farming Production

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Posted by Brian Sparks

February 19, 2020

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Murat Kacira, University of Arizona. Photo: Rosemarie Brandt/College of Agriculture and LIfe SciencesA research team from the University of Arizona, Michigan State University, Purdue University, and The Ohio State University is using a $2.7 million grant from USDA’s Specialty Crops Research Initiative to study indoor leafy green production, with the goal of improving the quality, quantity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of indoor vertical farming production.

The initiative — called Optimizing Indoor Agriculture, or OptimIA — has caught the eye of more than 25 industry leaders, whose matching financial support brings the project total to $5.4 million.

“We’re privileged to work with a team of powerhouse scientists, engineers, economists, and industry partners to collectively address the significant challenges faced by the indoor vertical farming industry,” says Murat Kacira, a Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Director of the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center. “Controlled environmental agriculture is one piece of the puzzle, combining plant science, engineering, and computer-controlled production systems to enhance the yield and quality of our crops and optimize resource use.”

To better serve this burgeoning industry, researchers hope to integrate the indoor vertical growers within the specialty crop segment of agriculture, with the ultimate goal of increasing sustainability and profitability.

To do that, the multi-university team plans to assess variable environmental conditions, such as humidity, air movement, temperature, light, and carbon dioxide concentration, and then provide a more complete picture of best practices for indoor farming stakeholders.

Kacira and his team will be using computer simulations, modeling, and experimental studies to design and test more effective localized air-distribution methods, environmental monitoring, and control strategies for indoor vertical farms

.Michigan State University will lead final economic modeling, with Erik Runkle collaborating with co-principal investigators Roberto Lopez and Simone Valle de Souza. Chieri Kubota will take the reins testing environmental condition variables at The Ohio State University, and Cary Mitchell will lead closed canopy and phasic lighting tests at Purdue University.

Learn more about the research here.

Brian Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and editor of Greenhouse Grower Technology. 

See all author stories here.

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Light4food And Moleaer Announce Indoor Farming & Research Partnership

Moleaer has expanded their position in the high tech horticulture sector by partnering up with Light4Food. Light4Food gains knowledge by using their own research facilities, the so-called Indoor GrowHow Facilities, which exist of multiple climate chambers for conducting research to the most optimum growing conditions to cultivate plants in an indoor environment. Both for own research and in collaboration with a client.

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Niels Jacobs, Project Engineer at Light4Food, says, “we are using the Moleaer Bloom nanobubble generator for half a year now. In our Indoor GrowHow facilities, we dissolve oxygen in the form of nanobubbles into the cultivation water. Multiple cultivations of lettuce and herbs are grown with nanobubble technology were compared with traditional aeration systems. The results are very positive, not only in the deepwater hydroponic system but also in tests with high wire crops grown on rock wool substrate."

Michiel de Jong, Moleaer: “The findings corresponded with what we see in practice. Nanobubbles provide cleaner water with more available oxygen for the roots, this makes them less susceptible to molds and bacteria. Lack of oxygen is less generally known as a limiting factor for plant growth in comparison to lack of light or CO2. We can already assume that in spring and especially in summer, oxygen is the limiting factor for plant growth whether using rock wool, cocos or hydroponic systems. This is also the case when the substrate is too wet during cultivation. Not only the roots are negatively influenced, but also the microclimate in the root environment."

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Left without Moleaer, Right with Moleaer

Light4Food expertise is in indoor growing, and consequently, they have experience in medicinal plants. “Moleaer’s nanobubble technology is the most efficient method to dissolve oxygen in the water. Therefore, we are looking forward to discussing this technology with our clients, eventually to realize the most viable indoor growing concepts”, says Rene van Haeff, managing director Light4Food.

For more information:
Light4Food
Expeditiestraat 11
5961 PX Horst
+31 77 207 0008
info@light4food.com
www.light4food.com

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Moleaerinfo@moleaer.com
moleaer.com

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Publication date: Mon 27 Jan 2020