Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
dmvA Suspends Greenhouse For Urban Farming Over Steel Rods In Belgium
September 28, 2018
house tp is located in the working-class area in mechelen, belgium – a local woman with green fingers bought there a little house next to the church and asked dmvA to reconstruct it. due to the specifics of the site and the client’s requirements, the architects have created a levitating greenhouse in the home’s courtyard.
the client had the desire to do urban farming, which is not evident in the center of the city. moreover, the plot was fully built and the backside is oriented north, being in the shade of the house most of the time. a green spot behind the house seemed difficult to create due to the lack of sunlight. dmvA, therefore, decided to remove the rear of the building, except for one steel beam.
the beam inspired the architects to add some extra beams and place a greenhouse on top of them. by hanging the structure up in the air, dmvA found a solution to the lack of illumination that ensured the patio to stay bright and light. as there is less light reaching the ground floor due to the orientation of the house, the bedroom is downstairs, while the living room is upstairs. next to the patio, there is a small living space that can also be used as a bedroom in the future.
by removing all interior walls and creating open spaces, the house seems larger than it is, despite its small living area of 80 square meters. the stairs are always placed on a side of the building so that the open spaces would not be disrupted.
Combining Geothermal Heat With Super-Fast Internet
The geothermal heat project Nature’s Heat in Kwintsheul is running at full speed to the satisfaction of the nine growers connected to the project. Not only heat pipes but also fiber optic cables were placed, so now they can even make use of high-speed internet. Nature’s Heat operator Paul van Schie: “More often than not, townships and cable companies don’t see the need to place fiber optic cables in the rural areas. We were able to hitch along with a cable that was placed from the town to a high-voltage tower close to here. Nature’s Heat is now the distribution station for fiber optic cable connections to a variety of connections.
Dennis Bos of CBizz tells us that the plans to put in fiber optic cables have been entertained for a while. “At the beginning of 2018, Paul came to us with the question if we could realize a collective fiber optic connection. In February we were ready to start when the needed number of clients was reached.” Dennis looks back on a fantastic project. “These types of projects are one in a million, they are quite unique. Worthy to be repeated, though a next project will need to be tailor-made again.”
100 percent uptime
Geothermic heating projects require a lot of stamina. Nature's Heat is an initiative of nine horticultural companies in Kwintsheul that, together, grow 51 hectares of tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, strelitzias, chrysanthemums, roses, and potted plants. On the 21st of March 2018, the project started. According to Paul, it was the well-executed preparations that resulted in a high-quality project. “We did have some teething problems here and there. In May the installation was turned off a few times for a software update, but we haven’t run into any big problems yet. Since May we've had a score of 100% uptime, not counting the planned pump changeover in July.”
Tailor-made
The software was developed specially for Nature’s Heat, says Paul. The company that designed and built the above-ground installations also wrote the software. And this is very convenient, because of this you have very short lines. This party does not only do the maintenance but also the management of the installation. Every day they monitor from a distance whether or not the installation is functioning accordingly.
“The above ground installation is made of stainless steel and the design of the filter units is different than usual. Also for the de-gassing, an entirely different installation is used. Where the de-gassing normally happens in big horizontal tanks, this installation accomplishes this by using cyclones. Underpressure is created, which separates the gas. You can compare it to the drain in your sink when you pull the plug.”
No free lunch
A heat roundabout in the province of South Holland is meant to connect all the heat projects so that the optimal amount can be saved on fossil energy. “It would be great if heat pipes would be placed from Rotterdam to the Westland, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. The horticulture industry has an important part to play in the supply of electricity. I think we ought to be careful to exclude CHP from the discussion involving the closing of the gas taps. If the demand to be able to flexibly switch to the use of electricity would arise, CHPs have preference over energy from power plants. Wiebes, the Dutch Minister of Economy and Climate, wants to get rid of the use of gas. But do we then need to close down sustainable CHPs and keep coal plants open? These are the questions that you as a grower need to consider.”
For more information:
Nature's Heat CBizz
info@naturesheat.nl
www.naturesheat.nl
CBizz
+31(0)88 002 0200
www.cbizz.nl
First GLASE Meeting Is November 5th
September 19, 2018
GLASE gears up for their first meeting:
Guidelines for new Controlled Environment Agriculture energy-efficient technology adoption
November 5, 2018
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Statler Hotel, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Lighting control is the last frontier in controlled environment agriculture. Well-designed horticultural lighting systems can reduce energy use and increase profits for greenhouses and indoor farms. GLASE is bringing together New York Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) growers with local utility companies, USDA officials and service providers to provide CEA growers with all the resources available for energy-efficient lighting and control systems technology adoption.
CEA growers attending the conference will have the opportunity to learn about all the opportunities available on the market to support new technology adoption:
• Financial opportunities
• State rebate programs
• Federal incentive programs
• Utility energy rebate programs
Speakers
• Gary Pereira – USDA Rural Development
• Dale Gates – USDA National Resources Conservation Service
• Robert Muller – National Grid
• Dustin Broderick – NYSEG
• Damon Bosetti – DesignLights Consortium
• Owen Raymond – Farm Credit East
• Neil Mattson – Cornell University
• Tessa Pocock – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• A.J. Both – Rutgers University
• Erico Mattos – GLASE consortium
For more information and to register: https://glase.org/conference/
'The Next Evolution Of Farming Has Already Begun'
By Austin Stankus - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
The world population continues to grow with ever-increasing urbanization predicted to reach 80 percent by 2050. The U.N. predicts that human population will reach nearly 10 billion by 2050. This increasing population is also growing richer — and hungrier.
To feed this population using traditional farming practices, much more land would need to be brought under cultivation. But, already much farmland around the world has been degraded from poor management practices, and lands remaining available for food production are decreasing from the effects of erosion, salt buildup and pollution.
As you read this today, tens of millions of children are going to bed hungry, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimating the number of hungry in 2018 at 812 million or approximately one out of 9 people.
Something needs to change. Food production needs to get more efficient, more equitable and more environmentally minded. Moreover, food production should follow the population to the cities, or as Dickson Despommier, a forerunner of this movement, simply states: “Put the food where the people live.”
Indoor farming through controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) will be an important component towards establishing local food systems that can address this pending crisis in global food insecurity. CEA, simply put, is using smart, sustainable farming practices inside of high-tech greenhouses. This is nothing new, and these modern greenhouses are an established technology and can be found around the world. In fact, much of the lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in the EU come from CEA in the Netherlands and Spain.
These greenhouses have incredible benefits compared to traditional farming: They use less water because they are protected from the sun and wind, they use fewer pesticides because insects and disease can be kept outside, and there is less waste because production can be matched exactly to consumer demands.
If hydroponics or other soil-less practices are used, the farmer does not need to use tractors for tilling, plowing and reaping, so the oil bills and energy consumption are lower. In addition, the fertilizer usage is reduced, and all the fertilizer the farmer uses is consumed by the plants, thereby reducing nutrient-rich runoff that can pollute watersheds. Known as eutrophication, this nutrient pollution is a huge problem for coastal communities in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico and has impacted fisheries, recreational activities and livelihoods around the world.
However, CEA greenhouses can occupy a lot of space. So, the next logical evolution is stacking these modern greenhouses, one atop the other.
Vertical farming, as greenhouses stacking is called, has additional benefits. Reducing the footprint means that more food can be grown in a smaller area and therefore can be brought closer to the people eating that food. As populations move toward the cities, it makes sense for the food to follow.
Part of the vision of vertical farms is the reconnection of the producer and the consumer plus the restructuring of food value chains to become more transparent and responsive to the needs and wants of the people.
An added benefit of farming inside of skyscrapers is the option of having mixed-use buildings. When combined with a wholesale market, the skyscraper can not only produce the food but get it to the consumer faster. Less time in storage, less transportation and less handling means fresher produce and reduced need for postharvest treatments like irradiation and chemical fumigation.
There are still some daunting challenges as well as some encouraging recent developments.
Unleashing the innovative power of American small businesses has jump-started the transition to modern farming, and the public desire for local, healthy food is an economic engine driving the industry toward change. In fact, there are currently so many vertical farm startups that a shortage of qualified workers is now the main hurdle to accelerating the establishment of new indoor farms. On one hand this is a challenge to the industry, but on the other it presents an enormous opportunity for job creation in urban areas if an inclusive, enabling environment is codeveloped with the vertical farms to provide vocational training and career advancement prospects.
On a technical level, there is a significant energy demand needed for pumping water, maintaining good environmental conditions like temperature and humidity, and powering the grow lights to keep producing year-round. However, with smart buildings wired on intelligent platforms, the energy consumption can be monitored and controlled to maximize efficiency — and by tying into other green enterprises like photovoltaic and biogas generation, this energy demand is decreasing day by day. In fact, with the new innovations in LED lighting technology, the power demand has been reduced tenfold in the last few years.
The next evolution of farming has already begun, and big players are already involved. In fact, the National Grange wrote a letter to Congress with their support to public-private funding mechanisms to accelerate the modernization of agriculture, specifically highlighting the potential of vertical farming. With this type of buy-in from large agribusinesses, national and international agricultural organizations, funded with innovative financial mechanisms, and driven by the innovative spirit and technological power only found in the U.S., vertical farming will feed tomorrow’s children with healthy, safe food; protect the environment while being resistant to environmental shocks; and spur economic growth in the process.
For a detailed look at one such startup, see the centerfold story on Skyscraper Farm • Austin Stankus, an integrated farming specialist, is chief science officer at Skyscraper Farm LLC
"The Emirates Are An Extremely Attractive Market"
First Harvest BayWa Greenhouse UAE:
Two months after planting the first 90,000 seedlings in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, BayWa AG, Munich, and Al Dahra Holding, LLC, Abu Dhabi, have begun harvesting the first 1.5 tonnes of snack tomatoes. Starting from October, consumers will be able to find this premium vegetable, going by the brand name Mahalli (mahalli.ae), on local food retail shelves.
The snack tomatoes have ripened over an area of five hectares in a state-of-the-art climate-controlled glasshouse that BayWa and Al Dahra Holding constructed within the scope of their joint venture Al Dahra BayWa Agriculture LLC. The entire production facility comprises two five-hectare climate-controlled glasshouses. As the harvest was getting underway, the second climate-controlled glasshouse was being put into operation and planted.
The goal of the joint project between BayWa and Al Dahra is to efficiently cultivate vegetables and market them locally while conserving resources. The environmental conditions for agriculture are very challenging in the Emirates. At the same time, there is high demand for regional and sustainably produced fruit and vegetables. Even before production began, the complete first harvest had been marketed.
A view of the total of ten hectares of production facilities: as the harvest is getting underway in the first climate-controlled greenhouse, the second climate-controlled greenhouse is being planted.
“I'm delighted that we have built a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled greenhouse in record time with the support of our local and international partners and that we're already harvesting the first tomatoes,” says Klaus Josef Lutz, Chief Executive Officer of BayWa AG. “The project is part of our Group specialities strategy, where we're concentrating on special products for lucrative markets and long-term sales opportunities.”
“The Emirates are an extremely attractive market,” says Christiane Bell, Head of the BayWa Global Produce business unit. The Emirates must import 80 percent of all their goods. “This is why there is strong desire for self-sufficiency, especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables. At the same time, people are highly aware of the value of high-quality foodstuffs.”
Two months after planting in the first climate-controlled greenhouse, the first snack tomatoes are now ripe for harvesting.
The modern climate-controlled greenhouse in Al Ain allows production to be carried out all year round, irrespective of the conditions outside. Using up to 70 percent fewer resources, ten times more produce can be harvested than in outdoor production. By the end of October, the volume being harvested each week in Al Ain will have risen to 15 tonnes, with production and harvesting taking place according to European standards.
The specially trained pickers separate the red fruit from the vine by hand, while unripe tomatoes stay hanging on the vine. The aim is to offer consumers only the best, tastiest snack tomatoes. The harvested vegetables are then fully automatically weighed and packed in trays of different sizes.
The packaging, which was developed while taking sustainability factors into account, was conceptualised for marketing in the Emirates and has a film that can be resealed up to 22 times. A total of roughly 100 people work in the climate-controlled glass house in different roles.
A Mount Rainier Maryland Native Is Building A Greenhouse On An Empty Lot To Start An Urban Farm
Meet Mount Rainier’s New Urban Farm
Posted on March 29, 2018
3D rendering courtesy of New Brooklyn Farms
In 2016, Doug Adams bought some land next to his childhood home in the heart of Mount Rainier and began growing food in container gardens. Now he’s ready to get a lot more ambitious for what he calls New Brooklyn Farms.
By this summer, he plans to build a 30-foot-by-48-foot high tunnel hoophouse from scratch on the site in order to grow a select variety of rare and specialty herbs, peppers, greens, and flowers.
That’s in addition to what he’s already growing: lemon thyme, microgreens and a rare Trinidadian pimento pepper.
Adams, who works for a New York City-based ad agency and previously ran a juice and smoothie business, said his goal is to be a source for small businesses along the Route 1 corridor, while using the front portion of the farm as a public green space and renting it out for private events.
“I built upon my existing passion for fresh, local food and strategized a vision to repurpose the space as the area’s first urban farm, community green space and sustainable agriculture/green infrastructure education and experience platform,” he told the Hyattsville Wire.
If you want to follow his progress, you can check out his active Instagram page.
‘AI Must Outperform Growers’ Green Fingers’
5 October 2018
Top executive David Wallerstein from the Chinese technology company, Tencent, has recently discovered horticulture. He believes combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and food production will make it possible to unlock enormous potential.
The CEO of Tencent is Ma Huateng, better known as Pony Ma. But David Wallerstein, an American, is also a kind of CEO at the tech giant – Chief Exploration Officer. Officially, he is Senior Executive Vice President of the Chinese company.
With a stock exchange value of $ 523 billion (€ 429 billion), Tencent became one of the top 5 largest tech companies in the world in autumn last year, behind Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, but just ahead of Facebook. Recently, Mr Wallerstein’s thirst for exploration has lighted upon agriculture and horticulture and in particular on the Autonomous Greenhouse.
Using AI to run a greenhouse autonomously
Mr Wallerstein believes that combining AI with a food production system that is as efficient as possible is “a moral imperative and simply good business”. “What we want for humanity is as many solutions as possible for the issue of food security. Our only option is to commit our brightest talents to creating a food production system that requires decreasing levels of input to achieve an ever-increasing output.”
Will Dutch growers become redundant if the Autonomous Greenhouse challenge is a success?
“Absolutely not. This competition to find the best autonomous cultivation system is intended as a learning opportunity for everyone who participates. Learning how the latest computer technology and AI technology can benefit horticulture and — in practical terms — the entire world population. Complementing the cultivation techniques that we already have. The only people who need to worry are the ones who want to keep using a particular method simply because they have always done it that way.”
‘The complexity of decision making in modern horticulture is growing with the amount of data that is becoming available to growers’
At what stage will this project be deemed a success?
“The winning team will have to overcome two hurdles: it must outperform the other teams with a higher production when compared to the input, and – ideally – it must also defeat traditional cultivation methods. Only then will this definitely be the most convincing business model. And why not?”
“The complexity of decision making in modern horticulture is growing with the amount of data that is becoming available to growers. What I’m hoping the outcome of this project will be is that the competing teams will find new types of patterns and ways of introducing variables to each other.”
Hacking the environment around the plant
According to Mr Wallerstein, what the teams who are looking for a self-governing and self-learning cultivation system are actually going to be doing is “hacking the environment around the plant.” Well-programmed computers may well be able to analyse and control the bigger picture of which raw materials and resources are required, and what conditions have to be influenced and how, to achieve the best possible cultivation results in a different and more effective way than growers are able to do using their green fingers and intuition.
David Wallerstein, American, is a kind of CEO – Chief Exploration Officer – at Tencent, a Chinese tech giant. Officially, he is Senior Executive Vice President. Recently, Wallerstein’s thirst for exploration has lighted upon agriculture and horticulture and in particular on the Autonomous Greenhouse. - Photo: Koen Verheijden
Droughts and soil erosion
“I foresee a big future for distributed agriculture; in other words, no more increasingly large companies that use a few central locations to produce the food for an entire country or continent. That is still how they do things in the US. Three-quarters or more of the fruit and vegetables eaten by Americans are grown in the Central Valley in California. But growers there are facing worsening droughts and soil erosion, and extreme weather caused by climate change is making this kind of cultivation more and more risky.”
So, each town would have its own autonomous greenhouse?
“Exactly. Food produced closer to consumers. Maybe even an autonomous greenhouse for each household. Just like the decentralised generation of energy from the sun with solar panels on residents’ roofs.”
‘Plenty of companies in Silicon Valley are involved in applying AI to marketing and advertising, but I couldn’t find any looking at AI in food production’
What role can Tencent play in developing this kind of new approach to cultivating vegetables?
“We aren’t planning to move everything to China. We are new in Europe, but we really want to come and do business here. So that even more companies want to work in our cloud and use our payment systems. We are looking forward to partnering in projects that help the world to move forwards, such as discovering more effective pharmaceutical products or better materials, or ways in which the cloud and AI can have a positive impact on the everyday lives of all the billions of people on our planet. Plenty of companies in Silicon Valley are involved in applying AI to marketing and advertising, but I couldn’t find any looking at AI in food production. So, I kept searching and found the Autonomous Greenhouse challenge at Wageningen.”
‘I also believe in applying the hacker mentality. Let’s get our hands dirty’
Why Wageningen? After all, there are so many Chinese and American universities to choose from.
“Wageningen is number one in the world. And the Netherlands already has plenty of companies working in horticulture around the world. I‘ve also visited greenhouses in Iceland, all of them using Dutch technology, I’m told. So, if there is anywhere that is a breeding ground for the idea of developing and designing a greenhouse that is largely self-governing, and is capable of utilising this reduced input to increase production, then that place is here.”
And that is something that companies have been working on for years already. Can this competition suddenly accelerate that process?
“It’s down to us at Tencent and at Wageningen University & Research to make the world aware that we are looking for an autonomous greenhouse. I have the utmost confidence in what talent can achieve. If we can find the best talents and teams in the world, and if they can perfect their algorithms, then we can learn a huge amount from this process. Of course, it makes good business sense to want to develop new technology in-house, and to bring this to the market ourselves, but I also believe in applying the hacker mentality. Let’s get our hands dirty.”
Ton van der Scheer
Read more about:
Pure Flavor® Aims To Create Conversation At PMA Fresh Summit With 7 New Products
Leamington, ON (October 11th, 2018) – With the produce industry preparing to head to Orlando for PMA Fresh Summit, greenhouse vegetable grower Pure Flavor® is prepping for one of the biggest trade shows ever. In addition to creating conversation about the company’s recent expansion to Georgia, Pure Flavor® will be launching 7 new items at the trade show.
JAMIE MORACCI
CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT
“We are bringing new products to market that will help our retail & foodservice customers grow their business. New items not only create impact in the produce aisle but are also a vehicle to help increase fresh produce consumption”, commented Jamie Moracci, President. In addition to the new items being launched at PMA Fresh Summit, Pure Flavor®’s new greenhouse facility in Georgia will soon be growing tomatoes & cucumbers year-round under the Georgia Grown brand.
Pure Flavor®’s family of growers are producing more than ever before fueling the company’s positive momentum in the marketplace. This in turn is setting up opportunities to connect with retail & foodservice partners at the PMA Fresh Summit Trade Show in Orlando, FL October 19-20.
Pure Flavor® will be unveiling a host of new items at PMA Fresh Summit that include:
REDZILLA™ Monster Sized Sweet Red Peppers; The King of Peppers has arrived! Rich, sweet, stuffed or sliced. This larger than life pepper is versatile and ready to be your meal time hero.
Stingrays Hot Peppers; Spicy and ready to sting! Spicy and ready to sting, these multi-colored hot peppers are the secret ingredient to give a little heat to your next authentic creation.
Mini Munchies 4x4 Tomato Snack Packs; Our Mini Munchies Snack Sized Veggies aim to promote a healthy, active lifestyle to both children and their parents alike. The perfect healthy snack combination makes it easy for a grab and go snack! Exclusively on display at Booth 707 at PMA Fresh Summit, be on the lookout for the new 4x4 Tomato Snack Packs, a burst of sweet flavor in every bite!
SNACKERZ One Bite Nano Cucumbers; “Uh Oh, we shrunk the cukes!” We tried smaller but the technology would not allow it! Snackerz are here! Hydrate by the handful with the snack that will change recess & break time forever! Fresh, crunchy and full of healthy goodness!
SNACKERZ One Bite Nano Tomatoes; “Uh Oh, we shrunk the tomatoes!” We tried smaller but the technology would not allow it! Snackerz are here! Sweet treats by the handful with the snack that will change recess & break time forever! Nano sized, fresh, and full of healthy goodness!
Juno On The Vine; Vine Fresh Sweetness in Every Bite!” Nurtured on the vine and hand-picked at peak flavor, the new Juno on the Vine Sweet Red Grape Tomatoes are the perfect selection for a tomato connoisseur.
Azuca On The Vine; “Sweet Red Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine”. A premium tomato for the discerning tomato aficionado.
“By having a variety of fresh vegetable options from our family of growers, we remove the seasonality and provide a consistent, flavorful product 12 months a year. With new options and our Georgia facility getting ready for its first crop, we have a very exciting year ahead of us”, said Moracci.
“Our brand strategy is to always go beyond the package; when it comes to bringing new products to market, we want to ensure that our customers have all the information they need to make the right purchasing decision”, said Chris Veillon, Chief Marketing Officer. Pure Flavor® develops in-depth product descriptions, multi-product recipes, performs nutritional testing, and develops an extensive variety of promotional content to support all of its products. With a new website (pure-flavor.com) that was launched in July, Pure Flavor® employs a variety of digital strategies to connect with consumer in geo-specific regions throughout North America.
To learn more about Pure Flavor®, visit Booth 707 at PMA Fresh Summit in Orlando, FL October 19-20 or visit Pure-Flavor.com/PMA2018.
-30-
About Pure Flavor® -
Pure Flavor® is a family of greenhouse vegetable growers who share a commitment to bringing A Life of Pure Flavor™ to communities everywhere. Our passion for sustainable greenhouse growing, strong support for our retail & foodservice customers, and focus on engaging consumers is built on a foundation drawn from generations of growing expertise
The Future of Farming is Moving Indoors – The Opportunity For Geothermal?
Technological advances have allowed farming to be more precise, with large amounts of fresh produce being now produced in urban environments with minimal space and smaller amounts of water than on a traditional farm
Alexander Richter 22 September 2018
With technological advances, farming is changing and more and more moving indoors. With either small-scale urban greenhouse operations or larger-scale greenhouses, their operation is rather energy intensive, both for electricity and light, but also for heating - a big opportunity for geothermal energy.
With an increase in population and demand for localised food production, a recent article published by the World Economic Forum describes “indoor farming as the next big thing”.
Technological advances have allowed farming to be more precise, with large amounts of fresh produce being now produced in urban environments with minimal space and smaller amounts of water than on a traditional farm. But these indoor “farms”, be it on smaller or larger scale need both light and heating to be productive.
With the energy intensiveness of indoor farming in greenhouses, it is not surprising that operators are actually looking at different, clean and cost effective sources of energy – both for light and heating. And there are plenty examples on how geothermal energy is increasingly receiving attention or is already used.
In Kenya, one of the largest flower producers Oserien is utilising geothermal energy both for heating, but also producing power with small-scale geothermal power generation. In the Netherlands, due to the increasing cost for energy, greenhouse operators are teaming up on drilling geothermal wells to tap that resource for heating. Iceland utilises geothermally heated greenhouses to produce vegetables year round.
In Germany, in conjunction with geothermal power projects, greenhouse operators are looking into the use of the resource for heating.
An article by BBC (linked below) describes efforts made in Colorado in the United States. At Pagoda Springs, geothermal energy is used not only to produce vegetables but also use the resource for wider economic development.
How far geothermal energy will be a common form of energy used in greenhouse operations will have to be seen. In what form geothermal energy can be utilised or compete with other sources depends on the location and on where resources can be found. But the examples mentioned above show that there are opportunities being seized and actually could expand beyond the countries/ regions mentioned.
Source: World Economic Forum, BBC
British Startup Wins 100,000 Euros For Indoor Agriculture Method
The startup LettUs Grow from Bristol (UK) beat 844 other startups to win €100,000 in the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, hosted in Amsterdam. During the final, Co-founder and Managing Director Charlie Guy convinced the international jury that their indoor agriculture method, in which the roots of the crops are suspended in a dense nutritious mist, was a winner.
LettUs Grow’s technology can be utilised by greenhouses and vertical farms. Contrary to methods where crops are grown in soil or water containers, LettUs Grow lets the roots hang in a dense, nutritious mist. This results in a better harvest, and significantly less water and energy consumption. Also, by growing the crops closer to the consumer, the carbon emissions caused by transport decrease as well.
The Managing Director of LettUs Grow, Charlie Guy, said: “The recognition of the Green Challenge shows that we are developing a viable solution to the many problems that our global agricultural systems will face in the future, from water shortages to the effects of extreme weather. We allow farmers to protect their crops, diversify what they are growing and massively reduce their ecological footprint.”
With this sum of money, LettUs Grow can further develop their business. Ben Crowther, CTO of LettUs Grow, had this to say about the awards: “The support we've had from Green Challenge will allow us to accelerate the development of our technology, bring about a real step change in agricultural productivity and reduce the resource cost of fresh produce for farmers all over the world.”
In addition to LettUs Grow, the Dutch startup AquaBattery and American startup AlgiKnit will take the same amount home. The first prize of half a million euros goes to the air bubble curtain that combats plastic pollution in our seas by startup The Great Bubble Barrier from The Netherlands. The runner-up prize of EUR 200,000 is for the textile recycling marketplace by startup Reverse Resources from Estonia. This brings the total prize pool of one of the biggest sustainability competitions in the world to EUR 1 million. In addition to the prize money, all five finalists will receive six months of expert coaching to improve the likelihood of their businesses succeeding.
Charlie had this to say about the awards: “It was a brilliant experience to stand up on stage in front of so many people who share the same passion for sustainable enterprises.
“Although the stakes were high, there was a fantastic atmosphere because everybody taking part was already a winner, and anything else we could of won would have just been a huge bonus.”
This year, a record number of 845 entrepreneurs from 100 countries submitted their sustainable business plans aimed at combating climate change. Last year, the Rwandan startup EarthEnable won the EUR 500,000 first prize with their sustainable alternative to cement.
For more information:
LettUs Grow
lettusgrow.com
Publication date : 9/24/2018
Agbotic Expands With Five New Robotic Greenhouses
SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
SYDNEY SCHAEFER / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES
Construction is underway on Thursday on a major expansion to the robotic produce grower Agbotic in Sackets Harbor.
SACKETS HARBOR, NEW YORK — John P. Gaus plans to grow his automation-driven farm Agbotic Inc. fivefold with larger, more advanced greenhouses all in operation by early 2019.
Workers began building Mr. Gaus’s five new 18,000-square-foot greenhouses in July and have already constructed three of them at its County Route 75 farm where the company grows organic root vegetables and hemp. The foundation has also been laid for the other two, he said.
“Actually, the project is going very well. We’re on schedule,” said Mark W. Manns, president and COO of Agbotic.
The greenhouses will include the company’s signature robotic gantries, or self-navigating tilling, watering and harvesting machines, but will also feature more advanced automated technology to help gather and use more data, Mr. Gaus said.
Mr. Manns said acquiring more data with the upgraded technology will allow Agbotic to implement more optimal climate settings for produce growth, which the team can control in the greenhouses.
The expansion also includes a food washing and packing building, a cogeneration facility to power the greenhouses and plans to retrofit the first greenhouse with new technology.
“To the extent you think about an automated greenhouse as a machine, we’ll be driving that machine to machine learning and artificial intelligence,” Mr. Gaus said.
Mr. Gaus launched Agbotic in 2014 with his first 15,000-square-foot robotic greenhouse equipped with the gantry, climate controls and organic soil.
The prototype greenhouse has produced 40,000 to 60,000 pounds of food annually, but adding five larger facilities could increase the company’s annual yield to 240,000 or 320,000 pounds of food, if not more. Mr. Manns said the company could ship more product to its existing service markets in New York City, Watertown, Alexandria Bay, Syracuse, Utica, Rochester and Buffalo.
“The current greenhouse has the capability of growing year round. However, the new greenhouses will be more capable of doing it through better control measures,” Mr. Manns said.
The growth at Agbotic also comes with a growth in staff, with Mr. Gaus saying he wants to hire 10 or 11 more full-time workers.
“We’re particularly focusing on veterans leaving the military,” he said about hiring.
Despite multiplying the footprint of his operation, Mr. Gaus considers the advancement only the beginning of what he aims to accomplish with Agbotic.
The engineer and entrepreneur said he wants to replicate the success experienced by producers in the Netherlands, who also use controlled environmental agriculture. The European country generates $15 billion from agricultural product sales, Mr. Gaus said, while New York, which is about three times larger, brings in $5 billion from agriculture.
“The first greenhouse was very much a prototype to prove out the concept, and the next six greenhouses are just a small step in where we want to be,” Mr. Gaus said. “New York State is our initial focus area, but our investors are very interested in building a very big company with clusters (of greenhouses) throughout the United States.”
Agbotic also recently bolstered its operation by adding hemp to its product line. The state welcomed the company into the Industrial Hemp Agricultural Research Pilot Program, which permits farmers, businesses and institutions to research large-scale hemp production, in November. After initial testing, the firm dedicated an entire 300-foot soil bed in its greenhouse to growing hemp.
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
Antarctica Greenhouse Produces Cucumbers, Tomatoes And More in Mars-Like Test
By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor | September 24, 2018
DLR researcher Paul Zabel poses with kohlrabi harvested from the EDEN ISS Antarctic greenhouse. Credit: DLR
Fresh vegetables on Mars, anyone?
An Antarctic greenhouse known as EDEN ISS not only survived the polar night but emerged from it with a harvest for local researchers, thus providing hope that future Mars colonists could also enjoy fresh food during their time on the Red Planet, German Aerospace Center (DLR) officials said in a statement.
Regularly withstanding temperatures below minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius), the greenhouse provided herbs, lettuce and other vegetables to 10 people who were riding out the winter in the remote station, called the Alfred Wegener Institute's Neumayer Station III. It's the first time the greenhouse operated through the winter. [How Living on Mars Could Challenge Colonists (Infographic)]
"After more than half a year of operation in Antarctica, the self-sufficient greenhouse concept appears to be effective for climatically demanding regions on Earth, as well as for future manned missions to the moon and Mars," DLR officials said in the statement.
"The harvests are now so plentiful that some of it does not always make it straight to the table, and we now have the luxury of spreading out our consumption of some refrigerated lettuce and herbs over several days," Paul Zabel, a DLR researcher who works with EDEN ISS, said in the statement. "The overwintering team members are always looking forward to their next fresh meal."
A thermotransport box sits in front of the Antarctic greenhouse EDEN ISS, which tests the ability to grow food in Mars-like conditions. Credit: DLR
The haul included 170 lbs. (77 kilograms) of lettuce, 112 lbs. (51 kg) of cucumbers, 64 lbs. (29 kg) of tomatoes, 26 lbs. (12 kg) of kohlrabi, 20 lbs. (9 kg) of herbs and 11 lbs. (5 kg) of radishes.
All of the crops were produced in a cultivated area measuring just 140 square feet (13 square meters). However, the peppers and strawberries failed to produce a harvest, likely due to pollination issues, according to the statement.
While Zabel tended to the planets when possible, stormy conditions in Antarctica often prevented him from walking the quarter mile or so (about 400 m) outdoors to the greenhouse. In those cases, a control center in Bremen, Germany, took over for as long as three consecutive days.
When conditions allowed, Zabel could perform urgent repairs, such as fixing a screw that came loose in the thermal system.
The path to EDEN ISS in the Antarctic. Credit: DLR
Other tasks for Zabel included looking at the quality of the harvest, picking up microbiological samples and checking on the systems (light, temperature regulation, and air supply enriched by nutrients and carbon dioxide). His responsibilities even included reporting on how the fresh food improved the health of his team members.
"We greatly value and enjoy the fact that regularly fresh salad, herbs and vegetables from the greenhouse enrich our diet. The positive effect is noticeable," Bernhard Gropp, Neumayer Station III manager, said in the same statement. Without the fresh produce, the crew would have to live on freeze-dried supplies until the next flight to Antarctica in October, DLR officials noted.
The EDEN ISS project website also provides regular updates to the public, including photos of the individual boxes that are taken every day. You can follow the project at DLR.de/EDEN-ISS or by using the hashtag #MadeInAntarctica on Twitter.
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Iowa Family-Owned Restaurant Embraces Hydroponics
When you think of a family-oriented eatery with a focus on home cooking, you probably don’t imagine a menu that includes hydroponically-grown lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Junction 21 restaurant in Centralia, Iowa, however, provides the kind of farm-to-table experience that few people would expect in a place that serves up pizza, burgers and fries.
When co-owner Tim McAndrew’s son became vegan, he realized their eating options were limited. There weren’t many restaurants around them that offered plant-based foods and this realization helped spur the inspiration to create Junction 21. McAndrew and staff began growing their produce at GrowSpan’s Iowa campus using HydroCycle NFT channels. Having year-round access to fresh produce that can be grown without additives or chemicals was a big selling point for the owners.
McAndrew said the farm-to-table aspect of dining meant a lot to him, but it was also important to have a fun, casual atmosphere. Junction 21 attracts a wide variety of patrons, from farmers who have just finished working the field, to professionals holding business meetings. Along with traditional American fare, Junction 21 offers salads containing seven different kinds of hydroponic lettuce, which are mixed together and served in the salad bar daily. They also use whole tomatoes on sandwiches and pizzas and incorporate fresh basil into McAndrew’s homemade spaghetti sauce.
The HydroCycle Growing Systems featured in the video have served a wide array of customers, from large-scale growers like Junction 21, to hobbyists that just want to learn the basics of hydroponics from the comfort of their home. GrowSpan offers a variety of hydroponic equipment, including but not limited to Dutch buckets, NFT channels and ebb and flow systems.
For more information:
GrowSpan Greenhouse Structures
1395 John Fitch Blvd
South Windsor, Connecticut 06074
Toll-free USA: (800) 476 9715
International: +1 860 528 9550
info@growspan.com
www.growspan.com
Publication date : 9/28/2018
Lef Farms Introduces Fusion, A Fresh New Take On Standard Spring Mixes
(LOUDON, NH) – How do you satisfy those who love baby greens but possess an unpretentious yet discriminating palette? Those who have been searching for a straightforward mix with a bit more punch than a…excuse us as we yawn…Spring Mix? Well, those are exactly the lettuce lovers lef Farms (pronounced “leaf”) is looking to attract with its newest blend of baby red and green leaf lettuce called Fusion.
“Our goal was to introduce a new mix that captures the hearts and taste buds of those looking for something simple but something that still carries a unique flavor and texture profile they can’t find in an everyday mix”, affirms lef’s President and CEO, Henry Huntington.
Similar to the approach lef took in the creation of its flagship Smooth and Spice mixes, lef performed an extensive analysis of the lettuce market. And what it uncovered was a sizable base that’s looking for a more straightforward lettuce option. But, true to form, lef added its own flair by melding soft, red buttery Bibb lettuce with a crisper and more substantial Romaine variety, resulting in the distinctive combination found in lef’s new Fusion.
“Each bite gives our customers a wonderfully tasty and crunchy experience,” smiles lef’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Donald Grandmaison. “Whether they’re enjoying a Fusion salad or topping off their favorite sandwich with some fresh Fusion greens, our new blend is as versatile as you can get.”
With Fusion the possibilities are endless, which isn’t too dissimilar to its shelf life. Like all of its baby blends, lef's Fusion is harvested in a cooler at 35°F. This quickly removes heat created during the growing process in order to lock in fresh taste, increase post-harvest performance, and extend shelf life. And, like its other blends, Fusion greens are delivered to shelves and kitchens across the Northeast within just 24 hours of harvest. So, they arrive to you just as crisp and fresh as when they left lef’s greenhouse.
Available in 4 oz. fuchsia-labeled clamshells, Fusion can be found, along with lef’s Smooth and Spice blends, at grocers all across the Northeast. For retailers, Fusion comes in an 8-pack case containing 32 oz. of lef-y goodness. And for food service, our 2 x 1.5 lb.-pack case amasses 3 lbs. of fresh Fusion in clear bags.
lef Farms is a 75,000-sq. ft. greenhouse growing facility, expected to produce nearly 1.5 million pounds annually of the freshest and healthiest baby greens for New England. www.lef-farms.com
Wellspring Harvest Greenhouse Co-op In Springfield Brings Hydroponic Lettuce To Market
By Jim Kinney | jkinney@repub.com | August 1, 2018
Wellspring Harvest lettuce on sale at the Cooley Street Big Y. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican)
SPRINGFIELD -- It's not unusual to see fresh and locally grown produce arrive at Big Y in July just hours after it was harvested.
But it will be quite a treat when fresh, locally grown lettuce arrives at Big Y just hours after it was harvested -- in January.
The Wellspring Harvest Greenhouse Cooperative delivered its first lettuce Tuesday to four Big Y locations: Cooley Street, Ludlow, Wilbraham and Fresh Acres on Wilbraham Road.
The delivery -- 200 heads in total -- represents the culmination of more than two years of work by Wellspring that included building a $1.5 million four-season hydroponic greenhouse at on Pinevale Street on part of the formerly contaminated Chapman Valve site in Indian Orchard.
"We are creating a whole new food system for the city of Springfield," said Marcello Rossi, who handles sales and deliveries for Wellspring Harvest Greenhouse Cooperative. "We are going to grow food where we need it. Where we need it is in the heart of the city."
The greenhouse is Wellspring's third worker-owned enterprise, said Fred Rose, Wellspring Cooperative Corp. co-director. The quarter-acre greenhouse follows the Wellspring Upholstery Cooperative and the Old Window Workshop.
![049_whgreenhouse002[1].jpeg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1536808399971-YRSNBFRF2IC7LL726C7H/049_whgreenhouse002%5B1%5D.jpeg)
The Greenhouse has seven employees who have an opportunity to work toward being worker-owners in the business.
"Our mission is to create sustainable jobs, good local jobs and job training," Rose said. "Some of our workers have farm experience. Some do not. We are working with one man who was homeless."
Wellspring isn't like other farms. For one thing, it's all hydronic, with produce grown in a water solution. Wellspring is certified through the state's Commonwealth Quality Program assuring that the produce is grown, harvested and processed right here in Massachusetts using practices that are safe, sustainable and don't harm the environment.
"It's a very rigorous process," Rose said. "They look at everything."
![573_img0760[1].jpeg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1536808683611-6O4WBBVIEJWVV9GN04TW/573_img0760%5B1%5D.jpeg)
Rossi said Wellspring grows its vegetables in a controlled environment taking precautions to avoid infestation by insects or contamination by disease. That's an area of concern for consumers given the recent recalls of salad greens from the marketplace.
The new greenhouse can produce 17,000 heads of lettuce a month with 10,000 a month being the breakeven point to profitability, Rose said.
"It sounds like a lot now, but we expect our product to sell more as the other local produce fades from the shelves," he said.
Wellspring will branch out, he said, adding herbs, tomatoes, cilantro and cucumbers as winter grips the region. Wellspring will also grow callaloo, a leaf vegetable popular in the Caribbean.
"In the middle of winter, you can have cucumbers," Rossi said. "You can have fresh tomatoes and they are not ripened artificially. They are not coming from the other side of the world."
Wellspring will expand its customers as well to include the Springfield city schools, Mercy Medical Center and the eventually the River Valley Co-Op in Northampton and the Franklin Community Co-Op markets in Greenfield and Shelburne Falls.
![cda_lettuce[1].jpeg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1536808782420-LLQO3PQFUFHQXSWQVDPY/cda_lettuce%5B1%5D.jpeg)
The four varieties of lettuce on sale at the Big Y markets -- red sweet crisp, romaine manoa, green sweet crisp and green butter -- come as a 5-ounce plant with a root in a plastic clamshell. Each package sells for $3.49 in keeping with the prices Big Y charges for its organic and specialty lettuce.
The lettuce will last as long as 10 days, Rossi said, and you can even plant the root and harvest a leaf at a time for months.
![47d_greenhouse4[1].jpeg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57c8695d5016e11e71be1d83/1536808816321-2MEUTEV5FNQQ84VCIWU1/47d_greenhouse4%5B1%5D.jpeg)
The $1.5 million greenhouse cost included buying the parcel from the Springfield Redevelopment Authority for $70,000.
Wellspring Harvest financed the greenhouse project by raising more than $500,000 from local investors, Rose said. The rest came in loans from Farm Credit East, of Enfield, Connecticut, and Coastal Enterprises Inc., of Brunswick, Maine.
Myra S. Marcellin, vice president and senior loan officer for Farm Credit East, said she was attracted to Wellspring because of its business plan and mission of bringing sustainable agriculture to an urban setting.
"It fits with our mission," she said.
Myra S. Marcellin, vice president and senior loan officer for Farm Credit East in Enfield, poses with Wellspring Harvest lettuce Tuesday in Springfield. Farm Credit East helped finance Wellspring Harvest and its greenhouse in Indian Orchard. (Jim Kinney / The Republican)
Second Greenhouse Heated By Cryptocurrency Mining
Miami-based United American Corp announces the completion of its second BlockchainDome and the full commissioning of 1,500 additional miners for a total of 2,500 miners (3.8 megawatts) now in service in two BlockchainDomes. Pre-installation of 1.5 megawatts of electrical service for adjacent greenhouses heated by the BlockchainDomes is now also complete.
The latest BlockchainDome incorporates a number of improvements in construction and deployment from the first dome which includes mass pre-fabrication of a number of dome components and in-house CNC manufacturing of the mining rig docking stations. Construction logistics have also been refined to include pre-installation of foundations and utilities for future domes resulting in overall lower construction costs and shorter construction timelines.
"We have taken everything we have learned from the construction of the first BlockchainDome and used this knowledge to make the implementation of this subsequent BlockchainDomes faster, cheaper and of better quality," stated UnitedCorp CEO Benoit Laliberte. "Along with the generation of heat from the BlockchainDomes for agricultural purposes, our goal remains to be the low cost and environmentally sustainable standard for the industry."
UnitedCorp's technology uses the heat from cryptocurrency mining to support greenhouse agricultural operations through the BlockchainDome Heat Station system which keeps greenhouses at 20oC year-round. This represents a simple design solution compared to various alternatives whereby the cost of generating this heat from a single source is shared between multiple use cases.
Commercial greenhouses in cooler climates like in the Province of Quebec typically require a significant amount of thermal energy to supplement daytime solar energy, particularly during the period of September to May, and many older greenhouses utilize inefficient heating systems for this purpose. The dry heat produced by the BlockchainDome Heat Station is also used in the summer to reduce greenhouse mold and fungus caused by condensation thereby reducing or eliminating the need for chemicals to treat this problem and creating a more organic growth environment.
UnitedCorp believes this "Heat Campus" approach for heat generation and utilization is the future for agriculture and any other industry that can make use of low-cost heat with the ultimate goal being to get as close zero waste as possible. This is not only good economically but allows businesses to "green" their operations by significantly reducing the amount of electricity the combined operations require from the grid.
For more information:
UnitedCorp
5201 Blue Lagoon Drive, 8th floor,
Miami FL 33126
www.unitedcorp.com
Publication date : 9/25/2018
RUFEPA + Green Sense Farms, Join Forces to Build Next Generation Indoor Farms
September 28, 2018
RUFEPA + Green Sense Farms, Join Forces to Build Next Generation Indoor Farms
Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc., today announced the formation of a joint venture with RUFEPA a Spanish greenhouse builder with over 25 years of turnkey project experience.
The joint venture will focus on building combined indoor vertical farm and greenhouse projects for third parties to sustainably grow a wide range of vegetables using less land, water and energy- to feed a growing global population. This is the first of its kind.
RUFEPA Designed Green House Interior | Credit: RUFEPA
RUFEPA Designed Green House Exterior | Credit: RUFEPA
Green Sense Farms Grow Room with vertical towers, growing herbs and lettuces Credit: Green Sense Farms
“Using indoor vertical farms to grow leafy greens and healthy, disease free seedlings that can be directly transplanted into a greenhouse to grow to maturity is a cost-effective use of both indoor growing technologies.” Robert Colangelo, President, Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc.,
“Combining the two technologies will increase the global production of vegetables by taking weather out of the equation which is ideal for growers in Middle East, APAC and Scandinavian countries.” José Antonio Morales Pérez, Director General, RUFEPA
ABOUT
Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc., based in Portage, IN is a pioneer in indoor vertical farming. The company is building a network of indoor vertical farms in the US they own and operate at their customers location. They also design, build, and license their technology to operating partners abroad. Recently they added capacity to conduct R&D on new cultivars and indoor growing equipment on a contract basis for third parties at their commercial scale production facility.
To schedule an interview with Robert Colangelo or obtain additional photos please contact Angela Meadows by email at Angela@greensensefarms.com
RUFEPA based in the Spanish southern region of Murcia, Spain, designs, manufacturers and provides all the technical growing equipment necessary for the construction and operation of a greenhouse. They are a global provider of services and have built projects in every continent.
Urban Farming Flourishes In Paris
Sidney Delourme and Sarah Msika, winners of a public call for urban-farming projects in Paris, on the future site of one of the biggest urban farms in France. (Cultivate)
City of Lights is one of the least green among major cities; some Parisians want to change that
September 18, 2018
PARIS—Sidney Delourme gets really passionate when showing pictures of his ambitious project. For now, it is just a huge rooftop in Paris overlooking rails and old towers with the Montmartre hill in the background, but his drawings show plans for green and wooden spaces.
The 31-year-old is developing a huge urban farm in the heart of Paris, which is often cited for its lack of green space compared to its large population size. A study by MIT’s Sensible City Lab published in January found that Paris is the least green city among 10 major cities studied.
An employee of urban farming start-up Aeromate checks on vegetables and aromatic herbs growing on the rooftop of a building owned by French public transport group RATP, as part of a rooftop farming project in Paris on Aug. 24, 2017. (Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images)
People like Delourme want to change that. With his working-partner and co-founder Sarah Msika, they are in the process of securing further funding to turn the rooftop of a former railway site into an innovative urban farmcovering 7,000 square meters (1.7 acres).
The duo intend to plant purple basil, chocolate mint, ancient lettuce, and edible flowers in the farm. The facility will have many innovative features, including a greenhouse that gets its heat from a data center located below, hydroponics cultures—a method of growing plants in water rather than in soil—and space for permaculture. Plans are also in place to include a store to sell some of the produce, as well as areas for educational activities.
Samples of Oyster mushroom grown by urban farming company La boîte à Champignon in the basement of a supermarket in Paris. (La boîte à Champignon)
“It will be the biggest urban farm in France and Europe when it opens, hopefully in the third quarter of 2019,” Delourme said.
It will be one of the biggest, at least. There are other similar projects under development in France, among them a project to develop a 10,000-square-meter (2.5 acres) urban farm on the rooftop of a large logistic platform in Ivry-sur-Seine in the south of Paris.
A Boom
There has been a dramatic increase in urban farming in France over the past few years.
“I remember that two years ago, when we started to get organized and worked with Agroparitech—a prestigious French school and research center in life science and agronomy—we were only seven project developers,” said Grégoire Bleu, co-founder and president of the French Association of Urban Farming (AFAUP).
Grégoire Bleu (L), CEO of La Boîte à Champignons and president of the French Association of Professional Urban Farming, talks with fellow company co-founder Arnaud Ulrich in their office at Les Grands Voisins in Paris. (Alexia Luquet/Special to The Epoch Times)
“Today, we can estimate that there are anywhere between 200 to 300 projects under development,” he added.
Bleu said the figures only account for professional projects, meaning those that have at least one full-time employee. To get closer to the real number of sizeable urban farming projects, he said the figure has to be doubled to account for those that may not have full-time employees. That doesn’t even include the not-for-profit and smaller-scale initiatives such as community gardens, which are much larger in number.
Paris Leading the Trend
Bleu himself is co-founder and CEO of an urban-farming company, La Boîte à Champignons, with multiple operations between Paris and Rennes in the region of Brittany.
“The trend is everywhere in France. From what I know, 45 percent of the projects are based in Paris and 55 percent outside. Cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Rennes, Lille, Strasbourg are very dynamic, but I must admit the phenomenon, at least regarding its news coverage, started in Paris,” Bleu explained.
Inside one a “cooltainer” close to Bercy in Paris, where the start-up Agricool grows strawberries (Alexia Luquet/Special to The Epoch Times)
Delourme concurs: “Paris has been the driver of the movement.” Their rooftop project won a major urban-farming competition in February, one of several introduced by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo under an initiative called Parisculteurs.
“Paris has a very structured approach: They started with auditing all underexploited or empty public buildings, and within three years, they had prepared a hundred sites so that they could accommodate urban farms,” said Delourme.
The Parisculteurs jury panel that chooses the award-winners boasts many experts, including the internationally-renowned Italian architect and urban planner Stefano Boeri, who designed the famous Bosco Verticale, or vertical forest, in Milan.
A conceptual image of the iconic Tour Montparnasse in Paris after renovations with a greenhouse at the top. (Nouvelle AOM)
There are more initiatives to encourage urban farming in Paris as well, including incentives for construction projects.
“Since 2016 in Paris, city planning rules have been allowing us to construct beyond the maximum height limitations only if we build an agricultural greenhouse,” said Frédéric Chartier, who co-founded the architecture studio Chartier Dalix along with his wife Pascale.
Their firm is part of the Nouvelle AOM consortium, which won the bid to oversee a 300-million-euro ($350 million) project to renovate the iconic Tour Montparnasse skyscraper ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Part of their design is a 59-foot-high biosphere greenhouse on top of the skyscraper to grow vegetables, which will partly be consumed by occupants of the building.
Once done, Tour Montparnasse would become the highest urban farm in Paris, visible from different locations in the city. “A strong symbol,” Dalix said.
Frédéric Chartier, co-founder of Chartier Dalix Studio, in his Paris office. He is reading the booklet presenting one of his delivered projects incorporating urban farming, the Biodiversity School and Gymnasium at Boulogne Billancourt, near to Paris. (Alexia Luquet/Special to The Epoch Times)
It’s no surprise to Dalix that the City of Lights is leading the trend in urban farming.
“Paris is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with few green areas, so it makes sense that people want to reverse the situation.”
Still, business-focused urban farms in the Paris area currently account for just 5 percent of total urban cultivated areas, according to Maison de l’Agriculture Urbaine—or the House of Urban Farming. The vast majority of the farms are driven by non-profit projects, a gap that points out the largest challenge for taking urban farming to the next level: creating a profitable business.
Successful Business Models
According to Bleu, efficient business models still need to be developed further for urban-farming companies to prosper.
Bleu said their own secret for success lies in employing circular economy principles, such as re-using waste and unused urban residue in their operations.
Vegetables and aromatic herbs being grown on the rooftop of a building owned by French public transport group RATP, as part of a rooftop farming project by urban farming start-up Aeromate in Paris on Aug. 24, 2017. (Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images)
For example, they use coffee grounds to cultivate oyster mushrooms in the basement of a supermarket, and offer their products to nearby supermarkets and restaurants. They further diversify their operation by selling growing kits that can be ordered online, and offer educational kits for school students.
This is what Bleu calls “an ecosystemic approach” to urban farming: their project aims at reconciling social, economic, and environmental issues through different initiatives such as recycling urban waste, air purification through green space, the creation of social unity using the economic cycle, and providing educational programs for children.
“Our cities are in a poor condition from an ecosystemic perspective. So what matters to us is to understand how we can cleverly integrate urban metabolism,” he said.
Agricool
One of France’s urban farming startups that has succeeded in attracting millions in funds is Agricool, which grows fruit and vegetables in containers.
Agricool founders Guillaume Fourdinier and Gonzague Gru, 31 and 30 years old, respectively, and both sons of traditional farmers, managed to turn a personal challenge into a promising business venture in three years.
Guillaume Fourdinier, CEO and co-founder of Agricool, in his La Courneuve office, near Paris, in front of a “cooltainer,” dedicated to research and development. (Alexia Luquet/Special to The Epoch Times)
The initiative started when Fourdinier broke his leg and decided to kill time by challenging himself to grow strawberries in his apartment. Today, their startup employs 53 full-time employees, and has raised 12 million euros ($14 million) from private investors, a first in French urban-farming history.
Agricool uses refurbished shipping containers—called cooltainers—to grow strawberries using hydroponic methods, specially designed LEDs, air conditioning, and bumblebees for pollination.
“We collect strawberries every morning except Sundays and then we supply our distributors, all located in the neighborhood, and some supermarkets and gourmet food shops,” Charlotte Mignol, a “co-oltivator” at Agricool, said while completing her daily harvest in a white jumpsuit to follow hygienic precautions.
The company has built four operating boxes in Paris region and wants to build more in the near future and expand to other types of products such as tomatoes.
Fourdinier touts their company as an environmentally responsible organization. “By purchasing and eating this type of strawberry—GM [genetically modified]—free, pesticide-free, transport-free—instead of a basket full of GM [strawberries grown with] pesticide and [requiring] transportation, don’t you think it makes sense for the environment and for your health?”
Currently, the company sells an average of 200 boxes of strawberries a day, which is not yet enough to turn a profit. But Fourdinier is confident that their business model will work.
“It can be summed up in a single word: sales-volume.” They have set an objective to be profitable by 2021.
Feeding Cities?
Fourdinier’s ambition for urban farming isn’t limited to his operations alone. He believes urban farming could one day supply one-third of the nation’s produce needs.
“Can urban farms feed our cities? I believe they can,” Fourdinier said enthusiastically.
Bleu is more conservative in his assessment.
“In France, urban farming is still more focused on projects driven by associations that tend to meet local needs and create social unity,” he said.
For him, there is no competition between rural and urban farming. “It’s like a bear being scared of a hamster,” he said.
In his assessment, food produced by urban farming is still very negligible, and will remain that way, except for niche products such as high-quality mushrooms or micro-green projects.
But he raises a question: “Can Parisians—city people in general—afford not to have agricultural areas downtown? I don’t think so.”
Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms Is Using Hydroponic Technology To Transform Agricultural Practices In Nigeria
Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms has harvested its first set of tomato produce which was planted using hydroponic technology. Not only is this technology well positioned to revolutionize Nigeria’s tomato industry, it could also contribute to the overall growth of the agricultural sector.
Owned by Captain Idahosa Okunbor, it is located on 27 hectares of land in Benin, Edo state. It also consists of 28 hydroponic greenhouses which are 5,440 square metres each, making it the largest of its kind in West Africa.
Hydroponic technology is a method of growing plants in a controlled environment using mineral nutrients in the water. This method of farming doesn’t require soil or direct rainfall. The technology is created using different systems involving irrigation, fertilisation and pest control, to obtain an increase in a plant’s growth and nutrients, as compared with traditional open field methods.
In a speech during the harvesting ceremony, Chief Executive of Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms, Captain Idahosa Okunbor said the company’s target is to meet up local demand and export of tomatoes by producing an estimated 4,200 tonnes valued to generate $6 million yearly.
“The Nigerian economy has grown three times its size and the agricultural sector has contributed 27 percent of this expansion. However, the agricultural sector accounts for only 9 percent of exports while crude oil accounts for over 70 percent. It is estimated that Nigeria imports $360 million worth of tomatoes annually, this first Wells Hosa Greenhouse project is not even scratching the surface, we still have a lot of work to do around the country to ensure self-sufficiency and import substitution whilst generating our own dollar inflows through exports,” he said.
This project is set to create direct employment for about 500 people and another 2,000 people indirectly. Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms also has plans of replicating this scalable and modular means of farming in other parts of the country to engage in the production of various types of vegetables.
With this technology, farmers will no longer go through any soil setup or testing troubles. No mulching, tilling, changing of soil or weeding is required. Plants can grow anywhere and it uses about 20 times less water than soil-based farming. It requires the use of 20 percent less space for growing and the farmers can have complete control over nutrient balance by using Dyna-Gro Nutrition Solutions.
The system of water is such that it can be reused to enable farmers to conserve water. The farmers need not worry about using pesticides because the environment is sterile and controlled. Harvesting will also be a lot easier and the farmer can grow crops all year round if indoors.