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Vertical Greenhouse Production Becoming Popular In Turkey
Turkey is looking to improve its position in the global agriculture market and has directed its focus to vertical greenhouses
Turkey is looking to improve its position in the global agriculture market and has directed its focus to vertical greenhouses.
Vertical greenhouses are expected to triple within the next 30 years and they will bring significant savings in transportation, environmental and energy costs. Vertical greenhouses are expected to be built specifically in major cities in order to save space and to prevent price increase in agricultural products. Additionally, it will create more jobs for the people living in the area.
Vertical greenhouse production is also identified by the government as one of the most important investment areas and the government is offering grants and no-interest credits through state bank programs.
Growers can receive as many as 8 times more products from vertical greenhouses compared to other production methods and it also has significant environmental benefits due to less waste coming from the production process. Irrigation requirements for vertical greenhouses are also less than other production methods and with the right equipment, growers can grow 240 root plants in one square meter.
Source: Yeni Asir
Publication date: 7/4/2019
Perspectives on Business Strategy and Economics of Vertical Agriculture
Indoor Ag Science Café is a monthly based open forum for indoor growers and scientists. Anyone is welcome to participate to better understand and support this emerging industry
By urbanagnews
March 26, 2019
Two economists at MSU Product Center Food-Ag-Bio, Michigan State University, Chris Peterson and Simone Valle de Souza were presenting “Perspectives on the business strategy and economics of vertical agriculture”.
Chris started out this month’s Café presentation by giving a strategic overview of indoor agriculture industry, followed by Simone’s proposed model-based optimization approach including crop yield model, market demand and costs.
Simone emphasized the need of data usable for analyses. Increasing profitability by minimizing the costs alone does not seem to help establish profitable indoor ag industry, and so value proposition seems to be critical to feed into this optimization model.
They are recruiting potential partners of indoor farms in this project.
Indoor Ag Science Café is a monthly based open forum for indoor growers and scientists. Anyone is welcome to participate to better understand and support this emerging industry.
TAGS Business Chieri Kubota Indoor Ag Sci Cafe Michigan State University
Living Greens Farm Becomes One of The Largest Indoor Farms In The World
FARIBAULT, MINN. – With the opening of a new grow room, Living Greens Farm, a vertical, indoor aeroponic farm that provides year-round fresh salads, microgreens and herbs, is set to become the largest vertical plane aeroponic farm in the world on February 22, 2019. This brings their farming operation to 60,000 square feet – allowing Living Greens to offer produce that’s better for you and the environment. Unlike most produce, Living Greens Farm never uses pesticides, herbicides or GMOs – delivering the highest standards in food safety. Because Living Greens’ products are fresher, they contain more vitamins and nutrients than conventional produce.
While aeroponics has been around for decades, Living Greens Farm has discovered a way to successfully transition and improve this technology for commercial production. Aeroponics is the practice of suspending a plant’s roots in the air and spraying them with a nutrient-rich solution, instead of burying them in soil. Living Greens Farms’ patented vertical plane design allows one acre to produce the equivalent of hundreds of conventional acres.
A high-tech computer system manages the plants growing conditions for variables such as light, temperature, humidity and CO2 to grow year-round produce. Overall, Living Greens Farms’ system uses 200 times less land and 95 percent less water than traditional growing methods. While other vertical aeroponic farms are larger in square footage, Living Greens Farms’ vertical plane design is the first of its kind and is more efficient than other aeroponic growing methods which decreases labor by up to 60 percent.
“Our patented growing technology has changed the game of aeroponics, within one year our new farm will save 24 million gallons of water and several hundred thousand miles of shipping – saving over 35,000 gallons of diesel and nearly a million pounds of CO2 emissions,” said Dana Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Living Greens Farm. “With our third grow room, Living Greens Farm will nearly triple its capacity, move into major market segments and position the company for even stronger growth in 2019. The expansion places Living Greens as the world’s largest vertical plane aeroponic farm in the world.”
Living Greens Farm’s new grow room will allow an expansion of their consumer product line into new states including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota by February 2019.
ABOUT LIVING GREENS FARM
Headquartered in Minnesota, Living Greens Farm is the world’s largest vertical plane aeroponic farm. Living Greens Farm produce requires 95 water and 99 percent less land to grow year-round and all products are grown without pesticides or GMOs. Living Greens Farm has a full product line that includes salads, microgreens and herbs available throughout the Midwest. For more information, please visit http://www.livinggreensfarm.com
US (MD): South Mountain MicroFARM Increases Lettuce Yield By 60% And Microgreens Yield By 10%
South Mountain MicroFARM is a 100% LED-lit, aquaponic leafy greens cultivator in Maryland. The 7,500 square foot greenhouse is situated on the Sellers family’s 22-acre Christmas tree farm. Two-thirds of the greenhouse contains media beds, hydroponic channels and vertical racks that grow a wide range of lettuces, herbs, and microgreens. The remaining one-third houses tanks of tilapia. For Levi Sellers, South Mountain’s Head Grower, building the greenhouse was a homecoming in multiple ways. Levi has lived many lives - he’s worked in a hydroponics supply shop, as a mountaineering guide, and an EMT. But he felt agriculture calling him back to the family farm.
Building an energy-efficient greenhouse
One of the biggest challenges to growing year-round in Maryland is the summer heat and humidity. As a result, the greenhouse was designed with the west-facing wall open for ventilation, so that the winds that blow from west to east can passively cool the greenhouse. Levi installed shade cloths to further soften the relentless heat and light of Maryland summers. Vertical fans help control humidity levels. The lower heat output of the LumiGrow fixtures made them the practical choice for Maryland’s climate.
“When it’s 80% humidity and 100 degrees outside, there’s not a thing you can do. If it’s a cloudy day, you still need to run your lights so that you don’t lose production," explains Levi, "If we were using HIDs, we’d just be increasing our heat more. It’s much harder to control. We really like that we’re able to run our lights on cloudy days and not worry so much about the heat.”
Choosing LumiGrow has also allowed South Mountain to save on upfront infrastructure costs. Installing HID fixtures would have required them to install an additional electrical service panel and purchase a larger backup generator. When the power goes out for extended periods of time during the summer, the lower power draw of the LumiGrow fixtures makes it possible to run both the fish tanks and the lights on the farm’s existing generators. South Mountain MicroFARM also received a 40% utility rebate for purchasing energy-efficient lights, which made the price competitive with HID.
For South Mountain, the benefits of choosing LEDs over HPS were clear. LumiGrow’s high standard of customer service made the choice a no-brainer.
“We looked at several of your competitors, but they weren’t offering the same spectrum adjustability and their customer service wasn’t as good as what I experienced with [our Account Manager] Mike," recalls Levi.
Picture-perfect lettuce
According to Levi, South Mountain’s heads of lettuce are a lot bigger and denser than their hydroponically grown competitors at the grocery store. South Mountain’s lettuce fills the package better, making them more attractive to the end-consumer.
“When I compare photos of our greens grown under LEDs to others' grown with the same aquaponics system who went with the manufacturer’s recommendation to use HID, our LED-grown lettuce looks so perfect and pristine that it almost looks fake,” says Levi.
Levi runs his fixtures year-round to maintain the specific DLI that produces the uniform, picture-perfect plants that consumers are looking for. He tries to maintain about 18 hours of light per day, so the energy savings from his LumiGrow fixtures make a big difference. DLI and photoperiod are both key factors in biomass generation - the higher the DLI, the more biomass produced per plant lifecycle.
Levi’s LumiGrow fixtures have had a huge impact on his lettuce crop - they reach harvest size in 40-50 days, shaving up to 33% off the crop production cycle. This allows Levi to fit in more turns. Levi has also had great results with his microgreens - his LumiGrow-lit trials were ready to harvest 2-3 days earlier than his unlit microgreens. The LumiGrow-lit trays also produced approximately 10% more material per tray.
Levi has also experimented with allowing the heads of lettuce to grow for the full 55-60 days. He found that the LumiGrow-lit lettuce was 40-60% heavier. Restaurants buy lettuce by the tote, so heavier heads of lettuce allow South Mountain to reach the tote weight that restaurants expect with fewer heads of lettuce. All of this means more revenue for South Mountain MicroFARM.
In addition to producing a better-looking, more marketable product, South Mountain MicroFARM uses 75% less energy than their friend’s similar-sized greenhouse.
A pink beacon of sustainability
Initially, Levi had some concerns about what the locals would think about the greenhouse’s vivid hue illuminating the side of the mountain. His fears were unfounded. While the locals often jokingly ask if the farm is having a rave without inviting them, the truth is that they love the pink glow. Their kids adore how it stands out at night and proudly use it as a landmark when telling their friends where they live.
“It acts as a form of advertisement for us, and it’s really sped up the word of mouth advertising about our business and what we’re doing,” says Levi, “We’ve built our brand around being very sustainable and eco-friendly. We focus on every detail, down to the fish feed to make sure it’s locally sourced and sustainably grown. And what better way to show people that than an uncommon glow of pink from our greenhouse? The pink glow means we’re doing something different.”
For more information:
LumiGrow
800-514-0487
info@lumigrow.com
www.lumigrow.com
Publication date : 9/24/2018
The Transforming Power of Vertical Farming
The Transforming Power of Vertical Farming
by Association for Vertical Farming e.V.
Fri, September 7, 2018, 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM HKT
Event Information & Tickets
We will connect with producers and consumers throughout the exhibition and clearly show the potential of Vertical Farming to others in the food production business, logistics, and technology.
During this event, we will define and identify how politics, industry cooperation, technology, science, society, and finance can contribute to the future development of Vertical Farming.
Here is what you should expect as an attendee of the Summit:
Connect with players in the Asia region (Japan, China SEA)
Innovative ideas and solutions
Build a roadmap for VF/PF development of the next 5 years
Understand trends of the fresh produce market for VF
VF/PF visit tour to Japan and Taiwan
This summit will ask how each of the stakeholders can and need to contribute to the advancement of VF/PF.
Find the missing links with us and build a roadmap to overcome them!
Active participation: You will be actively engaged as a full participant throughout the entire event. Unlike typical events where most attendees are passive listeners, your active participation actually matters.
Join one of the 8 topic groups: All invitees to the Summit are like-minded individuals with similar goals, who believe that dynamic innovation is the key to generating jobs, income, and economic development sustainably around the world.
You will select a design thinking session (interactive workshop, 3.5 hours) to be conducted after the keynote presentations in the afternoon. You can join a topic group that will enable you to work on your roadmap for the entire workshop.
Develop a 5-year ROADMAP for the implementation of Vertical Farming/Plant Factories. Analyze the current situation, define the necessary steps, and find creative solutions to overcome the hurdles for a broad implementation of VF/PF.
Core Themes covered by the Design-Thinking topic groups:
Industry; Technology; Science; Education; Investment & Finance; Smart Food Future Cities; Policies & Legislation.
ORGANIZER ASSOCIATION FOR VERTICAL FARMING E.V.
Organizer of The Transforming Power of Vertical Farming
- Organizer Website Website
- Organizer Facebook Profile a vertical farm
- Organizer Twitter Profile AVerticalFarm
The Association for Vertical Farming is an internationally active nonprofit organization of individuals, companies, research institutions and universities focusing on advancing Vertical Farming technologies, designs, and businesses. The AVF sees its mission in fostering the sustainable growth and development of the Vertical Farming industry through policy advocacy, education, and standardization.
AVF leads a movement that shapes a new industry and advocates for more sustainable food production systems.
Keynote Speaker Saskia Sassen
Saskia Sassen
Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and a Member of its Committee on Global Thought, which she chaired till 2015. She is a student of cities, immigration, and states in the world economy, with inequality, gendering, and digitization, three key variables running through her work. Born in the Netherlands, she grew up in Argentina and Italy, studied in France, was raised in five languages, and began her professional life in the United States. She is the author of eight books and the editor or co-editor of three books.
Together, her authored books are translated in over twenty languages. She has received many awards and honors, among them multiple doctor honoris causa, the 2013 Principe de Asturias Prize in the Social Sciences, election to the Royal Academy of the Sciences of the Netherlands, and made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government.
Company: Columbia University, United States of America
Website: www.saskiasassen.com
http://cgt.columbia.edu
Keynote Speaker Robert Chen
Robert Chen
Bob is the Founder of AEssense and also serves as Chairman, President andChief Executive Officer. AEssense is a global agriculture technology company established to solve three 21st century issues: the need for high agriculture yields for a growing population, food safety, and conservation of resources. To achieve these goals, the Company developed the AEtriumplatform, a family of precision automated indoor aeroponic plant growth systems which dramatically increase both the productivity and the sustainability of commercial cultivation.
Prior to AEssense, Bob had a long history of building successful businesses in Silicon Valley. He was the Co-founder, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of RAE Systems a global developer and manufacturer of rapidly deployable, multi-sensor chemical and radiation detection monitors and networks which was acquired by Honeywell in 2013. Before that, he was the Founder, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of AOT Corp., a manufacturer of computer-aided test systems which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 1991.
Bob’s industry experience also includes various engineering and management positions at General Motors, General Electric, Tektronix, Fairchild Semiconductor and Hewlett-Packard Company. Bob has a BSEE from National Taiwan Cheng-Kung University, a MSEE from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and Advanced Engineer Degree from Syracuse University. Bob also graduated from OPM Class 18 of the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
Bob enjoys mentoring young professionals, photography, and traveling. He recently published a book called “From Shanghai to Silicon Valley: How to Start a High-Tech Company from Scratch” to inspire and guide aspiring entrepreneurs.
AVF Summit- September 7, 2018 Hong Kong
TAGS: Things To Do In Hong Kong Conference Business
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How Urban Farmers Are learning To Grow Food Without Soil Or Natural Light
How Urban Farmers Are learning To Grow Food Without Soil Or Natural Light
February 13, 2018
Mandy Zammit/Grow Up, Author provided
Author
- Silvio Caputo
Senior Lecturer, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement
Silvio Caputo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Partners
University of Portsmouth provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.
Growing food in cities became popular in Europe and North America during and immediately after World War II. Urban farming provided citizens with food, at a time when resources were desperately scarce. In the decades that followed, parcels of land which had been given over to allotments and city farms were gradually taken up for urban development. But recently, there has been a renewed interest in urban farming – albeit for very different reasons than before.
As part of a recent research project investigating how urban farming is evolving across Europe, I found that in countries where growing food was embedded in the national culture, many people have started new food production projects. There was less uptake in countries such as Greece and Slovenia, where there was no tradition of urban farming. Yet a few community projects had recently been started in those places too.
Today’s urban farmers don’t just grow food to eat; they also see urban agriculture as a way of increasing the diversity of plants and animals in the city, bringing people from different backgrounds and age groups together, improving mental and physical health and regenerating derelict neighbourhoods.
Many new urban farming projects still struggle to find suitable green spaces. But people are finding inventive solutions; growing food in skips or on rooftops, on sites that are only temporarily free, or on raised beds in abandoned industrial yards. Growers are even using technologies such as hydroponics, aquaculture and aquaponics to make the most of unoccupied spaces.
Something fishy
Hydroponic systems were engineered as a highly space and resource efficient form of farming. Today, they represent a considerable source of industrially grown produce; one estimate suggests that, in 2016, the hydroponic vegetable market was worth about US$6.9 billion worldwide.
Hydroponics enable people to grow food without soil and natural light, using blocks of porous material where the plants’ roots grow, and artificial lighting such as low-energy LED. A study on lettuce production found that although hydroponic crops require significantly more energy than conventionally grown food, they also use less water and have considerably higher yields.
Growing hydroponic crops usually requires sophisticated technology, specialist skills and expensive equipment. But simplified versions can be affordable and easy to use.
They grow up so fast. Mandy Zammit/Grow Up, Author provided
Hemmaodlat is an organisation based in Malmö, in a neighbourhood primarily occupied by low-income groups and immigrants. The area is densely built, and there’s no green space available to grow food locally. Plus, the Swedish summer is short and not always ideal for growing crops. Instead, the organisation aims to promote hydroponic systems among local communities, as a way to grow fresh food using low-cost equipment.
The Bristol Fish Project is a community-supported aquaponics farm, which breeds fish and uses the organic waste they produce to fertilise plants grown hydroponically. GrowUp is another aquaponics venture located in an East London warehouse – they grow food and farm fish using only artificial light. Similarly, Growing Underground is an enterprise that produces crops in tunnels, which were originally built as air raid shelters during World War II in London.
The next big thing?
The potential to grow food in small spaces, under any environmental conditions, are certainly big advantages in an urban context. But these technologies also mean that the time spent outdoors, weathering the natural cycles of the seasons, is lost. Also, hydroponic systems require nutrients that are often synthesised chemically – although organic nutrients are now becoming available. Many urban farmers grow their food following organic principles, partly because the excessive use of chemical fertilisers is damaging soil fertilityand polluting groundwater.
To see whether these drawbacks would put urban growers off using hydroponic systems, my colleagues and I conducted a pilot study in Portsmouth. We installed small hydroponic units in two local community gardens, and interviewed volunteers and visitors to the gardens. Many of the people we spoke to were well informed about hydroponic technology, and knew that some of the vegetables sold in supermarkets today are produced with this system.
A simplified hydroponic frame in Portsmouth. Silvio Caputo/University of Portsmouth, Author provided
Many were fascinated by the idea of growing food without soil within their community projects, but at the same time reluctant to consume the produce because of the chemical nutrients used. A few interviewees were also uncomfortable with the idea that the food was not grown naturally. We intend to repeat this experiment in the near future, to see how public opinion changes over time.
And while we don’t think hydroponic systems can replace the enjoyment that growing food in soil can offer, they can save water and produce safe food, either indoors or outdoors, in a world with increasingly scarce resources. Learning to use these new technologies, and integrating them into existing projects, can only help to grow even more sustainable food.
As with many technological advancements, it could be that a period of slow acceptance will be followed by rapid, widespread uptake. Perhaps the fact that IKEA is selling portable hydroponic units, while hydroponic cabinets are on the market as components of kitchen systems, is a sign that this technology is primed to enter mainstream use.
Vincent Callebaut’s Arboricole Tower Brings Vertical Agriculture To The City
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, known for green projects that combine smart building with advanced renewable energy solutions, has officially unveiled Arboricole – a new “biophilic” building that brings agriculture to the urban landscape.
Vincent Callebaut’s Arboricole Tower Brings Vertical Agriculture To The City
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, known for green projects that combine smart building with advanced renewable energy solutions, has officially unveiled Arboricole – a new “biophilic” building that brings agriculture to the urban landscape. Residents of the building can grow food on their own terraces thanks to permaculture, with the building’s curved, sinuous design acting to reduce turbulence and maximize comfort in these elevated gardens.
- Arboricole aims to answer a vital question: how can we adapt our European historic cities to climate change and the ensuing phenomena of strong floods, heavy rains, and current heat waves? To help combat these events, the building is covered with endemic plants from the Loire region that act as a “sponge,” limiting its carbon footprint, collecting rainwater, and optimizing the residents’ quality of life.
Related: Vincent Callebaut’s twisting carbon-absorbing skyscraper nears completion in Taipei
White tuffeau stone covers the building’s wave-shaped facade. The architects drew inspiration from the agriculture of the Angevin groves, whose undulating plateaus create a visually engaging waterfall effect. Designed for the intersection of Boulevard Ayrault and Quai Gambetta in Angers, France, the building gradually rises to 114 feet (35 meters) and maximizes the amount of sunshine each terrace receives during the day.
Related: This plant-covered Singapore skyscraper is the tropical building of the future
Micro-perforated satin aluminum plates serve as false acoustic ceilings for the balconies, absorbing the noise pollution emitted by car traffic and showcasing the plant life climbing Arboricole’s vertical grove. And, not to be outdone, the plants themselves – 20,000 perennials, shrubs, and trees – could absorb up to 50 tons of CO2 in Angers’s atmosphere each year.
Letter From The Chairwoman of The AVF (2018)
The Association for Vertical Farming is evolving from an emerging movement into an industry organization ready for the next steps.
Letter From The Chairwoman of The AVF (2018)
FEBRUARY 21, 2018 URBAN AG NEWS
A Letter from AVF Chairwoman Christine Zimmermann-Loessl
Dear AVF Members,
The Association for Vertical Farming is evolving from an emerging movement into an industry organization ready for the next steps. To quote Alibaba founder and philanthropist Jack Ma, “The next generation of globalization should be inclusive and create opportunities for young people to get involved. The last 30 years of globalization was controlled by 60,000 big companies. In the next 30 years, we will have 6 or 16 or 60 million companies get involved in globalization.”
At the AVF, we have taken this quote to heart based on experience from the past and with members feedback, we are adjusting the overall AVF strategy by bringing changes to the board and staff to ensure that the Association is ready and able to pick up the priorities that we agreed on at the Annual General Meeting in Munich on the 1st of December 2017.
We will want to engage with our members at the core of our mission and interact more effectively with policy makers, the horticulture industry and our partners. Also important is the further development of our global network of members and acquisition of new members – to meet that goal we are planning an upcoming AVF summit in Hong Kong in September.
The AVF is now developing into a more professional organization. We are changing the way we work and in the course of that process we have also made some changes to AVF staff. A few well-known names have now moved on in a different direction, such as Henry Gordon Smith, Zjef van Acker and Mark Horler. I would like to thank them for the contributions they have made to the Association in the past years and wish them all the best in their future in the vertical farming industry.
With this, the AVF team is looking forward to helping our members turn 2018 into a successful and prosperous year and encourage all of you to reach out to us with your ideas and suggestions @ members@vertical-farming.net.
New AVF Staff – Our team is eager to work with you and help you succeed.
Anne Flour, European Affairs Manager,
Anne is a highly motivated EU Project Manager with extensive experience in agriculture and environment. As an independent, she supports organisations to thrive in the European Union context.
Gus van der Feltz, Head of Member Relations
Gus is a self-employed entrepreneur and Vertical Farming expert. Between 2014 and 2017 Gus was responsible for Vertical Farming at Philips and Philips Lightning
Yanni Garica Postigo Operations Manager,
Yanni is the co-founder of PlantHive. Formerly business controller @ St. Gilles Municipality, International-minded and curious!
New Board of Directors
Thomas Zöllner, Vice-Chairman
Tom is an entrepreneur and expert for innovation in agri-tech, with a solid base in the Vertical Farming Industry.
Penny McBride, Vice-Chairwoman
Penny is a start-up/strategic advisor in the urban agriculture industry in the US and internationally.
Key objectives for the Association for Vertical Farming in 2018 / 2019:
1. Standardization and Certification (S&C): With our members, AVF will lay out the groundwork for standards and reference data for agri-tech crop production. We will soon announce a proposal for committee composition and the roadmap for partnerships with our members and regional organizations.
2. Education (E): The AVF will facilitate education & training for the agri-tech industry while integrating a new e-learning platform. Additionally, we will strive to publish relevant industry white papers in multiple languages to help distribute knowledge into the global market.
3. Policy Advocacy (PA): Policy development, already started with the successful Summit in Washington DC, will continue to foster advocacy with policymakers, pursue grant opportunities, partnerships and lobby on behalf of the members in the EU and USA. We have established an office in Brussels and registered officially as a lobby organization at the EU.
Finally, a short reminder of membership payment – please remit, membership is due 01. January of each Year. If you have not received your invoice yet, please contact us at info@vertical-farming.net
Vertical Urban Farming - Seminar, Report, and Videos
Vertical Urban Farming - Seminar, Report, and Videos
06 MARCH 2018
In December 2017, Brian Ndyaguma, a young project manager and entrepreneur with several years of experience in business development and acceleration; and innovation hub management in Uganda, gave a seminar at SLU about vertical urban farming in Kampala, Uganda. Read the seminar report, watch the recorded seminar and an interview with Brian.
Watch the interview with Brian Ndyaguma on YouTube.
Urban centers in low-income countries go through an explosive growth in human population. The resulting high levels of unemployment and issues with adequate food supplies, require an appropriate response. Kampala alone needs around 3,000 tons of food per day to feed its population. While cities may not easily be regarded as production centers for food, they do offer opportunities for creating gainful employment in agriculture. In fact, urban farming scattered around Kampala and its suburbs is growing and contributes around 35% of the food that comes to the city. Youth participation in urban farming is increasing because such farms can be easily managed and there is good access to high end markets. But there are challenges: most urban farmers are growing food for subsistence purposes, live in unhealthy environments (e.g. sharing small plots of land with plants and animals), use poor/non-organic farming practices, have poor post-harvest handling methods, lack business management skills and knowledge of the value chains to improve their output.
Brian Ndyaguma showed that there are good possibilities to overcome most of these issues, and farm in the very city centers without access to good soils. His seminar at SLU on the 7th of December 2017 illustrated that whereas science creates knowledge for innovation, (Agri)business can help pinpoint where the knowledge gaps are and where innovations are most needed, and hence help define the research agenda. Brian, who is working with the Resilient African Network lab (RANlab), is an expert on how to facilitate innovations and businesses. However, more than talk-the-talk, he enacts the very principles of his RANlab job during off hours, by running a restaurant in the center of Kampala (Kahwa2Go Restaurant and Café). During his seminar, he showed first handedly how to effectively produce large quantities of high quality and high-value food using mini gardens (bagged soils). Using wooden terraces, the limited space could be more efficiently used and production increased, i.e., vertical urban farming. The idea is grafted on models from Asia, and has every potential to reduce the food chain supply challenges in Kampala, while creating employment for the youth both directly as well as through building the value chains.
During his seminar he posed challenges to the scientific audience for the current knowledge gaps and innovations that could enhance the application of vertical urban farming, such as efficient, low cost drip irrigation systems, methods of space maximization, modified farming practices and food handling practices, and technologic innovations such as methods for quick assessment of soil quality.
Related pages:
Teun Dekker, Researcher at the Department of Plant Protection Biology
Theme leader at SLU Global
teun.dekker@slu.se, 040-415306
SLU Global supports and develops SLU's commitment to improve the situation for people in low-income countries based on the Globals Goals of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.
SLU Global
Vice-Chancellor's Office
Agricultural Sciences for Global Development
PO Box 7005, SE-750 07 Uppsala
Visiting address: Almas Allé 7
www.slu.se/slu-global
global@slu.se
This Indoor Farm Is Trying To Revolutionize The Growing Process In Sweden
This Indoor Farm Is Trying To Revolutionize The Growing Process In Sweden
BY AIMEE LUTKIN
March 5, 2018
Owe Pettersson worked in insurance and finances for decades before becoming the chief executive at Plantagon, an indoor farm that recently opened in Sweden. Pettersson told The Huffington Post that indoor farming is the next big thing, and Plantagon is at the forefront, saying, "This will be one of the most advanced food factories located in a city that we have today."
Indoor farming has become far more popular in recent years, as technology has become even more precise, allowing large amounts of greens and fresh produce to be produced in urban environments with both minimal space and far smaller amounts of water than on a traditional farm. For example, it can take as many as 34 gallons to produce a head of lettuce, but Plantagon claims they can produce their crops at about .25 gallon for the equivalent weight in crops.
Plantagon is building on the newish concept of "agritechture," meaning combining agriculture, technology, and architecture so that the process of growing food is more seamlessly integrated into people's lives. It's also seen as a way to limit travel time for food and the carbon footprint of preserving and transporting organic materials.
An issue their model has attacked is the waste of heat energy produced by the LED lights the plants are exposed to for photosynthesis. The plants only use about one percent of the light produced by the bulbs, and the rest of the energy generally escapes as heat. Plantagon is capturing 70 percent of this heat and using it to warm the building above the 65,000 square foot farm basement. Oxygen produced by the crops is also pumped into the building's air conditioning system.
Pettersson explained that these sorts of circulating systems help make having a Plantagon system in the basement an exciting prospect to landlords. “This is the basic way we get interest from real estate developers to rent out their basements or other spaces to us,” he said.
And that's pretty important, because the most prohibitive thing for indoor farming is the expense of installation. “Most projects are difficult to make economically viable because they tend to focus only on the technology and the growing. You also need to find a business model that works," he added.
Indoor farming is an exciting concept, but a controversial one. Some critics suggest that powering a hydroponic system is far more wasteful than using the sun's energy to grow plants outdoors—though Plantagon is solar powered. Other data suggests it would be difficult to really feed a city from an indoor system, which has limitations on the size and variety of crops in limited space. But it is an intriguing experiment that has had some success in arenas that have a high demand for freshness and variety, especially in restaurants.
Interview With Arturo Escaroz
Interview With Arturo Escaroz
Arturo is a specialist on bio systems engineer and got his masters degree from the university of Wageningen. Arturo has been involved in research and managing a LED farm at The New Farm.
Arturo is excited and starts telling me about his interest in agriculture when I ask him to tell me more about himself. This interest motivated him to move from the deep warm south of Mexico, he smiles when telling me temperatures can rise up to 43 degrees Celsius in summer, to the Netherlands with its cold climate. Arturo (30) and his wife both moved to the Netherlands to complete a master’s degree at the University of Wageningen. Arturo completed the program for Bio Systems Engineering and contributed significantly to the introduction of The Leafy Green Machine (LGM) into the European Market.
Arturo smiles again when he elaborates on the story about the truck driver who had no idea about the cargo he was moving around The Hague. He explains the truck drivers surprise after showing him the container on the inside. He didn’t think something like this existed. It’s a mind set issue Arturo reckons.
When Arturo continues about his hometown in Mexico he explains it used to be a agricultural area, majorly. In the last decennia, however, people moved to the cities for work and the typical culture for agricultural towns got lost. Today, however, youngsters are showing new interest in food production and sustainability, like Arturo. He is fascinated by the engineering of plants and animals and wants to understand their relationship with their environment. He loves to study these properties and relationships in controlled environments.
I ask Arturo what he really likes about The New Farm. Again, he gets exited and starts telling me all the innovative solutions we work on in The New Farm to tackle the world’s challenges. ‘Everyone is so innovative here’ he explains, ‘and there is always an opportunity for testing new prototypes’. Arturo continues, ‘when people come to The New Farm they get exited about all the concepts in one building, a greenhouse, a farm in a container, an oyster-mushroom farm, there is no other place like this’. He continues his plea about the integration of technologies, systems and all this knowledge available on one spot. Furthermore, The New Farm is a fantastic spot for start-ups, businesses that have a proof of concept already or businesses that want to grow their business and network further. Many activities and events are happening in The New Farm and we get a lot of visitors from different countries, sectors and industries.
At last, I ask Arturo if he would like to add anything more to the interview. He thinks for a moment and says he would like to invite entrepreneurs, students and investors and to have a look in The New Farm to see what we have on offer and to cooperate with us.
Thanks Arturo, I have nothing to add to that.
This Hydroponic Farm Is Speeding Up NYC's Farm-To-Table Process
Hydroponic farming is becoming an increasingly popular option in cities with a high demand for fresh produce. Farm One is one such system that is providing their restaurant clientele with microgreens, herbs, and edible flowers grown right in Manhattan, Inhabitat reports.
This Hydroponic Farm Is Speeding Up NYC's Farm-To-Table Process
BY AIMEE LUTKIN
March 1, 2018
Hydroponic farming is becoming an increasingly popular option in cities with a high demand for fresh produce. Farm One is one such system that is providing their restaurant clientele with microgreens, herbs, and edible flowers grown right in Manhattan, Inhabitat reports. They claim they can reach 90 percent of their buyers by bike within 30 minutes. That's fresh.
Farm One is part of the Institute of Culinary Education, so it's a place for learning chefs as well—which is also a great way to build up a network of people who know about and support it. The hydroponic farm was built in April of 2016, with 150 different varieties of crops on rotation.
The space was developed by urban agriculture firm Agritecture, whose managing director Henry Gordon-Smith told Green Matters in an email that it's a really special place that is building a roadmap for future hydroponic growing technology.
"Farm One isn't like other vertical farms: for one, they grow the most unique and rare crops on demand for the most curious and sophisticated chefs. Additionally, each farm is optimized to match the urban site they set up an operation in, embracing the positive attributes of the space to the demands of their customers. Farm One is leading the way in the production of crops that have often never been grown in vertical farms to inspire chefs, cities, and customers to ignite their senses with the future of local agriculture," wrote Gordon-Smith.
The indoor farm is lit by LEDs, and the interior is monitored for conditions that are primed to grow greens. They use zero pesticides or herbicides, and the hydroponic system requires 95 percent less water than in a traditional garden. The main waste product from the enterprise is plant matter, which is composted.
Farm One is also committed to variety. They say on their website that they "scour the world" for "rare seeds" in an effort to promote biodiversity. It also doesn't hurt that the growers are themselves chefs, which means an interest in variety and flavor for its own sake. The farm is growing, but remains committed to staying local and minimizing travel time for their produce. If you can grow lettuce in the basement, you never need to eat a wilted leaf again.
Leading Indoor Agriculture Event Returns with More Content, CropKing Mini Workshops & SananBio Plant Factory Tours
Leading Indoor Agriculture Event Returns with More Content, CropKing Mini Workshops & SananBio Plant Factory Tours
SananBio Tech at Indoor Ag-Con Asia
Our two-day event will be hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center on May 2-3, 2018 and will include an exhibition hall and an exciting lineup of speakers
The good folks at @indooragcon did it again. Great show in Singapore.”
— @IntravisionLS
LAS VEGAS, NV, USA, March 5, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Indoor agriculture, the practice of growing crops using hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic techniques, is one of the fastest growing areas of agriculture. Investors and large companies are joining the industry in record numbers as they recognize consumer demand for fresh, local produce anytime, anywhere. Indoor Ag-Con is the premier event covering the technology of growing crops in greenhouses, warehouses and containers. It is returning to Las Vegas for the sixth year in May 2018. This years’ event includes several new features; a new business track, mini workshops and a plant factory tour.
Our two-day event will be hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center on May 2-3, 2018 and will include an exhibition hall and an exciting lineup of speakers including representatives from Autogrow, Fresh Box Farms, Microsoft, Plenty Ag, Priva, Square Roots and Urban Crop Solutions, among many others. We will be covering a broad range of crop types – such as, leafy greens, cannabis, insects, aquaculture and medicinal crops – as well as technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to LED lighting to control systems. Participants will receive an exclusive hard copy of the newest edition in our popular white paper series in the event gift bag, along with novel items such as insect-based snack bars. They will have the opportunity to network during the day, through our event app and at our after party in the exhibition hall on the first evening of the event. The event’s lead sponsors are CropKing and Plenty Ag, and other sponsors include Agrinamics, Autogrow, Fresh Box Farms, Joe Produce, Kennett Township, and Urban Crop Solutions.
The exhibition hall already includes companies such as Certon, Fluence Bioengineering, Illumitex and Priva. Options for exhibitors include furnished booths, product showcases and business suites in addition to regular ‘space only’ booths. Container farm suppliers again have dedicated pitches to showcase their products. The exhibition hall will also feature a dedicated media area for the first time this year. Further details on exhibiting can be found at indoor.ag/exhibitlv.
Our sponsor, leading industry consultant CropKing, has long hosted well-regarded two and five-day workshops to get growers up and running in a commercial hydroponic greenhouse. So, we're delighted that the CropKing team will be bringing that wisdom to Indoor Ag-Con in the form of half-day mini-workshops onsite. They're open exclusively to registered Indoor Ag-Con participants, and there's no additional charge.
In addition, we’re excited to be adding plant factory tours to the 6th Indoor Ag-Con thanks to our sponsors SananBio and Oasis Biotech. They’ll be hosting free tours of the phase 1 launch at their new 215,000 sq/ft Las Vegas plant factory on May 4, exclusively for Indoor Ag-Con participants. Tours are on a first come, first served basis and will run on the hour from 9am to 12pm, and each tour is expected to last 30-40 minutes.
Indoor Ag-Con, which hosts meetings in Singapore and Philadelphia in addition to Las Vegas, is the leading convener of growers, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors involved in the indoor agriculture sector. Our audience includes greenhouse and vertical farm growers, technology companies, executives from the food and beverage sector, venture firms, startups and established urban farmers. Since it was founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con has captured an international audience at all its, attracting some of the top names in the business. Events have welcomed over 2,500 participants from more than 20 countries.
Newbean Capital, the host of the conference is a registered investment advisor; some of its clients or potential clients may participate in the conference. The Company is ably assisted in the event’s production by Origin Event Planning and Freeman.
6th Annual Indoor Ag-Con
Date – May 2-3, 2018
Place – South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV
Booths – Available at indoor.ag/exhibitlv
Registration – currently open to the general public from US$399
Features – Two-day seminar, with keynote speakers, exhibition hall, after-party, and optional mini-workshop and plant factory tour
For more information, please visit www.indoor.ag/lasvegas or call +1. 877.609.6202
Nicola Kerslake
Newbean Capital
7756237116
email us here
Indoor Ag-Con Experience
The Farm of The Future Is Magenta
The Farm of The Future Is Magenta
What color do many green plants like? The opposite of green: magenta. Nanoco
After the US, guess what country is the second largest exporter of food by dollar value? The Netherlands. One of the smallest countries in the world has become one of the biggest exporters of food.
Dutch farmers have become masters of indoor farming, as National Geographic reports. With advanced greenhouses using LED lights, hydroponics and more, they're able to grow more food, faster and in a smaller space. It's a growing trend (pun intended).
Lighting is one of the biggest costs of indoor farming, but some wavelengths (colors) of visible light are more useful than others. Magenta, for example, is a favorite of green plants. Quantum dots are can be tuned to produce magenta light efficiently.
By using wavelengths the plants want most, less overall light and power needs to be used. No power is wasted creating green wavelengths that a specific plant species doesn't need, for example.
Lights augmented by quantum dots can promote faster growth, not just on a per-plant basis, but even depending on where that plant is in its growing cycle. Certain wavelengths can be used for a young plant, and slightly different wavelengths for a more mature plant.
Researchers have also been able to grow plants faster. Nanoco, makers of the lights you see in the image at the right and above, claim that in some cases plants can grow twice as fast as with standard LED lights.
Quantum dots could be the key to indoor farms producing significantly more food, or small farms being able to produce vastly more food. Indoor farms can also exist in places not typically conducive to farming, such as the cities where most of the world now lives.
And if you look even further ahead, this would be a pretty fantastic way for us to grow a lot of food quickly in space, on the Moon or Mars, and beyond.
Bringing New Technology In Farming To The Emirates
Bringing New Technology In Farming To The Emirates
The new pay – off of Levarht ‘Bringing the best together’ is matching our new project in the Emirates in full. Together with our business partner GrowGroup, we are bringing technology in vertical and horizontal farming to the next level. In close cooperation with our knowledge partners Philips Lighting, Rijk Zwaan, and Delphy. All specialists sharing their unique expertise and knowledge in making this new venture a success!
Green Factory
In Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, we will set up a sustainable green factory for the production of lettuce, baby leaves and herbs in a chemical-free environment. A unique combination of vertical & horizontal farming, with our own propagation area. And in addition to that a connected packing facility, which allows us to mix and pack 100% clean mix salads. Non washed and all ready-to-eat.
Tasty, Fresh & Clean, the perfect match
Our joint objective is to serve the final consumer fresh lettuces and herbs, and completely free from any chemicals or other forms of crop-protection. By selecting the tastiest crops, the strongest varieties and creating a clean production, we are able to serve the consumer the best produce within 24 hours after harvest … ready-to-eat. Because our products are so clean, we don’t even have to wash before packing.
Sustainability, the future of farming
By creating a completely closed environment in production, using the latest generation of LED lighting, we can reduce the usage of water and energy to a minimum.
We also see a great opportunity in growing closer to the stores and the final consumer. Local production enables us to reduce mileage and imports. So not only fresher produce on the shelves, but also a step forward in protecting the environment.
Bringing the best together
We have found in each other strong partners, who share the philosophy of not only changing but especially improving farming technics and serving the consumer fresher, cleaner and tastier product. Partners sharing their unique expertise … the best example of “Bringing the best together”.
January 30th, 2018
One of The World's Largest Indoor Farms Is Located in Faribault, Minnesota
One of The World's Largest Indoor Farms Is Located in Faribault, Minnesota
February 28, 2018
Living Greens Farm's founder, president, and chairman Dana Anderson is the brains behind one of the largest indoor farms in the world. And as it turns out, it's located right here in Faribault! To keep this huge production running, Anderson utilizes a computer system to control different aspects of the farming process such as light, CO2, humidity, and temperature. All of that combined with aeroponics is what makes Living Greens Farm so successful!
For those of you that don't know, aeroponics is when you grow plants upside down and, instead of planting the roots in soil, they are sprayed with a nutrient-rich solution.
Aeroponics was by no means invented by Anderson, but he did invent and patent the vertical growing and traversing misting systems which is a super efficient way of farming. Kind of reminds me of a Miracle-Gro AeroGarden. According to Anderson in his interview with Twin Cities Business, it's "the fastest way to grow plants." Living Greens Farm recently expanded and they have even more room to grow in the future.
Currently, the farm's greens are being sold in Lunds & Byerlys, some Cub Foods, and Hy-vee stores, Fresh Thyme, as well as other food co-ops.