Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Valoya Announces Addition of A Former Conviron VP To Its Board of Directors
Its Board of Directors will now be strengthened with the addition of Mr. Bill Mukanik, former VP Client Services at Conviron, one of the world’s leading growth chamber manufacturers and also Valoya’s long term partner
Valoya, the Finnish LED grow lights manufacturer has been steadily growing since its founding 11 years ago. Its Board of Directors will now be strengthened with the addition of Mr. Bill Mukanik, former VP Client Services at Conviron, one of the world’s leading growth chamber manufacturers and also Valoya’s long term partner. Mr. Mukanik brings to Valoya’s Board of Directors team over 40 years of experience in the crop science market.
I look forward to working with Valoya to expand their presence and market share in North America. Having successfully integrated their LEDs for many years, I witnessed firsthand their ability to understand a client’s needs and then provide proven research-driven solutions. I am confident that this capability, along with their desire to provide exceptional value, will lead to even greater success. – Bill Mukanik
Mr. Mukanik’s longlasting experience in the crop science market will help Valoya solidify its position as the global leader of horticultural LED lighting solutions for this segment. As a highly respected and seasoned executive with a valuable understanding of the needs of the crop science customers, Mr. Mukanik will help Valoya serve this market even better. This addition to the Board of Directors comes at the stage of the company’s rapid development.
“I am very pleased and honored, that Bill joins our Board of Directors. He brings very valuable and relevant knowledge and vision to Valoya. He has an extensive global network and unsurpassed insight into the North American indoor growing and plant research markets. I have had the pleasure of working with him already many years in another capacity and now I am happy to continue working with him in his role as a Valoya board member” comments Lars Aikala, the CEO and Co-Founder of Valoya.
About Valoya
Valoya is a provider of high end, energy-efficient LED grow lights for use in crop science, vertical farming, and medicinal plants cultivation. Valoya LED grow lights have been developed using Valoya's proprietary LED technology and extensive plant photobiology research. Valoya's customer base includes numerous vertical farms, greenhouses and research institutions all over the world (including 8 out of 10 world’s largest agricultural companies).
Additional information:
Valoya Oy, Finland
Tel: +358 10 2350300
Email: sales@valoya.com
Web: www.valoya.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valoyafi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/valoya
The Microgreens Show Episode 17 - Urban Farm $6000/wk To $250/wk
He will explain how the urban farm went from making $6000/wk to $250/wk
Visiting Vertical Farm On The West Side Of Chicago to interview CEO Mark Thomas.
He will explain how the urban farm went from making $6000/wk to $250/wk.
Organic Hydroponics vs. Soil And The USDA Lawsuit
The organic hydroponic vs. soil lawsuit claims that hydroponic operations violate the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act that mandates the need for organic crop production in order to build healthy soils
April 15, 2020
Tags: organic certification, organic hydroponics, organic hydroponics vs soil, soil, soilless systems
Co-authored by Tinia Pina and Riyana Razalee
BackgroundThe contentious issue of organic hydroponics vs soil certification remains at the forefront of the agriculture industry. In 2017, the National Organic Standards Board voted in favor of hydroponics being certified organic. However, just a few months ago, a lawsuit was filed by a group of organic farmers and advocates against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) over this decision. Although a number of the organic farmers had positive thoughts on the hydroponic industry, as a whole there was consensus that hydroponics should not fall under the organic category.
Pro-Lawsuit Perspective
The organic hydroponic vs. soil lawsuit claims that hydroponic operations violate the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act that mandates the need for organic crop production in order to build healthy soils. Since hydroponic farming is soilless, the argument is that these standards cannot ever be met. Therefore, organic certification should not be allowed. Organic farmers also highlight increased competition in an unfair manner. Larger hydroponic farms usually incur lower costs to grow the same food, thereby capturing even higher margins through their produce sales, while offering more value to the consumers for the same products. From a consumer and market perspective, claims have also been made that this certification weakens the integrity of the term “organic”, creates a lot of confusion, and opens up loopholes for inconsistent organic certifications.
"[The lawsuit] claims that hydroponic operations violate the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act that mandates the need for organic crop production in order to build healthy soils."
Anti-Lawsuit Perspective
For proponents of hydroponic organic certification, they stress that irrespective of whether food is grown in soil or not, it does not necessarily fully indicate whether the food is organic or not. The National Organic Program (NOP) also disagrees with the plaintiffs, stating that the 1990 statutory and regulatory provisions which require soil cultivation applies specifically to systems that use soil. In other words, the regulation was not created to exclude soilless (“hydroponic”) systems. Instead, its purpose was to ensure best practices within soil-based farming, first and foremost. If food is grown in other sustainable, certified organic growing media, they should still be eligible for organic certification. Anti-lawsuit proponents also pressed on the issue of limitation of fair competition by organic farmers, claiming that this exclusion is being done in order to monopolize the premium organic market, thus driving prices up further.
"[I]rrespective of whether food is grown in soil or not, it does necessarily fully indicate whether the food is organic or not."
Organic Hydroponics vs. Soil: Finding Common Ground
Ecologically speaking, it cannot be denied that fertile soil promotes healthy interaction between beneficial microorganisms. These microorganisms are incredibly important for crop production as well as the environment, and ultimately, this enhances the land's ability to sequester carbon and retain nutrients and water. However, do we limit ourselves by saying that this is the only input that necessitates an environment for organic production? Interestingly enough, a 2017 poll by the health food store chain, Natural Grocers, found that over 90 percent of respondents cited pesticide avoidance as their key reason for purchasing organic products. Yet, we fail to acknowledge that the organic hydroponics vs. soil debate should be more multi-faceted than just focusing on one key factor such as “pesticide-free” or soil-only growth.
To do this, we need to look even bigger – How is every step of the food production process using inputs which come from an organic source and /or growing method? There are plans by the NOP to integrate new provisions from the 2018 Farm Bill related to oversight, enforcement, data reporting, and technology into the USDA organic regulations. In addition, the NOP will prioritize farm-to-market traceability for the global organic supply chain, ensuring an even more holistic view of what the organic term should constitute, which undoubtedly should include soil, but in reality also includes various inputs along the supply chain. In soil, compost and other organic fertilizers are typically added directly to this media during cultivation. The organic fertilizer is subsequently degraded by soil microorganisms, which make organic compounds readily available for absorption by the plant.
"[W]e need to look even bigger – How is every step of the food production process using inputs which come from an organic source and /or growing method? "
Re-Nuble’s mindset has always been about how we can bring back closed-loop food again, realizing that nobody has been able to efficiently take organic nutrients and turn it into a viable nutrient solution at a scale that makes it competitive with commercial grade synthetic fertilizers for soilless farms. However, if the microbial community that degrades organic fertilizer can be cultured in a soilless system, it should be possible to meet the organic growing standards that those representing the pro-lawsuit perspective are seeking.
This is something we have not only spent the last 5 years researching but have also been very intentional about. Using our approach of organic cycling, and having developed a nutrient delivery system, we can achieve what we recognize as missing in this lawsuit within the soilless community, by employing a myriad of methods, including composting technology, which is essentially decomposed organic matter. Every stage of our production is viewed as circular, ensuring that we are not only carbon neutral, but also relieving our land (and soil) of further environmental stress.
So really, could the solution be as simple as asking ourselves, “Is the organic hydroponic vs soil conversation really just about soil, or should we hold ourselves to higher standards and, instead, focus on optimizing for efficient food production systems, especially as providers of nutrition to entire communities?”
Photo source
Can Vertical Farming Help In The Battle Against COVID-19?
For vertical farming companies, the increasingly-evident pressures facing the world’s food supply chains are confirmation of what they were already saying: resilient supply chains are hyper-local supply chains, especially when it comes to fresh produce
April 17, 2020
Companies of all stripes are rushing to respond to the threats (or opportunities) posed by the widening coronavirus pandemic. For vertical farming companies, the increasingly-evident pressures facing the world’s food supply chains are confirmation of what they were already saying: resilient supply chains are hyper-local supply chains, especially when it comes to fresh produce.
But there is also a more direct way vertical farmers want to confront the virus; they could be crucial in developing and manufacturing rapid testing kits, vaccines, or even a cure, according to pharmaceutical companies.
Inno-3B, a Quebec-based vertical farming equipment design company that has over the last year been developing a turnkey solution for plant-based pharmaceutical companies, is claiming to have diverted its focus onto confronting Covid-19 head-on. To do this, the firm has teamed up with biopharmaceutical businesses PlantForm Corporation, Cape Bio Pharms and Biopterre.
Growing monoclonal antibody treatments in vertical farms
Inno-3B plans to build and operate a pilot molecular farm at its 35,000 sq. ft facility located in St-Pacôme, QC. This facility will be the site where these firms develop what they call “a monoclonal antibody treatment” for COVID-19 patients. They will also develop “prophylactic applications” for first responders and other health-care personnel who require immediate protection.
“Speed and efficiency are of the essence right now,” Inno-3B CEO Martin Brault tells AFN. Intriguingly, the idea owes much to tobacco. The tailored solution Inno-3B has been developing for plant-based pharmaceutical companies in recent years uses strains of the tobacco plant. Even before Covid-19, plant-based molecular farming for protein production offered advantages over traditional fermentation systems to produce drugs using animal or bacterial cells. These advantages include lower costs, improved scalability and faster turnaround times.
“The science behind it is called Transient Gene Expression,” says Brault. “It is a real game-changer for the pharma industry. This is what we are embedding into our vertical farming equipment. If I had to explain it in its simplest form, here is how I’d do it: This science is based on using a characteristic of a very specific bacteria called agrobacterium. This bacteria has the ability to transfer some genetic material to a plant cell reproduction component in order to survive and reproduce itself. It is basically using the plant-growing mechanism to live… a parasite. The technology consists of tricking the bacteria by replacing a gene sequence inside its own RNA. Once the bacteria is “reprogrammed” it will enter the plant’s cell to transfer its gene but the result will be the expression of a targeted molecule for which it was programmed. In our case: antibodies for COVID-19 that will produce detection kits, treatment, and prophylactics.”
Time saver
Brault and his collaborators hope Inno-3B’s closed environment production platform and PlantForm’s proprietary biopharmaceutical manufacturing platform will reduce the time it takes to produce the drugs. According to Brault, the initiative will also allow the scientific community to accelerate the time to market of other plant-based solutions as a response to current and future pandemics. Production dedicated to initial clinical trials will begin in July 2020.
This joint effort will allow the production of approximately 4,000 doses per week of the target therapeutic antibodies for COVID-19. The facility, Brault says, will have the capacity to produce up to 400,000 doses per week for other pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical industry is already considered a potential saviour of vertical farming solutions, as competing on growing lettuce with outdoor farms is hard unless vertical farms get better at growing high-value produce that can only be grown in other parts of the world, like strawberries in Singapore, or tomatoes in Abu Dhabi. Indoors it is easier to ensure standards for consistency, repeatability, traceability and full scalability throughout the growth and materials handling cycles.
Lead photo: Concept of SARS-CoV-2, from iStock
Is your vertical farm working on a cure for COVID-19 or other diseases? Let us know. Drop an email to richard@agfunder.com
Innovation Consulting Community Team Proposes Sustainable Farming Container At ISU
In just a few months, a team of motivated students put together a proposal to implement a shipping container farm on Illinois State’s campus
Evan Linden April 15, 2020
NOTE: The photos in this story were taken before travel restrictions from coronavirus (COVID-19) were in place.
In just a few months, a team of motivated students put together a proposal to implement a shipping container farm on Illinois State’s campus.
“Self-motivation is impressive to employers,” said Marketing Professor Dr. Peter Kaufman, one of the founders of the Innovation Consulting Community (ICC). “Most students are taught one discipline in school, but world problems are interdisciplinary.”
Kaufman and others founded the ICC in 2016 to provide students with hands-on experiences outside their classes. Each year, teams of students are matched with clients at companies and nonprofit organizations to help solve a current issue they are facing. “It’s a unique experience to tackle both profit and nonprofit projects,” said Kaufman. “This experience helps students enhance their skills all around and helps our clients find solutions.”
This year, the ICC assigned 14 projects to 90 students representing 24 majors. One group of four students tackled an increasingly pressing issue: sustainable farming.
The students assembled in late October, mentored by Elisabeth Reed, director of the Office of Sustainability, and Dr. David Kopsell, assistant chair of and professor in the Department of Agriculture. Ryan Strange, a senior from Bloomington double majoring in business administration and small business management, led the team and collaborated with fellow students Joe Kennedy, Madison Steines, and Joe Quigley.
The project was inspired by the Boston company Freight Farms, urban agriculture innovators who create farms in shipping containers. Kopsell, who is familiar with growing systems, was brought in by Kaufman to be a horticulture mentor.
“I shared some of the ideas that I’d always wanted to investigate, and one that he really liked was the idea of writing a grant for a containerized growing system,” said Kopsell.
From there, the team focused on analyzing the benefits of a containerized growing system on campus.
“Our project was a feasibility study of the purchase of one of these units,” said Strange. “The unit itself is the technology necessary for hydroponic farming, and all of that goes inside an old freight container.”
The inside of a shipping container farm located in Champaign.
To see one of these units in action, the group visited a current model located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The director there was a tremendous help,” said Strange. “He gave us many details about operations and risk management.”
The team spent weeks finding the right contacts and establishing relationships in order to gather information for the project. “We built this huge network of different partnerships that helped us find out how we would finance this unit,” said Strange.
According to Strange, the purchase of one of these units would cost $120,000, with recurring costs adding up to around $40,000 a year.
“I think the cost is within the reach of a grant program,” said Kopsell. “These containers can operate year-round and provide great teaching and learning tools.”
Most importantly, the containers are both efficient and sustainable. Each container system can produce as much as one acre of field production —up to 13,000 plants depending on the crop. The efficient drip irrigation system uses five gallons of water per day, which is marginally less than a field.
“This is really the forefront of innovation in terms of agricultural production,” said Strange. “It’s going to cut back on a lot of the carbon emissions from transporting the food. It’s really going to cut back on costs also because most of the costs for food come from transportation.”
If installed on campus, the container system could be located next to the South University Street Garage.
Strange’s team presented its project at ICC’s annual symposium. In adherence with social distancing requirements, the symposium took place via Zoom on April 10.
Strange and his team noted that the ICC experience greatly benefited them as professionals. “It opens up a lot of doors and you have to teach yourself a lot,” said Strange. “Our mentors were definitely there for help, but it was mostly our group that set up all of the meetings and held ourselves to the deadlines. All of those things are fundamental skills that you’ll need when you move on to the professional workforce.”
Reed and Kopsell were impressed by the group’s work ethic and commitment.
“This student group was very well organized and stayed on task throughout the entire semester,” said Reed. “They communicated well with each other.”
“For me, this project represents the best of Illinois State University,” said Kopsell. “It allows students to find their passion and provides them an avenue to learn how to overcome challenges, solve problems, and make a difference.”
Students interested in participating in the Innovation Consulting Community for the next academic year can email innovationconsulting@IllinoisState.edu for more information.
Lead Photo: The ICC team visits a shipping container farm in Champaign. Pictured from left to right: Ryan Strange, Joe Quigley, Madison Steines, James Smith, Phoebe Naylon, Brennan Douglas, Alicia Chiakas, Aviv Zelniker, Max Snyderman, Bill Bagby with Central Illinois Produce, Dr. Eric Godoy, and Joe Kennedy
Filed Under Agriculture Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning College of Business Office of Sustainability
Madar Farms To Sell It's UAE-Grown Vegetables Online Directly To Consumers For The First Time
Madar Farms is a local company providing a holistic approach to sustainability to help tackle food and water security challenges in the region
Seven varieties of microgreens are now available to purchase through FreshOnTable, Narinport and Barakat platforms.
Abu Dhabi, 8 April 2020: As part of its commitment to support the UAE communities during the current situation, Madar Farms’ locally grown produce can now be purchased online for the first time through three online platforms.
Madar Farms, a UAE-based AgTech company, has partnered with FreshOnTable, Narinport, and Barakat to deliver its high-quality microgreens directly to consumers across the country.
The announcement comes at a significant time with Madar Farms using innovative and safe ways to cope with the high demands of local food given the present global health challenges. Madar Farms also plans to launch more of its products online in the coming weeks.
The seven varieties that can be ordered include Pea Shoots (which pairs well with fish and chicken), Arugula (ideal for salads and sandwiches) and Bull’s Blood, which is tender, crunchy and sweet with a beet-like flavour. Also available are Tendril Peas – a versatile ingredient that can be added to salads, sandwiches, soups and summer fruits - and Daikon Radish that can be used in Asian cuisine dishes, salads, soups and with many sandwich varieties.
Customers can also try Amaranth (which is mild in flavour, similar to spinach) as well as Shiso Britton (a delicious, mild, mint-basil aroma microgreen that adds flavour to salads, Asian dishes, and fish).
By working with FreshOnTable, Narinport, and Barakat, it gives the people the opportunity to try Madar Farms produce in the comfort of their own home and support local suppliers in the UAE.
Now in its third year of operation, Madar Farms has been leading an agricultural revolution in the region by using Controlled Environment Agriculture methods to produce a wide variety of fresh produce. As well as growing local produce, part of Madar Farms’ mission is to help solve food and water security challenges in the region.
Abdulaziz AlMulla, CEO and co-founder of Madar Farms, said: “In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to eat and shop local - and across the UAE we are seeing an increasing move towards this. By working with FreshOnTable, Narinport, and Barakat, we will be able to make our produce available directly to consumers for the first time and reach out to even more people across the UAE.
“We are responding to this current demand that we’re facing today, partnering with our online ordering and delivery partners to service people across the Emirates. When our customers receive their produce, it will be clean, safe and fresh as all our products are delivered within 24 hours of harvesting.
“This is just the beginning of offering directly to consumers as we plan to launch more products in the coming weeks.
“We look forward to hearing about some of the delicious recipes people are cooking up at home using our microgreens!”
Madar Farms recently announced the company will quadruple the quantity of its microgreens when its new facility begins operating at Khalifa Industrial Abu Dhabi Zone (KIZAD) by the end of this year. The facility will also include the world’s first commercial indoor tomato farm using LED lights.
Madar Farms’ microgreens can be ordered by visiting FreshOnTable (www.freshontable.ae), Barakat (www.barakatfresh.ae) and Narinport (www.narinport.com).
ENDS
About Madar Farms
Madar Farms is a local company providing a holistic approach to sustainability to help tackle food and water security challenges in the region.
With offices in Dubai and a research and development centre in Abu Dhabi, Madar Farms offers products and services that help drive responsible sourcing, environmental ownership, and social impact. This purpose-driven offering is underpinned by the application of innovative AgTech.
Madar Farms also operates the Sustainable Futures program, a hands-on, localised, easy-to-integrate sustainability curriculum that uses food to explore a wide range of topics across the sustainability agenda. This school program is designed to empower the next generation with the awareness, knowledge, skills, and behaviors to create a sustainable future for us all.
Keep up to date with the latest news and events from Madar Farms on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Contacts:
Seven Media
Denzil Pinto
050 564 8424
Indian Engineer Grows Crops 'Out of Thin Air'
Although aeroponics may have caught on in the West, in India, it is still in a nascent stage. However, a Coimbatore-based agriculture engineer has mastered the technique after over 10 years of research and development
Although aeroponics may have caught on in the West, in India, it is still in a nascent stage. However, a Coimbatore-based agriculture engineer has mastered the technique after over 10 years of research and development.
Meet Prabhu Shankar, who has grown over 18 types of different vegetables using aeroponics. Additionally, by following his version of aeroponics, one can achieve a level of productivity that is 15 times more than conventional agriculture. Also, as for water, his aeroponic setup uses only 10 percent of what is used in traditional farming methods.
“Small farmers do all their work on their own. But, in the case of farmers who are into commercial agriculture, farm size is a problem. Managing different aspects of agriculture in big farms like crop selection, irrigation, applying fertilizers can be a difficult task. Also, these farms need large amounts of water when we are already facing water shortage,” states the 47-year-old.
To make this technique more accessible to commercial farmers, Prabhu launched his startup ‘Neoponics’, under his company Neoponics Projects India Pvt. Ltd, in January 2019. Neoponics provides the services of setting up customized aeroponic farms, known as ‘neo farms’, to commercial farmers.
Read more at The Better India (Angarika Gogoi)
Publication date: Tue 14 Apr 2020
VIDEO: April Indoor Science Cafe Recording Is Now Available! Photons = Flavor The Case Study of Basil
This presentation 'Photons = Flavor, The case study of basil' was given by Dr. Roberto Lopez and Kellie Walters (Michigan State University) during our 18th cafe forum on April 14th, 2020
This presentation 'Photons = Flavor, The case study of basil' was given by Dr. Roberto Lopez and Kellie Walters (Michigan State University) during our 18th cafe forum on April 14th, 2020. Indoor Ag Science Cafe is organized by the OptimIA project team funded by USDA SCRI grant program.
Is Indoor Farming Sustainable?
Voices all over the world are telling us that we urgently need to transform food production to make it more sustainable. But what is sustainability? What does it mean?
Voices all over the world are telling us that we urgently need to transform food production to make it more sustainable. But what is sustainability? What does it mean?
Natasha George | LettUs Grow
04/07/20
Voices all over the world are telling us that we urgently need to transform food production to make it more sustainable. But what is sustainability? What does it mean? The idea has been thrown around to such an extent this past year, that it sometimes seems more of a buzzword than an achievable goal.
Sustainability is defined as ‘the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level’. In terms of food production, this means that we need to grow and produce food in a way that does not exhaust our resources, but also provides enough food for our growing population.
Our current food production system is, quite simply, not sustainable. We are growing food on deforested land, smothering our crops in toxic pesticides, killing wildlife, and then flying that produce halfway around the world. Government statistics tell us that last year, the UK produced only 53% of the food that it consumed - the rest coming from overseas.
So how do we produce food in a way that is sustainable? We need to achieve sustainability for ourselves and for the sake of our environment - for our land, wildlife, and soils. Importantly though, we must also protect the welfare and financial security of our farmers - ensuring that their industry is also able to thrive. Indoor farming can achieve both. Here are just some of the ways indoor farming can address sustainability concerns:
Saving resources
The fewer resources we use to grow food, the more likely it is we can sustain that production. We use aeroponic systems in our indoor farms. This means that we require no soil. Instead, we use a nutrient-dense mist to grow crops - using 95% less water than traditional farming. This is a huge breakthrough, as freshwater shortage on Earth is a huge problem - only 1% of the world’s water is accessible drinking water, and water scarcity is only going to worsen.
Another resource that is currently at risk is our land. Despite the fact that we only produce around half of the food we consume, agriculture accounts for 63.1% of land use in the UK. Growing indoors and vertically will allow us to grow more efficiently, and free up space which could be used for forestry or rewilding projects.
Shorter supply chains
Indoor growing systems can ensure that farmers are able to grow crops all year round, which means that we do not have to rely on buying in produce from overseas. Buying local means you are supporting the local economy, and food does not need to travel as far to reach our plates, which lowers its carbon footprint. It is estimated that 30% of food waste is produce lost in the supply chain, so less travel time means less waste.
Sadly, agricultural industries abroad often provide food to countries like the UK at the expense of their own market. This means their farms are not always feeding the people growing the food. Scholar and environmental activist, Dr. Vandana Shiva calls this a ‘stolen harvest.’ Being able to grow more of our own food in the UK means that our growing demand is not exploiting markets overseas. Importantly, this means that we can maintain fair trade relationships with other countries that are fruitful for all parties.
Pesticides and fertilizers
In order to meet the high demand for food and protect their livelihoods, many traditional farms use pesticides to protect their crops from pests, weeds or diseases. However, we now know that the decline of insects and wildlife is a serious threat to our environment and there is a push towards organic farming methods. Indoor farms create a controlled environment, removing the need for toxic pesticides.
Fertilizers are also used in traditional farming to ensure that plants get enough nutrients - our closed system ensures that these fertilizers do not leak into waterways and corrupt ecosystems.
Climate control
Controlled environment agriculture provides farmers protection from worsening weather patterns due to climate change. Providing this food security would mean that we could consistently maintain our food production rates in the UK through the winter months and provide job security for farmers. Whilst artificial lighting consumes more energy than using natural sunlight, we can also make use of renewable energies, which are only going to become more energy and cost-efficient in the future.
Lead photograph was taken by Jack Wiseall
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow
Indoor & Vertical Farming, Processing & Supply Chain | government policy, sustainable
Are Container Farms The Solution To The Coronavirus Food Supply Problem?
As people run to grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies during a time of quarantine, the $899 billion restaurant industry is collapsing, raising questions about the economic security of the nation’s food supply industry in the time of COVID-19
April 13, 2020
As people run to grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies during a time of quarantine, the $899 billion restaurant industry is collapsing, raising questions about the economic security of the nation’s food supply industry in the time of COVID-19.
Dairy farms are already seeing the effects of nationwide school and restaurant closures in the wake of the coronavirus.
About one half of the normal demand for dairy has disappeared since the start of the United States’ social isolation period.
As a result, dairy farmers have had to throw out thousands of pounds of excess milk.
The agricultural side of the farming industry faces similar threats.
Food distributors and wholesalers are scrambling to redirect products from restaurants and other affected businesses to grocery stores.
But grocery stores desire different things than restaurants and schools, making it difficult to fully solve the problem.
Meanwhile, farm suppliers are racing to ship out fertilizers, seeds, and chemicals before the deadly virus disrupts the truck delivery industry.
Without these essential supplies, agriculture farmers won’t be able to produce enough food to meet demand in the States, especially as trade with other countries decreases.
The result could be a wide-scale food shortage.
Labor is also threatening agriculture as many field workers cannot afford to take time off, increasing potential for rapid spread throughout farms.
It’s a problem threatening to cause a significant labor shortage, lowering production and contributing to a potential food shortage.
Experts predict that our food security this fall and next year will be determined by how well these next harvests go.
With shortages in the food supply comes price gouging, leaving the world’s most vulnerable even more so.
The price of global food staples such as wheat and rice are already rising worldwide. Meanwhile, egg prices reached a record high in the US, as grocery stores reported a demand of six times the normal amount.
With more and more people facing unemployment and economic insecurity due to the effects of the global pandemic, increased food prices can make food insecurity worse.
Food security refers to the ability to obtain affordable, nutritious food.
In 2018, 5.6 million households in the US had very low food security.
Plus, as safety concerns skyrocket, consumers are becoming more conscious of how many hands have touched the food they’re about to take home and eat.
As a result, at-home solutions are seeming more appealing.
Since the beginning of March, Google searches for words related to “gardening” and “hydroponics” have increased.
In this time of uncertainty, small-scale indoor farming, like container farms, could prove to be an emergency solution.
Container farms are small indoor farms built inside of repurposed shipping containers.
They have the potential to easily provide food to urban areas, which tend to have the highest populations of food-insecure households, as they don’t require any farmland, only electricity, water, and internet connections.
Container farms also won’t be too affected by labor problems, as they’re fairly self-sufficient, meaning it doesn’t require too many laborers to ensure a bountiful harvest.
Higher tech containers, like our Pure Greens Container Farms, use controlled environment agriculture technology that’s automated and controllable through a smartphone app.
This allows for a more hands-off approach than traditional agriculture.
It also means the growing environment simulates perfect conditions for crops, resulting in more consistent and reliable yields.
Container farms are also able to yield quite a lot while being compact in size, which could help ease some of the burden of a global food shortage.
We’ll have to wait to see how well the agriculture industry adjusts to the pandemic, but it’s worth it to be proactive by looking into possible solutions as soon as possible.
If you’re interested in learning more about starting your own container farm, visit our website or call us at 602–753–3469 to get started!
WRITTEN BY Pure Greens Arizona LLC
Pure Greens’ container-based grow systems offer a variety of interior layouts, sizes, and options so customers can create a farm that meets their needs.
Tags: Container Farming Farming Covid 19
Abu Dhabi Invests $100 Million In A Plant-Based Indoor Farm
UAE capital Abu Dhabi has put $100 million into agtech companies looking to revolutionize the future of food with techniques like indoor vertical farming
Kat Smith SENIOR EDITOR | NEW YORK CITY, NY | CONTACTABLE VIA: KAT@LIVEKINDLY.COM
Kat has been writing about veganism, environment, and sustainability for five years. Their interests include over-analyzing the various socioeconomic forms of oppression, how that overlaps with veganism, and how the media in all of its forms reflects the current culture.
Due to a lack of arable land, high temperatures, and increasing water scarcity, the government of Abu Dhabi—the capital and second-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—is investing $100 million in indoor farming.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office is backing four agtech companies.
Vertical farming startup Madar Farms will construct a tomato farm. New Jersey-based company Aerofarms will build an R&D center. Florida’s Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI) is developing a new irrigation system for growing plants in sandy soil. Abu Dhabi-based startup RNZ is creating more potent fertilizers, reducing the need for resources in farming.
The investment is part of a larger $272 million program supporting the development of agtech projects, such as indoor farming. The government believes that vertical farming will help the UAE—which imports 80 percent of its food—become more self-sufficient.
Vertical farming can provide food in areas with few resources. | Oasis Biotech
The Future Of Farming?
“Agtech will be part of the solution to how we can better utilize water, how we can be more efficient, and how we can drive yield in farms,” Tariq Bin Hendi, the director-general of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, told Fast Company. “We’re embracing technology because we know it’s the future.”
Abdulaziz Al Mulla, CEO of Madar Farms, explained that traditional farming “draws far too much on our precious water reserves. At the rate we’re going, we might run out of water within the next 50 years.”
A team of more than 60 scientists will study plant science at Aerofarms’ RDI center. According to CEO David Rosenberg, the company will work to develop plants with better yield, flavor, and nutrition.
“We want to grow more plants, know how to grow better, know how to grow with lower capital cost and operating costs,” said Rosenberg “That all stems from an ability to understand plants.”
Hydroponic farms use significantly less land and water than traditional farming techniques. Madar Farms’ system can recycle up to 95 percent of the water it uses. Growing Underground—a company growing greens in an old World War II bunker beneath London—uses 75 percent less water than traditional farming.
Elsewhere in the UAE, Crop One is building a 130,000 square foot facility in Dubai. It will use 320 gallons of water and 100 square feet of land in its hydroponic farm to grow the same amount of leafy greens that 827,640 square feet of land and 250,000 gallons of water would produce on a traditional farm.
The Scalability of Urban Farming
Harvester City: Interview with David Proenza, Founder of Urban Farms Global. David is the founder of Urban Farms Global a company dedicated to developing indoor farms around the world. He is also the president of the “Foundation for the Development of Controlled Environment Agriculture.”
Harvester City: Interview with David Proenza, Founder of Urban Farms Global.
When I first got into Urban Farming, I dreamt of meeting people like David Proenza. David is the founder of Urban Farms Global a company dedicated to developing indoor farms around the world. He is also the president of the “Foundation for the Development of Controlled Environment Agriculture.” A non-profit dedicated to promoting knowledge of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) based on science and research. David has spent over 35 years in the food industry; he is indeed someone who has embraced the future of food while still understanding the importance of a human-centered approach. Technology has continued to redefine all aspects of our everyday life. I wonder what does the role of technology mean for the future of food? Will traditional farmers be a thing of the past? I had the pleasure of asking David all these questions and more in our interview below.
What sparked your interest in the food space?
“I got into this industry by accident; it wasn’t planned. I’ve been in the food business now for over 33 years. It started when a friend of mine asked for some help with a new company that he started that involved marketing for the food business. The job then began to take a life of its own, and it ended up becoming a full-time thing. At the time I was also working at AT&T.
In 3 decades, I have done pretty much everything in food. I have a packaging company and a processing company and a production company. I always wanted to have a restaurant, but I haven’t gotten there just yet.
Around five years ago my company started to experience a lot of different issues due to climate change.
We started having water problems, labor issues and this need to add more pesticides to our food continually. We weren’t happy about this, and it didn’t feel right. Over time the problem just kept getting worse.
I read an article by Dr.Toyoki Kozai in the newspaper. towoki kozi is one of the founding fathers of urban farming. After reading this article, a few of us jumped onto a plane and visited Chiba University to gather some ideas and knowledge. The first thing we did when we got back was to establish our research center and buy some LED lights. We were like little kids in a candy shop when we saw the first batch of lettuce growing.
Urban Farms Global — Growing Facility
We had spent years in the business growing food the traditional way and were amazed that food could grow just from LED lights alone.
We were very systematic from there on and started going step by step. We grew strawberries, watermelons, cucumbers you name it.
We started testing different nutrition and LED lights and other elements. We then thought how are we going to package this food and distribute it, so we started getting involved in those processes. We then thought about how we could compete with traditional farms and greenhouse farms. We didn’t need to worry about competing with urban farms since there were so few. So then we started developing our business model, and all of this came out of research and development. Now we have a pipeline of 10 different food products that we are trying out. Not all of them will be available for the market, but we are getting them ready for a few years down the road.”
What are your views on climate change and sustainability?
“When I grew up food, and social consciousness wasn’t there. That has been introduced through my kids. They were doing projects at school, and this green movement started. So I realized yes I do need to improve on this and we do need to change. Even my 9-year-old and most people here in Panama are becoming super conscious about recycling and saving the planet.
We need to make sure that young people have a healthy world to live on.
The thing about being in farming is that we live through all kinds of change. We see all the chemical runoff that is going into the lakes. It is so much more than just talking points for us. As farmers, we live through all these changes, and we have to be more conscious. I think people do not give enough credit to farmers. However, I ask the question about what happens if we don’t farm? The answer is that nobody eats. Most farmers try to do the best they can.
Soon we will start packaging our food in a material that is made from cassava. So going forward we will be a lot more sustainable. Our packaging will be biodegradable, and therefore it will be a bit more expensive. We will fit this into the production cost and will not raise the price for consumers.
If we are going to develop a better food system, we need to do it in every aspect.
If you are producing healthy produce why would you want to then put it in plastic that harms the planet?”
You don’t see a lot of traditional farmers getting into urban farming. How did you make the switch successfully?
“At that point in the first year, we did nothing in hydroponics. We needed to train people and send them off to be trained over at The University of Arizona. We needed to send people off to learn about controlled environment agriculture. We sent our people out to all different parts of the world to get trained.
We had to go through a learning curve ourselves despite having had this vast experience in the food business.
Growing food indoors and using this type of technology is very different. There are a couple of other things that differentiate us from other indoor farms. One we don’t go public. The second would focus on our work and not the work of others.
There is this quote that I love by Chris Higgens — “When a farmer buys a new tractor he doesn’t go out and post it on social media.”
This can be good or bad because we are not as well known as other indoor farms. However, it is also the attitude we have when we look at indoor farming. Some people think its all about technology. We on the other hand focus on being a food company that uses technology to produce food. You have to grow food, you have to know how to grow food, and you have to have that first-hand experience. If you set a culture in the company, you need to decide what that culture will look like if we are focused on producing high-quality food that is where the focus is.
The other thing is that we are continually training our people because there is always something new to learn.
Four years ago we worked out an agreement between The University of Panama and The University of Chiba and The Technology University of Panama. We negotiated to send three students and one professor from each of the two Panamanian university to train at Chiba University for 30 days or more. Then Chiba sends a group of 8 –10 of their students to Panama. The Japanese students spend some time at our R&D and get to visit several other farms in Panama. While the Panamanian students that return from Chiba continue their development with us at our R&D.
Urban Farms Global — Growing Facility
We need to start training more people in this field because the number of people who are knowledgable in this industry is very few.
We are now negotiating with other universities in The United States and Europe to do the same with us. These initiatives help us to grow a larger pool of people to come and work as we expand the industry. It may be a lot of costs, but it is well worth it.”
What role do you think technology should play in the future of food?
“I believe it should always be a bit human-centric. Many people today think that the algorithms and devices will be the solution to tell you how much nutrients a plant needs. I cannot entirely agree with this; a person needs to be able to understand plants as living things. The plants can tell you more than any algorithm. It is essential to know how to grow food. I believe that human reaction is so important when it comes to growing food. Even if a sensor tells you this is wrong, you have to understand how to correct it.
Although we apply a lot of technology, we will always need a farmer.
It is going back to this statement of companies worrying about indoor farms taking over. A few years ago this was going around peoples minds. This idea is impossible the demands for food are so significant. Indoor farms will not be able to grow apples, mangos, avocados and more. It is just not economically feasible.
One day I was doing a talk, and someone said to me “you are going to be putting farmers out of business.” I said “no way” this is a compliment to traditional farming just like how greenhouses compliment traditional farming. It is not going to take over. Our population is going to grow to over 10 billion in the next few years, and there is no more land to grow food. Wouldnt it be better if we have another system like indoor farming that would be a lot more healthier to help? I think people are begining to wiser up and realize that some farms are going out of business. However, when I hear of new indoor farms, I wish them complete and utter success. Because when an indoor farm goes out of business, it gives all of us a black eye.”
Urban Farms Global — Growing Facility
What would you say to those who doubt the profitability of indoor farming?
“We believe indoor farming is profitable if you do it right. A lot of the doubt has to come from problems with management and the fact that you have to look long term at these business models. Everything for us is about our consumers and intending to create consumer loyalty. It is no different from any other business.
You see a lot of indoor farming companies generating millions of dollars in funds. I know what it cost to start an urban/indoor farm. I know what the cost is and what they are not. I then have to ask “Where exactly are these companies putting these funds?”
What are the three things you advise an urban farming business to watch out for?
“You need to keep your cost low.
You have to keep your yields high.
It would be best if you remembered this is not a dollar business; it’s a penny business.”
What is your favorite food at the moment?
“I am eating a lot of salad, but then again I am eating my product, so that helps.”
Call to Action?
“The world is enormous, and the food industry is massive. I encourage young people to look into the food industry seriously.
Someone very wise once said “you may need a doctor once a year and an attorney once a year, but you need a farmer three times a day”
I encourage all young people to get in and learn.”
If you or someone you know would be interested in connecting, collaborating or supporting David and his mission, please share this article or reach out using the information below:
david@urban.farm
If you enjoyed this piece, you might also like…”The Truth About Packaging When It Comes to Sustainability.”
For more information on Harvester City click here.
WRITTEN BY Alex Welch
Startup Enthusiast: Passionate about all things Plants + Tech + Social Impact related 🌱www.harvestercity.com
Clawson Greens Supplies This Snowy Tourist Town With Local Produce, Year-Round
Dave Ridill of Clawson Greens shares his farming unique experiences farming in snowy Tetonia, Idaho.
March 17, 2020
Dave Ridill of Clawson Greens shares his farming unique experiences farming in snowy Tetonia, Idaho.
Dave Ridill from Clawson Greens has made the impossible possible: in an area with a growing season that lasts less than three months (and is known for avalanches!), he has created a thriving year-round farming business that keeps surrounding restaurants flush with fresh greens even in the snowiest weather.
Download our interview with Dave to hear about his experiences!
CLAWSON GREENS WEBINAR
Or, keep reading to a re-cap of the webinar and Q&A with Dave.
Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine
Freight Farms: What’s the story behind your Freight Farms project?
Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine
Dave Ridill: Long story, short–my neighbors discovered Freight Farms while doing consulting work for Yosemite National Park. They were putting together a proposal for Yosemite to cut down on transportation costs and offer a new plan for food options inside the park. Yosemite didn’t end up going with their bid, so they approached me about starting a hydroponic farm business together. At the time, I was in the process of moving to Boston to go to paramedic school. However, after visiting Freight Farms, I decided to leave the Fire Department, where I was working at the time, and become a lettuce farmer.
FF: Who do you sell to and how do you do it?
DR: Our business model was focused on the restaurants in both Teton Valley and Jackson Hole, Idaho. The restaurant industry in our tourist town is booming. Despite highs and lows with seasonality, restaurants were the main focus in the inception of Clawson Greens.
We also tried a direct to consumer route (CSA) and the local natural food store. Due to time and labor increase, the CSA was not as profitable. We also have a very strong farmers market in both Teton Valley and Jackson so there was never a plan to try and compete with our local farmers. With an 85 day growing season, the local organic farmers already have a very short growing/selling season so adding another vendor to that market would just dilute an already competitive and small market. Our focus was on a market that no other local grower could tap into, year-round tourism.
“Our focus was on a market that no other local grower could tap into, year-round tourism.”
— Dave Ridill
FF: Do you find that customers are willing to pay more for your premium product?
DR: This question reminds me of a meeting with the restaurant manager of our local pub. We sat down and looked over a year’s worth of invoices from his distributors and the price fluctuation that the seasons had. We also looked at his total costs after he factored in waste due to buying in bulk to get the best pricing. With price changes and waste, my higher-priced product that I guarantee was not much more expensive than Sysco.
What I’m trying to say, is chefs will choose fresh local ingredients any day over large scale commercial produce. For them, it’s a selling opportunity: They market it by advertising the local farms/producers on their menus and have servers talk about the local products which are used in the specials. Consumers are willing to pay more for quality and to support local businesses.
“Chefs will choose fresh and local ingredients over large scale commercial produce any day. ”
Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine
— Dave Ridill
FF: How do you package your crops?
DR: From the start, Clawson Greens has made a point to not use single-use plastic clamshells or plastic bags. We use compostable corn-based bags for all our deliveries. On average, I put about 30 mini heads into 23-gallon compostable bags.
FF: What was the most challenging part of becoming a Freight Farmer and how were you able to overcome it?
DR: Becoming a Freight Farmer has many challenges much like starting any new business. There’s a steep learning curve but I enjoyed that process. The hardest part for me was understanding when to expand and how to grow with the business as it expanded. It was easy to transition from a full-time ski patroller to a part-time patrol/part-time farmer. However, as I added farms to grow the business, I found it hard to dive in and become a full-time farmer and business owner.
Being thrown into the deep end of the pool overnight was the hardest and easiest way to become a business owner. When your only option is to sink or swim, you do everything you can to make it work. Failure was never an option so by taking that off the table, you’ve got one direction, forward!
Implementing the ‘Profit First’ system is what really changed Clawson Greens. I went from a business that had money in the business account and was blindly throwing money around to pay bills, payroll and occasionally paying myself, to a business that knows exactly how much money to put towards operational expenses, taxes, owners’ compensation and most importantly, profit!
Photo by Camrin Dengel, Teton Valley Magazine
FF: What’s the best piece of advice you can give to people interested in becoming Freight Farmers?
DR: My advice is to hire the right people and acknowledge that you (the owner and operator) deserve to be paid accordingly.
“You are the one who puts in the most time, works late, lays awake at night thinking about the business.”
— Dave Ridill
This is where the profit-first system comes into play again. Being a farmer is hard, being a business owner is even harder. Being the owner and operator of a Freight Farm is very challenging and making a living at it can be a huge challenge. You can hire great employees but they will never go the extra mile that you the owner does. Over the past few years as an employer I’ve learned that you can teach people skills and procedures, but you can’t teach someone to care about your business. Only you can do that: you are the one who puts in the most time, works late, lays awake at night thinking about the business and at the end of the day, is the one who answers to whether the business is a success or failure. You need to pay yourself accordingly. Don’t start a business to make a living for someone else until you can make a living for yourself. When you are ready to start hiring, find an employee that’s financially invested in the business. Their effort and quality of work has a direct impact on their income
Interested in learning more about Clawson Greens?
Hear how Dave created his thriving farming business in some of the harshest conditions in the U.S. when you sign up for our upcoming webinar!
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Vertical Farm Accelerates Rollout For Covid-19 Crisis
Bristol vertical farm technology developer LettUs Grow is building two LED-based vertical farms to feed vulnerable communities in ten days
April 09, 2020, // By Nick Flaherty
Bristol vertical farm technology developer LettUs Grow is building two LED-based vertical farms to feed vulnerable communities in ten days
Indoor farming technology provider LettUs Grow is building two vertical farm modules in the UK to help feed vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The company, based in Bristol, UK, has won a number of awards for its ethical practices and is teaming up with the food redistribution charity FareShare South West to ensure the produce gets to those who need it most.
LettUs Grow expects the first of the LED-based aeroponic vertical farm modules to be ready to start producing fresh produce from mid-April, with the first harvests ready to be delivered to FareShare just ten days after the farm’s commissioning. A second, larger module will be following in June.
The farm’s operations are automated and run with only one person on-site at any given time to allow the social distancing of key workers and minimizing strain on an already stretched farm labor force. The food is also produced in a high care environment with few people coming into contact with it. Once up and running, the farms will be able to provide a consistent, predictable and climate-resilient food supply to the local community all year round. A vertical farm is energy-intensive, and the company has a deal with supplier Octopus Energy to use energy from purely renewable wind and solar sources.
The coronavirus outbreak has shone a spotlight on the fragility of the UK’s just-in-time food supply chain. The UK only produces 50 percent of the food it consumes, which leaves it vulnerable to shocks in the global supply chain. The closures and lockdowns enforced due to the pandemic have also created logistical bottlenecks that ripple across these lengthy chains
“When we founded LettUs Grow, we wanted to enable anyone, anywhere in the world, to grow fresh produce near its point of consumption. That mission has hardly ever felt as urgent as it does today. We knew we had to get involved and help in any way we could," said Jack
Farmer, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of LettUs Grow. "Because our farm modules can be deployed anywhere with an electricity and water supply, they are uniquely positioned to increase regions’ food supply chain resilience by diversifying local food production.”
UNITED KINGDOM: Liverpool's Underground Urban Farm Producing Greens Boxes For Residents
Since launching its Greens for Good project last year, Farm Urban has been busy delivering boxes and towers to businesses and schools across the city
By Lisa Rand Community Reporter
11 APR 2020
The farm, underneath the Baltic Triangle, produces leafy greens hydroponically in vertical towers
Greens for Good is a project by Farm Urban, based in a tunnel under UTC Life Sciences in the Baltic Triangle
A Liverpool urban farm based in a Victorian tunnel underneath the Baltic Triangle is to provide boxes of leafy greens to Liverpool's isolating residents during the lockdown.
Modern mansion with swimming pool around the corner from Lark Lane
Since launching its Greens for Good project last year, Farm Urban has been busy delivering boxes and towers to businesses and schools across the city.
The social enterprise is based beneath the UTC Life Sciences building on Upper Parliament Street, where it produces leafy greens in vertical towers grown hydroponically under controlled conditions.
Yet, with many of their customers closed during the current crisis, Farm Urban has now "pivoted" its activities to work to keeping Liverpool's residents in good supply of healthy fresh produce during lockdown - and the team have adopted a military-style approach of splitting their team in two for the duration of the pandemic to ensure crop production continues even if team members become unwell.
Managing director of Farm Urban, Dr. Paul Myers told the ECHO: "Before all this, we were mainly focusing on our boxes of greens going into offices, and for every box that we sold into the office that would go towards greens in school kitchens."We also worked with businesses installing large scale systems. and that's now ground to a halt.
Read Entire Article
What Are The Hygiene Benefits From The Way We Grow?
Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases around the world, proper hygiene practices such as hand washing have become a more regular part of the daily routine
Due to the surge in Covid-19 cases around the world, proper hygiene practices such as hand washing have become a more regular part of daily routine. However, the importance of maintaining high hygiene standards has always been critical when it comes to food safety. Given the sheer number of restaurants in the UAE, local government regulations prescribe exact procedures and requirements for establishments that handle and serve food. For example, Madar Farms has been a certified member of Dubai Municipality’s FoodSafe initiative since 2018. While we can be confident in the hygiene protocols governing where our food was served, do we really know under what conditions our food was grown and packed?
We’ve all experienced some sort of food contamination at one point in our lives – but did you know that food contamination kills almost half a million people every year? [1] Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances causes over 200 types of disease – ranging from diarrhea to cancers. In 2019 Romaine Lettuce grown in California was recalled twice due to E.Coli contamination, which can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections, or even kidney failure. The outbreak was found to originate in field agriculture due to contaminated water sources. Madar Farms eliminates this risk by only using municipal drinking water as our indoor farms’ water source, which passes through a 3-stage purification process consisting of a UV-light, a sediment filter, and a carbon filter.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a widely recognized food safety certification. Rather than rely on intensive inspections of the final product, HACCP’s approach is to ensure that standard operating procedures are designed to avoid food safety hazards in the first place. Our operations are HACCP certified, but we hold ourselves to a higher standard.
Our hygiene protocols are founded on three principles: education of staff, mitigation of potential risks, and strict adherence to standardized processes. Every single grower in our team holds Basic Food Hygiene certifications, and farm managers are Level 3 Food Safety certified. Potential contamination risks are minimized through structural and procedural practices.
Upon entering our farms, our staff remove their street clothes and put on food handler workwear (white cotton lab coats and trousers). Shoes are changed, hands are washed, and then all workers pass over a shoe disinfection mat. Inside the farm, daily and weekly cleaning routines ensure all critical surfaces are properly cleaned and disinfected with plant-safe sanitizers.
We use steel structures to prevent pest intrusion. In our farms, we use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to sanitize all surfaces and growing environments. We chose this because the only byproducts of this formula are simply water and oxygen – things that people and plants love. Even our water and air are treated by UV filters, running 24/7 to ensure that even in the unlikely event that a contaminant enters the farm, it will be neutralized immediately before spreading. Most importantly, access is restricted to only those essential to growing, with a strict visitor policy that restricts physical entrance to the farm (we still have windows that allow you to see our growers at work because we value transparency).
We go above and beyond regulatory requirements by submitting random samples of our produce to screen for all recognized pathogens to third party laboratories that are accredited by Emirates International Accreditation Center (ISO/IEC 17025:2005). Although this extra step is not required by local law or even industry best practice, we choose to do this to ensure our customers are eating the safest food possible coming from our farms.
As we excitedly look forward to building our new facility, we are working to ensure that the highest standards of food safety and hygiene are incorporated into the facility design and layout. We are employing lessons learned in our R&D facility to further minimize the risk of either a plant-based infection or harvested produce contamination. We have benchmarked the industry’s recognized food hygiene leaders and are in consultation with two international food safety consultancies to ensure that this commercial-scale facility delivers not only locally grown, nutritious food, but that food that is safe for you and your families, for decades to come.
Soilless Farming: The Need of The Hour For The Environment
With soilless farming, the lack of gardening space or the lack of knowledge of farming will not be an issue at all. Hydroponic farming is just what the world needs today to counter the rising fuel prices, increases the cost of living and global warming
12 Apr'20
The volume of water that goes into irrigating conventional vegetable farms and fruit orchards is staggering
One of the biggest advantages of growing your own food is that you know what it containsHydroponic farming is especially important in times of crisis
When was the last time you thought how the bunch of kale now lying on the prepping counter came to the marketplace? Have you ever wondered how bell peppers are grown or transported from the farmers to the market?
The truth is – veggies and fruits have always been accessible to us. We don’t have to worry about how the farmer grows his vegetables, or who hauls them from the farm to the supermarket.
Why Should Hydroponics Be The Future Of Farming?
However, we are standing at a crucial point in time where we have to question how much fossil fuel goes into transporting the food we eat. How much carbon and water footprints are you contributing by consuming your protein smoothie? You might be trying to eat healthy and organic, but is your food also eco-friendly?
Water footprint: (and not carbon.) The volume of water that goes into irrigating conventional vegetable farms and fruit orchards is staggering. Many farmers still prefer chemical fertilizers and growth stimulants that flow into the water bodies nearby. It is a vicious cycle that you can stop right now!
Turn Your Terrace Or Balcony Into An Organic Farm
With soilless farming, the lack of gardening space or the lack of knowledge of farming will not be an issue at all. Hydroponic farming is just what the world needs today to counter the rising fuel prices, increases the cost of living and global warming.
When you can produce the food you are going to need, you can confidently say that you do not contribute to the additional consumption of fossil fuel that goes into transporting the food.
Today, some farms have adopted the soilless form of agriculture standardized by the People Adaptation to the Adverse Environment Initiative. Since hydroponic farming requires less space and fewer resources, farms can produce more without compromising the quality of the plants.
The water-based system can be completely automated, so the farmers don’t need to be present 24×7 to ensure the high-quality of their produce and to optimize the productivity.
Find The Missing Link Between Nutrition And Health
It is a sustainable form of farming since the limited use of resources does not compromise the quality of the plants. Hydroponically produced fruits and vegetables are not just safe for consumption, the surrounding environment is also safe for the residents (home farming) and the farmers (commercial farming).
One of the biggest advantages of growing your own food is that you know what it contains. When buying (lets mention something that we grow or can grow) lettuce or spinach from the market, you do not know if the farmer actually used the best grade of organic compost.ADVERTISEMENTHowever, at home, you can rear the plants with care and you know exactly what nutrients you have included in the substrate. Moreover, you will always be sure that there is 0% pesticide or herbicide in the food you serve to your loved ones.
Know Precisely What You Are Eating And Serving
Whether you choose to try hydroponic farming or shift to sourcing your food from a commercial hydroponic farm nearby, you will always be able to monitor and trace their growing process.
If you use a standard hydroponic agriculture DIY kit, or the farm uses a standardized method to grow their soilless plants inside an indoor controlled environment, you can always be sure about the quality of the food you eat and serve.
It is a form of “precision farming” where nothing in excess goes into the substrate. In fact, soilless farming demands purification of the water used for the farming process. The perfectly pH-balanced (5.5) water contains most of the nutrients necessary for a plant’s growth.
Hydroponic farming utilizes 95% less water than traditional farming. Now, isn’t that an additional reason to try soilless farming?
Save Fuel, Save The Environment
If you are thinking about setting up your own soilless farm, then your produce can go directly from the growth system to the tables. If you choose a nearby hydroponic farm, you will still contribute to saving the environment by limiting the water and carbon footprints involved in transporting the produce.
Sustainable agriculture focuses mainly on strategies that reduce dependence on non-renewable or environmentally harmful inputs. These include eco-agriculture, permaculture, organic, ecological, low-input, biodynamic, ecological, community-based, and comprehensive strategies. Soilless agriculture is, in form and in essence, an environmentally friendly- agriculture, sensitive to the environment and based on a community approach.
Apart from ensuring that you serve a healthy and completely organic meal to your family, you can enjoy a guilt-free meal that has contributed to zero or negligible carbon emission in terms of transport.
Why Is Hydroponic Farming Most Necessary Today, In Times Of Crises?
Due to the high supply of pure water at pH 5.5 and the close monitoring of the closed growth environment, the plants grow faster than in the typical agricultural farms. Their growth cycle is much shorter and you can expect a higher frequency of harvesting than traditional farming.
Hydroponic farming is especially important in times of crisis such as these. With the scare of COVID-19 infection and mass lockdowns, your home soilless growth system set up can continue to provide healthy and nutrient-rich food to you and your loved ones.
Note: The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views held by Inc42, its creators or employees. Inc42 is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by guest bloggers.
AeroFarms To Build World’s Largest Indoor Vertical Farm In Abu Dhabi
The Newark-based sustainable indoor agriculture company said it will construct a 90,000-square-foot facility dedicated to the R&D and commercialization of local crops as part of a $100 million AgTech investment by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office
By Emily Bader
Newark | Apr 9, 2020
AeroFarms
Inside one of AeroFarm's indoor vertical farms.
AeroFarms will build the largest-ever indoor vertical farm in Abu Dhabi, it announced on Thursday.
The Newark-based sustainable indoor agriculture company said it will construct a 90,000-square-foot facility dedicated to the R&D and commercialization of local crops as part of a $100 million AgTech investment by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. AeroFarms indoor vertical farming technology, it said, uses 95% less water and no pesticides.
The facility is expected to employ approximately 60 workers focused on horticulture, engineering, and data science, and will include the following centers of excellence:
Advanced organoleptic research and precision phenotyping laboratory;
Advanced seed breeding center;
Phytochemical analysis laboratory;
Machine vision and machine learning laboratory;
Robotics, automation and drones laboratory.
Since 2004, AeroFarms has grown about 800 varieties of crops and is anticipating expanding its production capabilities into other verticals such as pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals.
“Our mission is to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity, and this new cutting-edge R&D facility leverages our agriculture expertise and science-driven roots. We will be conducting leading research in plant science, vertical farming, and automation, accelerating innovation cycles and commercializing a diverse range of products. We will be partnering with major international companies, local universities, and AgTech startups to help solve some of the most pressing agriculture needs of our time, and AeroFarms is proud to play a pivotal role to help establish the Emirate of Abu Dhabi as a global hub for AgTech innovation,” David Rosenberg, co-founder, and CEO of AeroFarms, said.
Last year, the Abu Dhabi Investment office announced a $275 million AgTech invective program. As part of its initial funding round, ADIO will invest $100 million into four companies, including AeroFarms, to build facilities focused on solving regional and global challenges in Abu Dhabi.
“We are delighted to welcome AeroFarms to Abu Dhabi. AgTech is a priority sector for the Abu Dhabi Government, and our long-term goal is to support the development of innovation that will contribute to solving challenges of regional and global importance. We are excited to partner with AeroFarms and enable them to pioneer solutions for agriculture in desert and arid climates. AeroFarms will add significant scale to Abu Dhabi’s growing AgTech ecosystem,” Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, director-general of ADIO, said.
Coronavirus Is Teaching Us That Our Supply Chain Is Flawed
America’s supermarkets are the tip of an enormous iceberg that represents a complicated logistics network. On a good day, this system works
The world is unpredictable–the past few months have made this abundantly clear. Since January 2020, the global community has had to grapple with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The virus’s trajectory has been closely followed by drastic and disruptive measures around the world. Words like “social distancing”, “shelter in place”, and “quarantine” are new additions to our common lexicon and everyday reality. Businesses are shuttered, schools are closed, and the global economy is wobbling dangerously.
For many, a trip to the grocery stores represents one of the last ties to normalcy–and a needed break from the cabin fever of lockdown. But even in this essential industry, long-hidden cracks are beginning to show. Panic buying has brought on the near extinction of many familiar products (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer) and the endangerment of several kitchen staples (chicken, baking goods, and, increasingly, fresh produce).
As the pandemic exacerbates the issues in our global food system, we wanted to understand why the system is failing, and how we can build a more resilient one in the future.
Complete Story Here
YesHealth Group Partners With Nordic Harvest ApS To Open The Largest Vertical Farm In Europe
After months of detailed planning, Taiwan based vertical farming company YesHealth Group has commenced construction of its first international vertical farming project in Copenhagen, Denmark
Taoyuan, Taiwan, 13.4.2020
After months of detailed planning, Taiwan based vertical farming company YesHealth Group has commenced construction of its first international vertical farming project in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In March, construction of the vertical farm in Denmark’s Copenhagen Markets in Taastrup has started. Operations are planned to begin in Q4 of this year with the strategic partner Nordic Harvest ApS taking over local operations. Once the vertical farm reaches full production capacity, it will yield more than 3.000 kg every day making it the most efficient vertical farm in Europe to date.
Lead by YesHealth Group’s Chairman, Tsai Wen-Chin and senior management of Nordic Harvest ApS, today’s event marks not only a decisive day in the company’s history but also in the industry of vertical farming.
For YesHealth Group, this event represents a crucial milestone in its international expansion and the first step in its elaborate expansion plan. YesHealth Group’s technology will have a proven total yield of 7.500 kg per day, once construction in Denmark is completed. This validation of yield on an international level is unprecedented in the company’s history and in the vertical farming industry.
Therefore, for the industry, this event marks an unprecedented global proof of concept and technology capabilities on a never-before-seen scale.
“With all of our technology in-house, YesHealth Group will now be able to utilize real-world data from vastly different climates and environments and improve our technology at an even greater speed and efficiency”, YesHealth Group’s Chairman Tsai affirms.
Furthermore, according to Director of Business Development at YesHealth Group, Jesper Hansen, “this event also proves that it is now possible to commercialize vertical farming produce on a large scale and that this produce will be able to support the traditional farming sector from now on. Vertical farming is no longer just a theoretical concept for the garage.”
Completion of the first vertical farm in Copenhagen with Nordic Harvest is set to be in November this year with further plans to expand into the other Nordic countries over the next years. “Nordic Harvest ApS is backed by prominent investors and leaders within the business, the food industry, and agriculture making Nordic Harvest the ideal partner for YesHealth Group” explains Jesper Hansen.
YesHealth Group is a mission-driven company that aims to provide fresh, nutritious, and safe vegetables to the world. YesHealth Group is currently the largest vertical farming company in Asia with plans to expand globally. Its vertical farms address climate change and food security challenges through sustainable and environment-friendly agricultural practices built for the 21st century and beyond.