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These UMD Researchers Are Helping Farmers Grow Crops on Urban Roofs
With the help of University of Maryland researchers, farms across Washington, D.C., are taking watermelons, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes to the next level: the roof
September 6, 2019
The green roof at the top of the Physical Sciences Complex is just one among many around campus that serve as drainage and an ecosystem. (Joe Ryan/The Diamondback)
With the help of University of Maryland researchers, farms across Washington, D.C., are taking watermelons, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes to the next level: the roof.
John Lea-Cox, a plant science and landscape architecture professor at this university, and Andrew Ristvey, an affiliate faculty in the department, are working with the D.C.-based farming foundation Up Top Acres to grow crops on urban rooftops.
Kristof Grina, co-founder and farm director of Up Top Acres, said he initially connected with Lea-Cox and Ristvey a few years ago for help with research and data collection surrounding stormwater management and water retention on their rooftop farms.
Lea-Cox and his team monitor the rainfall, soil temperature and soil moisture on Up Top Acres’ rooftop farms, Grina said. Lea-Cox said he was impressed by the quality of the rooftop produce, which grows across eight farms in Maryland and D.C. The crops are delivered to restaurants downstairs or sold in a community-supported agriculture system.
“There’s like a little bit of Little Italy on the roof down in D.C.,” Lea-Cox said.
Relish Catering, a catering company in North Bethesda, started working with Up Top Acres about a year ago. The company operates about half a mile away from the rooftop farm at Pike and Rose.
The rooftop farm cuts transportation costs for the company, said chef Laura Calderone, since it’s both walkable and bikeable. When she needs ten pounds of pea shoots, for example, she can just load them in her backpack.
“They will literally pick it that morning, and it is going out to our clients that afternoon for the following day,” Calderone said. “Sometimes there are still bugs in it that are moving around, but that’s okay.”
Calderone said Relish Catering has incorporated local rooftop ingredients into salads, salsa verde and tarts, among other dishes.
“Their greens are sweeter and they are not as fibrous,” Calderone said. “You don’t have to manipulate it much. We can let it shine as it is.”
This university’s researchers collect data that gives the farm’s operators “better insight” into how the systems are functioning, Grina said. It lets them know how they’re doing with irrigation practices, and can spur ideas for design improvement.
Lea-Cox and his team also monitor nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the crops. An excess of these nutrients can runoff into local waterways and trigger excessive algae growth. When algae grows too quickly and too abundantly, oxygen levels decline, ultimately killing the fish.
La Betty, an American-style restaurant on K Street in D.C., featured wild rooftop-sourced bouquets on the tabletops. Owner and head of operations Tessa Velazquez said that the flowers last longer than alternatives.
“The story behind it is great,” Velazquez said. “To say that we’re featuring local farmed flowers makes us feel good, makes our customers excited … they’re beautiful and they’re colorful and you really just get that sense of how natural and fresh that they are.”
La Betty is located about two miles from Up Top Acres’ 55 M Street farm in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, which opened in 2016. Soon, Velazquez said, she hopes to feature produce from a rooftop farm on her menu.
“I love that they’re actually engaged with the community, as well as really trying to bring that fresh farm-to-table experience — which is a fuzzy term, but they’re really doing it,” Velazquez said. “They’re your neighbors. They’re down the street. They’re not two hours away in Pennsylvania, they are really here.”
GP Solutions Installs State-of-the-Art Growth Chamber at University of California, Riverside
Specially configured “GrowPod” will be used to expand knowledge into advanced agricultural methodologies
Corona, CA – May 14, 2019 – GP Solutions (OTC: GWPD), developer of GrowPod modular automated micro-farms, announced it has installed one of its state-of-the-art Growth Chambers at the University of California, Riverside. The growth chamber will be utilized for agricultural and horticultural research at the University.
Grow Pod Solutions developed the specialized system to meet the need for a large walk-in growing system that offers researchers a precision-controlled environment to conduct sophisticated research at laboratories and universities across the country.
Grow Pod Solutions offers one of the finest walk-in growth chambers available, and features a number of advanced technologies, including optimized photosynthesis, high level security, 24/7 remote control and video monitoring via a cloud-based platform, and precision environmental controls for temperature, humidity, and other vital factors.
The GrowPod system provides an optimum solution for research with a clean environment that is free of contaminants, pathogens, and pesticides.
The University of California, Riverside, College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, is one of preeminent institutions of its kind in the world. Known for its cutting-edge research, the campus is at the forefront of ag-science and operates several prominent institutions, including The California Agriculture and Food Enterprise, The Citrus Research Center, The Center for Conversation Biology, and The Center for Integrative Biological Collections.
GP Solutions is proud to be a provider of technology and expertise to the University, and looks forward to becoming an integral partner in the ongoing development of advanced cultivation methodologies.
For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call (855) 247-8054.
ABOUT GP SOLUTIONS:
GP Solutions is at the forefront of clean agriculture. The company developed “GrowPods” – innovative indoor clean micro farms that provide optimum conditions for plant cultivation with total environmental control. GrowPods are modular and automated for ease of use and scalability.
Forward-Looking Statements
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Connect:
Email: info@growpodsolutions.com
Website: www.growpodsolutions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/GrowPodTechnology
Twitter: @GrowPodSolution
The Urban Farming ‘Revolution’ Has A Fatal Flaw
Commercial urban agriculture in New York City has provided questionable environmental gains, and has not significantly improved urban food security
By Emma Bryce
April 15, 2019
Commercial urban agriculture in New York City has provided questionable environmental gains, and has not significantly improved urban food security.
These are the findings of a recent case study of New York City which shows that, despite the fanfare over commercial urban farming, it will need a careful re-evaluation if it’s going to play a sustainable role in our future food systems.
The rise of commercial controlled-environment agriculture (CEA)—comprised of large scale rooftop farms, vertical, and indoor farms—is a bid to re-envision cities as places where we could produce food more sustainably in the future. Proponents see CEA as a way to bring agriculture closer to urban populations, thereby increasing food security, and improving agriculture’s environmental footprint by reducing the emissions associated with the production and transport of food.
But the researchers on the new paper wanted to explore whether these theoretical benefits are occurring in reality.
They focused on New York City, where CEA has dramatically increased in the last decade. Looking at 10 farms that produce roof- and indoor-grown vegetables at commercial scales, they investigated how much food the farms are producing, who it’s reaching, and how much space is available to expand CEA into.
They found that the biggest of these 10 commercial farms is around a third of an acre in size. Most are on roofs spread across New York City, and some are inside buildings and shipping containers. Mainly, these farms are producing impressive amounts of leafy greens such as lettuce, and herbs; some also produce fish.
But while rooftop farms rely on natural sunlight to feed the crops, indoor farms use artificial lights. These farms potentially have a greater energy footprint even than conventional outdoors farms, the researchers say–challenging the assumption that urban farms are less impactful than conventional ones.
Some farms also embraced high-tech systems, such as wind, rain, temperature, and humidity detectors and indoor heating, to enhance growing conditions in environments that aren’t naturally suited to agriculture. These elevate the energy costs of the food produced, and may be giving CEA an unexpectedly high carbon footprint, the researchers say.
Furthermore, the predominantly grown foods—such as lettuce—aren’t of great nutritional value for the urban population, especially those threatened by food insecurity. Most produce from CEAs is sold at a premium, something that partly reflects the cost of the real estate used to grow the food. Consequently, that produce is typically grown for high-end food stores and restaurants, meaning it’s unlikely to reach low-income urban populations who need it most.
The researchers also think it’s unlikely that CEA—which currently occupies just 3.09 acres in New York City—could expand into the roughly 1,864 acres they estimate is still suitable for urban farming in New York City.
The rising cost of real estate might put these urban acres beyond the reach of new farming start ups, they think. These companies also face increasing competition from a growing number of farms springing up on the outskirts of cities—where land is cheaper and there’s space to produce more food, while also benefiting from urban proximity.
With its one-city focus, the research isn’t representative of what might be unfolding in other places around the world. Other cities may be having more success—for instance, Tokyo has gained global attention for its large scale vertical farming efforts. Yet as a case study, it does reveal useful lessons—especially for cities wanting to meet the original twin goals of urban agriculture: equitably increasing access to food, at a lower environmental cost.
The researchers note first of all that CEA is optimal in places where less supplemental heat and light is needed to grow food. More thought might also be given to the nutritional value and cost of foods grown, to generate benefits for all the city’s residents, not just high-income ones. The researchers question whether smaller, community-driven plots of urban agriculture—like community gardens, school, and prison farms—might actually do a better job of providing food to at-risk city residents, compared to commercial urban farms that inevitably have to focus on profits.
Based on the study of New York, the researchers caution: “CEA may be touted as an exciting set of technologies with great promise, but it is unlikely to offer a panacea for social problems or an unqualified urban agricultural revolution.”
It’s easy to be drawn in by the dystopian allure of vertical farms and underground greens nestled into our cities. But until we’ve streamlined its role, we should perhaps not overstate what commercial urban agriculture can do—or, instead be guided by cities where there are stronger signs of social and environmental success.
Source: Goodman et. al. “Will the urban agricultural revolution be vertical and soilless? A case study of controlled environment agriculture in New York City.”Land Use Policy. 2019.
This piece was originally published on Anthropocene Magazine, a publication of Future Earth dedicated to creating a Human Age we actually want to live in.
Scientists Made Better-Tasting Basil Through “Cyber Farming”
A better basil exists, but it’s being grown in an environment that resembles something more likely to show up on an episode of Star Trek than in any backyard garden
REUTERS/TOM MIHALEK
By Chase Purdy April 5, 2019
PESTO, CHANG-O
A better basil exists, but it’s being grown in an environment that resembles something more likely to show up on an episode of Star Trek than in any backyard garden.
The team of MIT scientists behind it are calling their process “cyber agriculture,” a method of growing plants in shipping containers retrofitted with lots of high-tech gear that brings crazy levels of precision control to the environment. That entails using complex computers to track a plant’s minor genetic and epigenetic changes over time while searching for the right balance of temperature, humidity, level of ultraviolet light, and light-exposure time, among other things, to create the conditions that will encourage the basil to producer a richer, tastier version of itself. They call it a “climate recipe,” but really it’s using machine learning technology to farm. The details of their work were published April 3 in the journal PLOS ONE.
“We’re really interested in building networked tools that can take a plant’s experience, its phenotype, the set of stresses it encounters, and its genetics, and digitize that to allow us to understand the plant-environment interaction,” said researcher Caleb Harper in a statement.
Most of this research is being conducted in Middleton, Massachusetts, a small town about 20 miles (32 km) north of Boston. It’s there that the MIT team tends to a hydroponic farm of basil plants. They’ve discovered some interesting details: For instance, the plants tend to taste better when they have exposure to light all 24 hours of the day.
“You couldn’t have discovered this any other way. Unless you’re in Antarctica, there isn’t a 24-hour photoperiod to test in the real world,” said John de la Parra, a co-author of the study.
The scientists are making their data available to the public at no charge. Right now, there are companies working on similar high-tech hydroponic farming. Toshiba is churning out lettuce, it’s happening on rooftops in China, and a company called Farm.One is growing food out of basements in Manhattan. But most of these companies keep their techniques under wraps, making it hard for more people to enter the market or for nonprofit initiatives to get off the ground.
“Our tools being open-source, hopefully they will get spread faster and create the ability to do networked science together,” Harper said.
And that could lead to an interesting new era of urban farming, in which cities can more efficiently feed themselves without relying on the costly supply chain networks that currently exist to ship herbs, fruits, vegetables into municipalities from faraway farms.
Photo: Halcyon hydroponics.
Climate Labels On Food To Become A Reality In Denmark
Research from the University of Technology Sydney and Duke University suggests that using labels that are easy to understand may create demand for responsibly produced food. Lead author of the research
The Danish Government has announced that a climate labeling system on food products will accompany its plan to become carbon neutral by 2050. Officials from the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities, and Climate stated that the Government is proposing to work with supermarkets to place stickers on all food products that clearly indicate their carbon footprint. The proposal would help consumers make informed choices, with Denmark’s Minister for the Environment, Lars Christian Lilleholt, explaining, “We want to give consumers the means to assess in supermarkets the environmental impact of products.”
Research from the University of Technology Sydney and Duke University suggests that using labels that are easy to understand may create demand for responsibly produced food. Lead author of the research, Dr. Adrian Camilleri, describes the current lack of transparency, “With an appliance such as a heater you can feel the energy used and see an electricity bill at the end of the month, so the impact is quite salient, whereas the impact of food production is largely invisible.”
Minister Lilleholt says that giving consumers easy access to information is important, but accurate labeling comes with a long list of challenges. The labels may have to consider water and land usage, life-cycle analysis, greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon footprint from transport. Director of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Morten Høyer, approves of the proposal, but notes a challenging component: nutritional value. “It might be necessary to weigh up the environmental impact against the nutritional value of the product. A bottle of soda may have a low environmental impact, but it is not a product you can live on,” says Høyer.
Developing a comprehensive labeling system that spans all food products in Denmark’s supermarkets may take time, and a formal launch date has not yet been set. If successful, climate labeling could shed light on which practices produce healthy food more sustainably and may even inspire competitive innovation from producers. “My impression is that there is a demand for knowledge about how individual consumers can contribute to improving world climate,” Lilleholt says.
Denmark, which ranked 17th in the world in the Climate Change Performance Index, announced the proposal last year in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report highlighting the consequences of global warming
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Program:
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) | AFRI Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Applications to the FY 2019 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) Request for Applications (RFA) must focus on approaches that promote transformational changes in the U.S. food and agriculture system within the next 25 years.
NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach, and that will significantly improve the supply of abundant, affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible food, while providing sustainable opportunities for expansion of the bioeconomy through novel animal, crop, and forest products and supporting technologies.
These approaches must demonstrate current and future social, behavioral, economic, health, and environmental impacts.
Additionally, the outcomes of the work being proposed must result in societal benefits, including promotion of rural prosperity and enhancement of quality of life for those involved in food and agricultural value chains from production to utilization and consumption. See AFRI SAS RFA for details.
APPLY FOR GRANT(LINK IS EXTERNAL)VIEW RFA
ELIGIBILITY DETAILS
Who Is Eligible to Apply:
1862 Land-Grant Institutions, 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, 1994 Land-Grant Institutions, Other or Additional Information (See below), Private Institutions of Higher Ed, State Controlled Institutions of Higher Ed
More on Eligibility:
Note: This RFA invites only integrated project (must include research, education, and extension) applications. Please see Part III, A. of the this AFRI SAS RFA for more specific eligibility requirements for integrated projects. Applications from ineligible institutions will not be reviewed.
IMPORTANT DATES
Posted Date:
Friday, March 29, 2019
Closing Date:
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Other Due Date:
Letter of Intent Due:
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For More Information Contact:
AFRI Sustainable Agricultural Systems Team
Contact for Electronic Access Problems:
electronic@nifa.usda.gov(link sends e-mail)
Funding Opportunity Number:
USDA-NIFA-AFRI-006739
CFDA number:
10.310
Previous fiscal year(s) RFA:
FY 2018 AFRI SAS FINAL RFA (431.48 KB)
Estimated Total Program Funding:
$90,000,000
Percent of Applications Funded:
10%
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement:
See RFA
Range of Awards:
$5,000,000 - $10,000,000
Six Spectral Channels: Osram Unveils Grow Light System For Horticulture Research
Phytofy RL is already being used by NASA and Michigan State University. Osram is using it to carry out research of growth, anthocyanins and taste, conducted in a climate chamber at the TU Munich.
Osram has developed a research luminaire to meet the growing demands of researchers at universities, private institutes and plant production in greenhouses and vertical farms. Researchers and modern agriculturists can use the LED-based plant luminaire system Phytofy RL in the lab or in climatic chambers in order to develop new plant-specific light and growth recipes. These recipes can lead to desired outcomes in plant quality, yield and flavor.
Each of the six spectral channels can be addressed individually with Phytofy RL and the intensity planned and managed precisely in real time.
Selective intervention
"Various light wavelengths and intensities allow selective intervention in the metabolic processes of agricultural crops and ornamental crops", Claudia Zehnpfennig, Global Product Manager with Osram explains. "Yield, coloration and taste as well as other features can be influenced in this way. The latest research shows that not only is this process impacted by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) – in the range of 400 to 700 nanometers (nm) – but that shorter and longer wavelengths also influence plant development."
With Phytofy RL, six spectral channels – from a natural far-red end-of-day light to UV light – can be addressed individually and the photosynthetic photo flux density (PPFD) planned and controlled precisely in real time: 385 nm, 450 nm, 521 nm, 660 nm, 730 nm as well as a warm white channel with 2,700 Kelvin. At the same time, the large number of LEDs in the fixture allows a higher photosynthetic photon flux (PPF).
Claudia Zehnpfennig & her colleague Kelcey Trecartin last year on the Cultivate
Light recipes
According to Claudia, the highly uniform light distribution is a special feature of the system. "The calibrated system furthermore supplies a precise irradiance map, calculated by the software with no quantum flux measurements required. Use of Phytofy RL allows for evaluation of the most varied light recipes, without having to change luminaires between individual tests. Diverse combinations of wavelengths also can be programmed, in different light profiles and across the entire photoperiod." In addition, users get five light recipes following registration, which have been specially developed by Osram.
Use of Phytofy RL allows the researchers to evaluate the most varied light recipes, without having to change luminaires between individual tests.
Climate chambers
The system software was developed by Osram together with plant biologists and can be used intuitively via the graphical user interface. Manufacturers of climate chambers benefit too, with integration possible in their systems. "The flat and robust design (667 x 299 x 44 mm, just under 9 kilos) is optimized for vertical farms, rack systems and growth chambers."
Phytofy RL is already being used by NASA and Michigan State University. Osram is using it to carry out research of growth, anthocyanins and taste, conducted in a climate chamber at the TU Munich.
For more information:
Claudia Zehnpfennig
horticulture@osram.com
Osram
Marcel-Breuer-Strasse 6
80807 Munich, Germany
Phone +49 89 6213-0
Fax +49 89 6213-2020
www.osram.com/phytofy
Publication date : 2/27/2019
"Clean Growing Solutions For Hospitals And Research Laboratories"
Seedo, a high-tech company providing fully automated and controlled indoor growing machines for the cannabis and agriculture markets, has signed a memorandum of understanding for mutual research and development with SYS Technologies, a company specializing in the development and manufacture of innovative indoor and portable clean environment technologies, to deploy next-generation containerized clean growing solutions for commercial use. The systems will be applied to technology used in hospitals and research laboratories, resulting in high-quality yield of both medical cannabis and vegetables.
SYS Technologies will provide Seedo's commercial indoor growing machines with positive air pressure clean environment technologies, resulting in pressurized growing containers that have more filtered air then the surrounding space outside the containers. The protected containers will be bacteria-free with zero environmental influence, allowing commercial operators to cost-effectively generate high yields of lab-grade, pesticide-free product. Even in the harshest environments or with limited space, cultivators can use Seedo's intelligent systems and cloud-enabled app for secure remote monitoring and controlling to harvest the leading-edge of precision agriculture.
"We're honored to be working in alignment with Seedo to design the future of commercial indoor growing technologies," said Mr. Yossi Zur, CEO of SYS Technologies. "With quality standards and environmental stressors rising in cannabis and agricultural markets, our mission to provide the cleanest and highest yield of product for commercial growers is well on track in our partnership with Seedo."
SYS Technologies offers a variety of innovative solutions and breakthrough technology in the field of indoor clean environment systems as well as portable solutions. Its clean air environment systems allow the creation of a defined space that is free of contaminants such as particles, bacteria, microbes, and more. These systems have broad applications, both in the medical field such as operating rooms and isolation facilities, and in the high-tech industry such as cleanrooms that have a variety of purposes.
"We are looking forward to the successful development and deployment of our future containerized clean growing solutions for commercial use," said Zohar Levy, CEO of Seedo. "By adopting cutting edge technology that is already in use by governments, non-profits, hospitals and research institutes all over the world, we will meet the highest quality standards and comply with international health regulations."
For more information:
Seedo
+972-546-642-228
info@seedolab.com
www.seedolab.com
EDEN ISS Antarctic Grower Paul Zabel Returns
365 days on the eternal ice flows.
365 days in the Antarctic, of which 257 days cut off from the outside world. Antarctic grower Paul Zabel from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has tested vegetable cultivation, suitable for Moon and Mars environments in the EDEN-ISS greenhouse. There, he harvested peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and various lettuces and herbs, grown with the use of artificial light.
Now Paul Zabel has returned to Germany and, at a press conference at the DLR Bremen site, he spoke for the first time since his arrival of his efforts and deprivations of recent months, as well as the joys of plant breeding in extreme situations and his life on the seventh continent.
"The Antarctic is a fascinating place and I am very happy that I could be one of the few people who had the opportunity to spend the winter there, having experienced many unique impressions and challenges over the past 12 months. Now it is great to be back home, seeing family, friends and colleagues again," said Zabel.
"Antarctic grower" Paul Zabel returned after a stopover at the Antarctic Novo Airbase and a short stay in Cape Town shortly before celebrating Christmas in his home in the Brandenburg Spreewald. "Having spent Christmas 2017 in the Antarctic, it was very special to spend Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve at home." Zabel left for the Antarctic on 16 December 2017, with three other members of the EDEN-ISS team. After a two-month build-up phase, he remained there from February 18, 2018 on German Antarctic station Neumayer III with nine other overwinterers of the AWI.
Working in the Antarctic cold
Day by day, Zabel set off on the commute to the EDEN-ISS greenhouse, about 400 meters from the station. Only during the strongest storms, of which Zabel experienced many during the Antarctic winter, the greenhouse was monitored and controlled automatically by people in the Bremen control center. "From Bremen, we were in daily contact with Paul," reports EDEN-ISS's Daniel Schubert from the DLR Space Systems Institute. "He has done a great job over the past months. Although it has taken up quite a lot of his time, the EDEN-ISS project and he himself will be thanked by future astronauts."
Other members of the AWI hibernation team also helped Paul Zabel with his work. They aided him with the sowing of the plants and supported him with the numerous experiments. "After more than a year in the Antarctic, we can look back on successful overwintering." The work in the greenhouse and the fresh vegetables have enriched our time at the Neumayer Station III," says station manager Bernhard Gropp.
Rich harvest
A detailed evaluation of the studies on plant breeding in Antarctica is currently in full swing. The extensive results, including technical, botanical, microbiological and psychological analysis, are expected in May 2019. It is already clear that Paul Zabel has repeatedly been able to harvest a rich harvest, again supported by the other AWI overwinterers. For example, on Neumayer III over the past year, the crew wwere able to eat 67 kilograms of cucumbers, 46 kilograms of tomatoes, 19 kilograms of kohlrabi, 8 kilograms of radishes, 15 kilograms of herbs and 117 kilograms of lettuce.
The station continues to be open to researchers from all over the world. In the next two years, DLR, AWI and other research partners will further develop the production processes in the EDEN-ISS greenhouse, with the goal to offer future stations on the Moon and Mars an optimized greenhouse concept. The continuation of the project is open to researchers from all over the world. "Soon we will hand over the greenhouse to the new overwinterers who will continue the EDEN-ISS project in the Antarctic and look after the crop," says dr. Daniel Schubert. "We will monitor and control the greenhouse from Bremen." Schubert and his team will again travel to the Antarctic in mid-January 2019 to maintain the EDEN-ISS greenhouse and update it technically for the continuation.
EDEN-ISS: Food supply of the future
World food production is one of the key societal challenges of the 21st century. An increasing world population and simultaneous upheavals caused by climate change call for new ways of cultivating crops, even in climatically unfavorable regions. For deserts and areas with low temperatures, as well as space missions to the Moon and Mars, a greenhouse, closed of from the weather, the sun and the seasons, will allow independent harvests, less water consumption and the abandonment of pesticides and insecticides. With the project EDEN-ISS, such a greenhouse of the future can be tested under Antarctic extreme conditions.
Source: www.gemuese-online.de
Publication date : 1/15/2019
Netherlands: Additional Research Facilities At Delphy
The facility has now been extended with the addition of two climate cells.
For years, Delphy Improvement Centre in Bleijswijk and Certhon have shared the same ambition: to contribute to global solutions in the field of health, food safety and sustainability, through knowledge sharing and knowledge development. This is reflected in the Improvement Centre, which was opened a few years ago and has been used for various research projects since. The facility has now been extended with the addition of two climate cells.
Following the research facilities in the greenhouse, Delphy wanted to make an in-depth study of research and research methods. With the two climate cells realized by Certhon last summer, Delphy can gain more knowledge about daylight-free cultivation and physiological aspects of plants. This knowledge can also be applied in the greenhouse.
The two climate cells can be found in the reception area of the research centre. The doors of the cells are equipped with two small windows, so visitors can see which test set-up with which crops are inside. A few weeks ago, the first tomato and cucumber plants were placed and the research started. During the cultivation process there will be frequent consultation between Delphy and Certhon, to share advice and knowledge.
For more information:
Certhon
www.certhon.com
Publication date : 12/17/2018
Digestate As Alternative Substrate For Soil-Less Lettuce Farming
Researchers from Modena University and Reggio Emilia University – in collaboration with the Foggia’s CRA – evaluated the digestate as an alternative and sustainable substrate for farming and as a nutritive solution in the hydroponic farming of lettuce.
The consumption of ready-to-eat salad has been growing over the last 20 years in the European market. The annual growth rate is at 4%. That's why this food category is renowned as one of the most profitable horticultural segments.
As a result of a growing trend, the lettuce and chicory are farmed over a 1.2 million hectares surface globally. The global production is of 27 million tons, almost.
Italy occupies the fourth place in the world, with 38.542 hectares farmed with lettuce and chicory (31.7% in the north, 10% in the Centre, and 58,3% in the South) for a total production of 8.1 million tons. Additionally, greenhouse production is important as well, for a total surface of 4.549 hectares (37.3% in the North, 31.9% in the Centre and 30.8 in the South).
Leafy produce is considered to be one of the most exposed to microbiological risks. The ready-to-eat lettuce is often connected to food poisoning. The Escherichia Coli O157: H7 has been often associated with lettuce.
Researchers from Modena University and Reggio Emilia University – in collaboration with the Foggia’s CRA – evaluated the digestate as an alternative and sustainable substrate for farming and as a nutritive solution in the hydroponic farming of lettuce. In three different experiments, nine hydroponic combinations of substrate and fertilization (agriperlite + standard solution, agri-perlite + liquid digestate, solid digestate + standard solution, solid digestate + liquid digestate, soil + standard solution, peat + standard solution, peat + liquid digestate, digested pelleted + standard solution and digested pelleted + liquid digestate) were tested and compared for the cultivation of baby leaf lettuce.
During crop cycles, the yield and other agronomic and microbiological parameters have been studied. In all the experiments, the combination of agri-perlite + liquid digestate, solid digestate + standard solution and pelleted digestate + standard solution improved the plant growth by influencing roots (+ 32%), buds (+ 40%), total dry weight (+ 29%) and SPAD parameters (+ 17%).
As the results illustrate, the digestate represents a nutritive sustainable solution and an alternative for the soilless baby leaf lettuce farming.
Source: Domenico Ronga, Leonardo Setti, Chiara Salvarani, Riccardo De Leo, Elisa Bedin, Andrea Pulvirenti, Justyna Milc, Nicola Pecchioni, Enrico Francia, 'Effects of solid and liquid digestate for hydroponic baby leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) cultivation', 2019, Scientia Horticulturae, Vol. 244, pag. 172-181.
Publication date : 12/12/2018
You're Invited Tuesday, February 5, 2019 - Ronald Reagan Building - Washington, DC
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research invites you to explore food and agriculture research at our all day event, Foster Our Future. Join FFAR to:
Demonstrate game-changing research technology and innovation
Bring scientific breakthroughs to life
Celebrate the impact food and agriculture has on consumers and producers
Showcase research talent
Highlight the importance of continued research investment
For event and registration information:
REGISTER NOW!
CLICK HERE to add event to calendar.
FFAR thanks our current sponsors as of January 7, 2019.
AgLaunch Initiative, Conagra Brands, Institute for Feed Education & Research, Select Milk Producers
Agritecture Consulting
American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
Biotechnology Innovation Organization
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
Corn Refiners Association
Food Marketing Institute Foundation
The Grange Foundation
International Fertilizer Development Center
McDonald's Corporation
Meridian Institute | AGree
National Pork Producers Council
NOBLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, LLC
Potomac Grange #1
Soil Health Institute
The Sugar Association
Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation
Weed Science Society of America
Special thanks to the American Dairy Science Association
and the American Society of Animal Science.
For more information on how to sponsor contact:
Renée Bullion, rbullion@foundationfar.org.
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The Vegetable Farmer from the Antarctic
Paul Zabel from the German Aerospace Center operates a greenhouse in the Antarctic, where tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers flourish
By Dirk Asendorpf
The greenhouse EDEN: tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce grow up to -40 degrees outside. (DLR)
Paul Zabel from the German Aerospace Center operates a greenhouse in the Antarctic, where tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers flourish. For future space missions, plant cultivation is to be tested under difficult conditions.
"Zabel. Hello. "- A call in Antarctica. Just started there the polar day.
"We have 24 hours of sunshine when we have no clouds. Today it is very nice. We have the second right summer week. It's only
about minus 13 degrees. " In recent months, Paul Zabel had to cope with significantly worse weather conditions. For one polar winter, he was responsible for the research greenhouse of the German Aerospace Center. This is located 300 meters from the German Neumeyer Station in a container.
"We had the lowest temperature with minus 43.4 degrees in August. There were a few days where there were stronger storms, and I did not go because that was just too dangerous. "
He has a satellite connection at all times in the greenhouse 13,500 kilometers away in the view. A dozen screens fill a wall of the control room.
"We can not touch the plant itself. But we could say for example: The container is now two degrees warmer, we put this here and then the container would be up to two degrees warmer. We could control the light and, for example, we could also give a different nutrient mix to the plant. We can control everything from here. "
A full greenhouse for the first visitors to Mars
The complete remote control of vegetable cultivation in a hermetically sealed container is the prerequisite for its application to future interplanetary space missions.
"Scenarios provide that the greenhouse system flies to Mars in advance, unfolds there automatically and already plants are grown automatically. And when the first humans come to Mars, they can almost find a fully grown greenhouse. That's the theory. "
The tomatoes and salad are well grown. Only the strawberries and peppers did not really thrive in the EDEN greenhouse. (DLR)
However, the practice was still a long way away. Almost every day Paul Zabel had to look to the right in the Antarctic greenhouse.
"For example, we had a broken LED lamp from the plant LEDs relatively early in the year. I could then replace it with a spare part. We had several failures of electrically controlled valves and pumps in our cooling system, which are now being replaced by other models. "
The repairs will be carried out by project manager Daniel Schubert personally in January. Then he also brings the seeds for the next test run, including seeds for ten different types of lettuce that Nasa has already tested on the International Space Station. In the Antarctic container they should germinate and grow as independently as possible. A gardener will not exist in the next polar winter.
The greenhouse should be completely remotely controlled
"We could not find anyone who would like to hibernate again. And then we thought: Could we do a self-sufficient mission? So really just observe and control the greenhouse system only from Bremen, out of our mission control center. And we say to the overwinterers: Only go in an emergency - or to harvest. "
Paul Zabel flies back in mid-December to Bremen. There he missed a century summer.
"I also talked regularly with my colleagues and then I was a bit jealous here and there. But I was just a year in the Antarctic. But chirping birds and being able to go out into the forest again, these are things that you just can not do here. And I'm definitely looking forward to that. "
German University Conducts Research On Urban Farming In Growtainer
Mobile Greenhouse Is Financed By Gemüsering Thüringen
The Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences received a growtainer at the beginning of the year, intended for research and teaching purposes. The "Gemüsering Thüringen" company is financing the mobile greenhouse for a period of ten years. This is a fully insulated container that has been specially modified to create optimal production conditions for vertical planting systems, regardless of the environment and climate.
Since that time, the growtainer has been put into operation and is now used in particular for research projects in the field of "urban farming". Prof. Dr. Heike Mempel heads the project group of the same name, dealing with scientific questions on possible advantages and disadvantages of a closed indoor farm without sunlight.
Indoor-Farming
Horticultural engineer Ivonne Jüttner is involved in the project "Product Quality and Resource Efficiency in Plant Production in Indoor Farming Systems" with an economically and ecologically meaningful cultural selection and the development and optimization of the associated procedures in a completely closed culture area. It compiles input/output balances of all material and energy flows, evaluates them with regard to sustainability and with the overriding goal of resource conservation. The project is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry.
Another experimental setup examines the transpirational behavior of the growing plant. In the closed environment of the container, this parameter plays a key role. The transpiration flow through the plant is the driving force for nutrient and water uptake by the roots and it affects plant growth. At the same time, perspiration leads to increased humidity in the enclosed culture area. This must be removed by technical means, after which it is returned to the irrigation system in order to maintain the water cycle. This in turn results in an important advantage of indoor farming systems: water consumption is reduced enormously. The water absorption of the plant also influences the consequent dry matter of the products and thus their quality. Ivonne Jüttner is currently working on recording and visualizing the temperature and humidity distributions, as well as the air movement caused by the two incorporated fans.
LED lighting
The culture system and the design of the container significantly affect the climate in Growtainer. The homogeneous and exactly controllable culture guidance in closed systems with LED exposure in particular is a decisive advantage over conventional culture systems. The ability to precisely adjust the climate and growth conditions influences growth and ingredients in a targeted manner. These freely adjustable conditions allow a year-round and consistent production on site. In the coming year, a scientific assessment of the functionality of the Growtainers will be created. As soon as any weak points have been identified, the technical equipment can be optimized as the project progresses.
Using modern measuring and sensor technology, data on resource consumption and plant growth are recorded over the entire project period. Despite the use of energy-saving LEDs and good insulation of indoor farms, scientific studies show that energy use is the most critical factor compared to traditional culture methods. Nevertheless, the entire resource efficiency is mainly due to a reduced use of water and pesticides as the major advantage of indoor production. A comprehensive scientific analysis of the possible uses and limitations of closed indoor farming concepts using the example Growtainer, with subsequent practical evaluation of the results, in any case will be an important prerequisite for opening up application areas and fields of activity for horticulture in this innovative segment.
Smart Greenhouse Management System
The combination of the findings from the "Process Simulation based on Plant Response (Prosibor)" project, with project results from the Growtainer trials, will make it possible to compare indoor systems against conventional greenhouse production. Through the "Prosibor" project, a sensor-based intelligent greenhouse management system will be developed in cooperation with the Humboldt University of Berlin and the company RAM from Herrsching. Ivonne Jüttner will also develop a comprehensive analysis of potential plants that could be of interest for cultivation in pure artificial light systems. A special focus will lie on the potential added value that cultivation with artificial lighting systems could offer over cultivation under glass.
The added value can be a result of the increase in desired ingredients, the year-round production of, for example, flowers or fruits, production without the use of pesticides, or other criteria. As part of the study "Substance Use of Crops for the Chemical Industry", the HSWT, together with the State Research Center for Agriculture and other project partners, had already analyzed potentials for regional cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants and evaluated initial approaches to indoor production.
Photosynthesis
In one of the two compartments of the Growtainers, students of the 5th Horticulture semester will carry out the first plant experiments in the greenhouse module. For example, they are investigating the suitability of different LED lights for the culture of Asian lettuces. The plants are hydroponically cultivated on several layers, one above the other. The energy required for the photosynthesis of plants is provided via LED modules at each shelf level. These immerse the interior of the Growtainer in a purple light; a combination of the blue and red spectral ranges. This light combination is used very efficiently for photosynthesis by the plants. To the human eye, however, it is rather uncomfortable, which is why any activity within the Growtainer is restricted to the use of safety goggles or with the LEDs switched off. In this exposure, the leaf colors of the plants might also not be judged correctly, which complicates an assessment of the nutritional status of the plants.
Findings from the already completed project "Energy Saving and Increased Efficiency in Horticultural Production with LED Exposure Systems" also show that for most plants an even broader spectrum of light, in addition to blue and red, optimizes the product quality: a supplement of yellow and green light, for example. This spectrum then appears white to the human eye, and the plants growing under the LED lights will have a natural green color, which facilitates not only positive growth effects but also the necessary work being done in the Growtainer. The determination of the ideal light spectrum for different plant species and their stages of growth is also an important issue in the research of the Growtainer.
For more information:
Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf
Am Hofgarten 4, 85354 Freising
Tel: +49 (0)8161 71-3416
Fax: +49 (0)8161 71-4402
www.hswt.de
Publication date : 12/7/2018
Calling All Microgreen Growers! We Need Your Help!
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China's Scientists Observe Plant Growth in its Space Lab
They are trying to accomplish full-cycle of plant growth under microgravity.
CGTN 2018-09-27 20:13
Astronauts need a lot of food during their space expedition that sometimes takes nearly two years. Carrying dried prepackaged food takes up space in their spacecraft.
One solution is to send seeds that occupy less volume to cultivate them in the space. Recently, scientists have successfully grown vegetables and plants in the space shuttles.
However, microgravity makes it difficult to water the plants as they clump together. Space scientists at NASA started using hydroponics and aeroponics to grow plants in space stations.
While hydroponics delivers water to plant roots, aeroponics ensures misty air conditions for plants' growth.
Chinese scientists have taken this experiment to the next level at Tiangong-2, a space laboratory.
They are trying to accomplish full-cycle of plant growth under microgravity. Boxes containing rice and Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant, are on board the space lab.
"After the seeds arrive in space, they will grow and mature there, and finally yield seeds. This kind of long-term experiment is quite rare in the international community," Zheng Huiqiong, director of Tiangong-2's space biotechnology and the plant cell engineering research team said.
"It is of great importance because it can help solve one of the key problems to providing necessary food, water, and oxygen to humans," Zheng explained.
The research found that under the conditions of microgravity, the flowering of Arabidopsis occurs 22 days later than on the ground.
"If we need to eat leaves in the future, it is better to have plants that flower late. But for rice, late flowering will influence the yields, so we have to adapt it to the environment," said Zheng.
The research also found that rice is more active in guttation under the conditions of microgravity, meaning it exudes more and more significant drops of sap on its leaves.
"This phenomenon has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, bigger sap drops will influence the growth of the plant because it will increase the humidity. On the other hand, it offers us clues to establish an effective life-support system in the future, so we could provide water to humans via plants," said Zheng.
Current, Powered by GE and Stockbridge Technology Centre Partner to Research the Farm of the Future
Stockbridge Technology Centre’s Vertical Farming Development Facility to enable growers to test and model their individual urban farm setup prior to investment
Aims to propel the success of the vertical farming industry, projected to be worth $13.9 billion USD in 20241 and generate more “farmable land” to address future global food production pressures
Current by GE’s Arize LED horticulture solution will help researchers test growth of crops such as leafy greens and herbs in different conditions
Stockbridge Technology Centre's Vertical Farming Development Facility (Photo: Business Wire)
October 16, 2018
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Current, powered by GE (NYSE: GE) today celebrated the opening of CHAP’s new Vertical Farming Development Facility, supported by Innovate UK and based at Stockbridge Technology Centre (STC), which leverages the company’s Arize horticultural lighting solution to propel commercial urban farming success in the UK. The state-of-the-art research facility, located in Selby, North Yorkshire, is designed to help entrepreneurs, growers and investors gain deeper insight into the technology and environmental parameters needed to optimise crop yields before breaking ground on their own vertical farming operations.
We can help growers create more farmable space in industrial and urban areas in a way that is commercially and environmentally sustainable - Malcolm Yare, Current by GE
Modelling the Farm of the Future
In its 2017 report, Global Market Insights, Inc. predicted that the vertical farming industry (both indoor and outdoor applications) will grow from revenue of $2.5 billion USD in 2017 to $13.9 billion USD in 20241 and the new facility is designed to support this trend. By testing the latest technology and approaches relevant to this production model, the STC will improve the industry’s understanding of ideal indoor farming crop light requirements and growing conditions.
Potential investors and vertical farmers can work with STC’s plant scientists and vertical farming experts to identify and test the perfect vertical farm setup to maximise their planned harvest’s size, nutritional value and visual appeal. In a controlled environment, they are able to monitor and tweak parameters such as the length of the growing day, C02 concentration, humidity, nutrients and temperature, to ensure that their proposed farm will be commercially sustainable prior to construction. The resulting data supports business planning activity and minimises risks previously associated with vertical farming.
This “farm of the future”, built by systems integrator GrowStack working in conjunction with TCE Electrical Ltd., is the latest research initiative to be led by CHAP and Stockbridge Technology Centre (STC), a pioneer in experimental and applied horticulture research since the 1950s. Since its inception, STC has acted as a bridge between academia and commerce, sharing valuable research and insight that has helped to revolutionise farming practice in the UK.
The installation contains two identical grow rooms - a total growing area of 228m2 - with full climate control and a recirculating hydroponics system as well as futuristic propagation and germination rooms. Four tiers of cropping racks are lit by 780m of Arize LED lighting, delivering a balanced spectrum of red and blue wavelengths that will help boost the development of a broad range of plants.
“As cities’ populations grow at an exponential rate, the demand for fresh produce grows as well,” states Dr Rhydian Beynon-Davies, head of novel growing systems at STC. “We have the potential to grow more produce at an industrial scale within our cities and the focus of this new facility is to support the growers who are taking this bold step into the future of farming. By developing controlled environment grow systems integrated with LED lighting, we can demonstrate how, through technology, urban farming can improve the supply and nutritional value of food in a way that is commercially viable.”
Shining a Light on the Potential of Urban Farming with Arize
“Over the years, Stockbridge Technology Centre has been at the forefront of innovation, devoted to one of the most fundamental industries in the UK – that of feeding the population,” comments Malcolm Yare, Horticulture Business Development Manager for Current by GE. “Light is critical to the success of any crop and by focusing on combining the most effective wavelengths with the optimal environmental conditions, we can help growers outpace traditional methods by creating more “farmable space” in industrial and urban areas, increasing global harvests in a way that is both commercially and environmentally sustainable.”
The Arize range of horticulture solutions has been developed based on Current by GE’s experience in intelligent, connected industrial lighting, combined with extensive research and collaboration with horticulture and agriculture experts. The lights have been designed for easy, plug-and-play installation and are also fully sealed and IP66 UL Wet rated for easy cleaning in high-care, cleanroom environments. Arize lighting is one of the most energy-efficient solutions on the market, using less energy to power the LEDs and generating less heat to tax the facility’s cooling systems. With a 36K-hour lifetime (L90) and five-year warranty, the horticulture lighting solutions allow growers to amortise their capital expenditure over a longer period for greater return on investment.
Notes to editors:
The Vertical Farming Development Facility has been developed in partnership between the Crop Health and Protection Centre (CHAP) and Stockbridge Technology Centre and is supported by Innovate UK.
About Current, powered by GE
Current is the digital engine for intelligent environments. A first-of-its-kind start-up within the walls of GE (NYSE: GE), Current blends advanced LED technology with networked sensors and software to make commercial buildings, retail stores and industrial facilities more energy efficient & digitally productive. Backed by the power of Predix*, GE’s platform for the Industrial Internet, and a broad ecosystem of technology partners, Current is helping businesses and cities unlock hidden value and realize the potential of their environments. www.currentbyge.com
For more information about Stockbridge Technology Centre
www.stockbridgetechnology.co.uk
1 Global Market Insights, Inc. Insights Report 2017, “Vertical Farming Market Size by Product, Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs, Aquatic Species, By Technology, By Application, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018 – 2024” www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/vertical-farming-market
Contacts
Current, powered by GE
Karen O’Neil, +1 857-265-9113
karen.oneil@ge.com
or
Racepoint Global
Jenna Keighley, +44 208 811 2151
CurrentEU@racepointglobal.com
US (NC): Verdesian Opens New Greenhouse At Duke University
Verdesian Life Sciences has expanded its research pipeline by opening a greenhouse facility at Duke University to develop early technology validation screening for agricultural nutrient use efficiency (NUE) technologies.
The new Verdesian greenhouse is part of Verdesian’s Early Technology Validation (ETV) screening to facilitate the Verdesian Technology Advancement (VTA) pipeline. Improved pipeline efficiency through early testing of new concepts under small-scale, controlled conditions will allow Verdesian to better understand capabilities at an early stage, helping to define opportunities while mitigating risks and optimizing time and resources on viable candidates. The 1,000 square feet of greenhouse space at Duke University adds to Verdesian’s existing growth chambers in Research Triangle Park (RTP).
“Our greenhouse at Duke University supports our R&D as a science-backed company,” said Kenny Avery, CEO for Verdesian. “The greenhouse provides the necessary environment to support vetting and evaluating new technologies that meet grower needs.”
New technology opportunities vary drastically, requiring a customized ETV screening method that brings together various growth system components and methods for detecting differences in plant function.
Agricultural field trials are critical to product development but are time consuming and introduce unnecessary risks for untested products. The new Verdesian greenhouses at Duke University will allow Verdesian to efficiently and economically identify and classify new prospects, test viable technologies and prioritize and develop those opportunities into NUE technologies. Prospects passing ETV screening will continue down the VTA pipeline and on to field testing.
The new Verdesian greenhouse at Duke is overseen by the ETV team which is leading the effort to develop these new screening capabilities. The team was formed to build a robust and flexible screening platform in 2018, further expanding those capabilities with additional laboratory methods and instruments into early 2019.
Plant physiologist, Dr. Amy Burton, joined Verdesian in December of 2017 and leads the VTA pipeline. Prior to Verdesian, Dr. Burton was with Bayer CropScience in Research Triangle Park. She completed her post-doctoral work in plant stress physiology with the United States Department of Agriculture.
The Verdesian ETV team was expanded in the first quarter of 2018, with the additions of Biology Laboratory Technician, Sandra Paa, and Greenhouse Technician, Beth Waller.
For more information:
Verdesian
1001 Winstead Drive, Suite 480
Cary, NC 27513
919.825.1901
www.vlsci.com
Publication date : 10/8/2018
Photosynthesis Fight: Researchers See Green Over Carbon Dioxide Results
Debate flares over results that challenged orthodoxy on how climate change will impact different types of plants. Kimberly Riskas reports.
How rising carbon dioxide levels will affect different types of plant is the topic of raging debate
MOHD NORHIZAM KAHAR / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES
Earlier this year, a study published in the prestigious journal Science shook up the biology world by turning an accepted paradigm of plant growth on its head.
But now a pair of researchers is calling the findings into question, but the authors of the original work are standing their ground.
In comment pieces in the current issue of Science, the two sides face off over issues of soil conditions, plant biology and experimental design.
The original work, led by Peter Reich at the University of Minnesota, US, sought to understand how plant growth is affected by long-term high carbon dioxide levels. For 20 years, the team compared two groups of plants that employ slightly different methods of photosynthesis: the C3 pathway and the C4 pathway. (Read our report of the study here.)
Prevailing plant biology dogma states that C3 plants are more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels than are C4 plants. Therefore, plants using the C3 pathway should produce more biomass as levels rise.
Much to the researchers’ surprise, the C3 plants grew well initially, but then lost their edge after 12 years. Instead, the C4 plants showed accelerated growth in the last eight years of the study, with increases in biomass outstripping the control plants by as much as 24%.
To explain the switch in growth rates, Reid and colleagues hypothesised that long-term high carbon dioxide levels triggered changes in soil microbes and nutrient cycling — changes that favoured C4 plant growth but hampered that of C3 plants.
The findings suggested that it may be difficult to predict with certainty just how much atmospheric carbon can be captured by plants in the future. As the effects of anthropogenic climate change continue to unspool, Reich cautioned, “We shouldn’t be as confident [that] we’re right about the ability of … ecosystems to save our hides.”
Julie Wolf and Lewis Ziska from America’s USDA Agricultural Research, however, don’t fully agree.
It’s too early to say that the C3-C4 growth paradigm is invalidated, they say, with the evidence pointing to an alternative — and decidedly less revolutionary — explanation.
“The pattern documented by Reich et al. can be explained by considering the natural history of the experimental plants and soil,” the pair write.
First, they explain that the topsoil at the experimental sites had been scraped away and treated with chemicals before the experiment began. The resulting sandy, well-drained conditions would ultimately favour C4 plant growth over longer timescales.
They then point out that species diversity was low within the experimental sites. With a maximum of four plant species in each plot (and all of them grasses), Wolf and Ziska believe the results should not be extrapolated to “make a broad statement about the general responses of C3 and C4 grasses to elevated CO2.”
Finally, they also question whether the experimental design and statistical analysis can support the conclusions drawn.
However, Reich and colleagues hit back, arguing that these criticisms are unfounded.
They acknowledge that the soil plots were indeed processed prior to the experiment, although in a different way than Wolf and Ziska describe. Nevertheless, they assert that the soil setting mirrors the disturbances observed in Earth’s grasslands due to grazing, cropping and altered fire regimes, and therefore remains relevant to the discussion.
Further, while physiology undoubtedly played a role in how the plants grew in the experimental habitats, the authors maintain that it is still unclear how these differences explain the observed responses to elevated carbon dioxide.
And the issue with statistics? The analyses used are robust to mixed sample sizes, although this was not explained in the original paper.
Putting their differences aside, both sets of authors agree that future research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the switch in plant growth rates.
Ending their rebuttal on a conciliatory tone, Reich and colleagues come as close to waxing lyrical as is allowed in the pages of Science.
“Ecosystems change over time in complex ways that we are only beginning to understand,” the authors acknowledge. “Finding the appropriate context for field experiments is always challenging and should be done carefully.”
Urban Agriculture — Europe’s Untapped Potential
Urban Agriculture—Europe’s Untapped Potential
Linked by Michael Levenston
Credit: European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)
This was the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of urban agriculture in Europe. Published in 2015, it still attracts interest from researchers and policymakers alike, and will be presented at the 2018 Green Week.
Frank Lohrberg / Lilli Lika / Lionella Scazzosi / Axel Timpe (eds.)
European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)
June 11, 2018
Excerpt:
Urban Agriculture Europe (UAE), a COST-funded network of over 120 researchers from 29 countries worldwide, investigated how urban agriculture provides solutions in Europe and contributes to innovative cities that are economically and environmentally viable.
Although the network ended in 2016, it is still making an impact. Its research has been cited extensively in a detailed briefing for the European Parliament.
The briefing is a valuable overview of trends, scope and impacts of urban agriculture in Europe. Lessons from UAE case studies from over 200 cities show where local policy can have the greatest impact – such as through specially adapted planning policy or an entrepreneurship-friendly culture – and areas where European-level policies might provide support.
UAE participant Dr.-Ing. Axel Timpe of RWTH Aachen University explains: “Our network’s key recommendation was that you integrate different actors and benefits when you develop policy. Urban agriculture is about more than food production. It has social, environmental and economic potential, too.”