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Scottish Agritech Firm Has The World In Its Sights With Appointment of Global Projects Director
Kathleen Honeyman joins IGS to drive vertical farm implementation worldwide
Kathleen Honeyman joins IGS to drive vertical farm implementation worldwide
Edinburgh, Scotland – 01 September 2020 – Edinburgh-based agritech and smart spaces business, IGS, has welcomed Kathleen Honeyman to its management team as Global Projects Director. Her appointment marks a significant step-change in the company’s development as it moves to deliver vertical farms to customers around the world.
The new role will see Kathleen take overall leadership of the successful delivery of each IGS-built vertical farm worldwide, engaging closely with our deployment and supply chain partners. Kathleen will build an international team of project managers to ensure the resource and skills within IGS to deliver extremely precise systems to a very high-quality threshold.
South African-born Kathleen has lived in Scotland for more than 18 years. She joins IGS from Edinburgh Airport where she was Senior Project Manager, taking overall responsibility for the end-to-end management of all IT Projects including a variety of strategic operational, financial, and compliance-specific assignments. Prior to that, she held project management roles at Royal Bank of Scotland and Scottish Water.
Reflecting on her decision to join IGS, Kathleen commented: “The chance to be part of this exciting sector, in a company as innovative and forward thinking as IGS, is an opportunity that I am delighted to accept. The team is ambitious and excited about its future ambitions, not just in the deployment of our solutions, but also the wider impact of supporting globally sustainable food supply chains. My role will be heavily focused on meeting those ambitions – something I am really proud to be able to support.”
IGS CEO, David Farquhar, continued: “Kathleen is a strategic hire for IGS and we’re delighted to have her join the team. We are currently facing what is simultaneously the most exciting and challenging phase of IGS’ history to date: rolling out our vertical farms to customers across the globe. Having a person of Kathleen’s calibre and experience to help drive our deployments forward, utilising globally recognised best practice, will provide confidence to our customers in committing to buying IGS farms. In turn, this will help support the supplier commitments to their off-takers.
“As an organisation, we’ve always prided ourselves on going above and beyond, continuously innovating and never resting on our laurels, and we want our customers to know that the same applies to the way in which we deliver farms in the field. Kathleen is ideally qualified to help us continue to deliver outstanding service on a global scale.”
About IGS:
Founded in 2013, IGS brought together decades of farming and engineering experience to create an agritech business with a vision to revolutionize the indoor growing market. Its commitment to innovation has continued apace and it has evolved the applications of its technology beyond agriculture to create solutions for a wide variety of indoor environments that enhance life for plants and people alike.
IGS launched its first vertical farming demonstration facility in August 2018.
For more information visit www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Temasek Backs US $30m Firm For Vertical Farming Innovation to Boost Singapore's Food Supply
Called Unfold, it is a tie-up between Singapore state investment firm Temasek and a unit of German pharmaceutical and life sciences giant Bayer
Temasek Is Partnering With A Unit of Bayer To Form A US $30 Million
Company To Develop Breakthroughs In Vertical Farming.
August 12, 2020
SINGAPORE - A new US $30 million (S$41.2 million) company has been formed to develop breakthroughs in vertical farming, a move that will help to further reinforce Singapore's food supply.
Called Unfold, it is a tie-up between Singapore state investment firm Temasek and a unit of German pharmaceutical and life sciences giant Bayer.
The Straits Times understands that they will have an equal share of the company, which is incorporated in the United States.
Its primary focus is on improving the quality and variety of food as well as boosting the efficiency of its production, including that of popular vegetables such as lettuce and spinach.
In doing so, it will ensure the safe and reliable supply of food, something that is vital for countries with little arable land and in times of crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic, said Bayer on Wednesday (Aug 12), when announcing the union between its investment unit Leaps by Bayer and Temasek.
Temasek's head of agribusiness, Mr. John Vaske, noted that food security is a priority for Singapore, pointing to the country's "30 by 30" goal, which is to produce 30 percent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
He also told The Straits Times that Singapore has been formative in developing vertical farming. "So, we have insights and knowledge of the industry that Unfold can benefit from through the set-up of its commercial, research, and development operations here."
These operations will also be established in California, where Unfold will be headquartered in the city of Davis.
The focus on the genetic potential of vertical farming also sets the company apart from most vertical farming start-ups, which invariably concentrate on developing more efficient infrastructures, Bayer said.
The aim of the venture is to improve the quality and variety of food as well as boost the efficiency of its production. PHOTO: BAYER STOCK PHOTOS
Unfold has already entered into an agreement for specified rights to germplasm, or seed genetics, from Bayer's vegetable portfolio, a move that will enable it to develop new varieties of seeds. It also plans to come up with agronomic advice that is tailored for growing crops in the unique indoor environment of vertical farms.
These farms, also known as indoor farms, leverage on artificial light to grow crops, are less dependent on man-made chemicals, and optimize the use of water.
The company's chief executive officer is Dr. John Purcell, who was previously Bayer Crop Science's head of vegetable seeds research and development, said Bayer in its statement.
Dr. Purcell said that Unfold's investment in germplasm and crop growth models is timely as the two fields are "largely underserved"."
Some technology companies do not have access to germplasm resources. The power of Unfold is that we will combine the expertise and 100 percent focus on the genetics for vertical farming, with access to the best in class germplasm of the Bayer vegetable seed business," he added.
www.bayer.com
www.leaps.bayer.com
www.temasek.com.sg
unfold.ag
Lead Photo: PHOTO: BAYER STOCK PHOTO
A Brief Insight Into Thailand’s Vertical Farming Sector
"There’s quite a big difference between Thailand and other Asian countries in terms of the advancements in vertical farming technology and business”, Siriwat Sakhonwasee says
by Dr. Siriwat Sakhonwasee
"There’s quite a big difference between Thailand and other Asian countries in terms of the advancements in vertical farming technology and business”, Siriwat Sakhonwasee says. After obtaining his Ph.D. on plant biology from the University of California Davis in 2009, Sakhonwasee is now a lecturer and researcher in the faculty of agricultural production at Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Sakhonwasee's university lab research on seed production of petunia under LED lights
Increase of interest
“When I started doing research on vertical farming about 10 years ago, people in Thailand thought that I was pursuing a useless hobby. However, in other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan, vertical farming was already a serious business concept. Today, vertical farming is becoming a new trend where a number of companies are interested to place their bet on. The concept of vertical farming in Thailand receives a lot of influence from Japanese technology. This is why most people use the word “Plant factory”, a jargon, originated from Japan to describe vertical farming.” Last month, Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) announced that it officially will support investments on Plant Factories by reducing the tax burden on businesses involved with this technology. Sakhonwasee continues: “I see this as a good sign for vertical farming in Thailand as the same thing happened in Japan a decade ago.
More demandIn terms of Thailand, now there are many more research projects regarding vertical farming than five years ago. “I sometimes have to review research proposals for funding agencies and I can easily tell that nowadays research projects, involving vertical farming concepts, are more frequently submitted”, Sakhonwasee notes. This means that researchers in Thailand will have more chances to explore the science behind the concept of vertical farming. He continues: “Hopefully, this will lead to the development of innovative techniques that are suitable for the country. From a global perspective, people are integrating much more sophisticated technology into vertical farming, such as IoT and AI. The concept is not just growing a plant on the shelves using artificial light anymore. It is about collecting the data and constantly improving the vertical farming system.”
Dr. Siriwat Sakhonwasee
“One thing I see as a clear improvement is the business model of vertical farming. More diverse business models are applied such as a decentralized model by Infarm, harvest on demand by Farmers Cut.” For Thailand, 3 prominent vertical farming startup companies also use a different business model to sell their produce, namely, Wangree Fresh which uses a subscription model to sell their vegetables, NoBitter which is using online channels to engage with its customers and LED Farm which uses a retail hypermarket channel to sell its produce through.
Current industry struggles“I think that making people understand the value of a vertical farming product, is a common problem for vertical farming worldwide. Recently, Irvin Fain founder of Bowery used the word “post-organic” to explain the value of their fresh produce. This is such a good way to describe produce from vertical farming that is pesticide-free and very clean so customers do not need to wash before eat.” Sakhonwasee adds: “My colleague recently spoke with Mr. Chingchai Konthansakul founder of LED Farm of Thailand. He has an interesting way of thinking regarding vertical farming produce. He explained that he will never compare vegetables from his vertical farm with traditional farming fresh produce. Instead, he shows off his fresh produce as a novel product. This helped LED Farm to design a proper marketing strategy for consumers who were always skeptical about the safety of fresh produce.”
Mr. Chingchai Konthansakul, founder of LED Farm
Future vision
“In Thailand, I believe that vertical farming will never completely replace traditional farming, in terms of feeding the population. We are blessed with great natural resources that are suitable for almost every aspect of agriculture. But, vertical farming might play a big role in the production of premium produce for high-end consumers. However, to achieve this concept a certification process must be established, like organic produce. I think we will see more diversity in the application of vertical farming systems such as speed breeding and production of medicinal substances from herbs or genetically modified plants.
In other Asian countries, vertical farming will probably play a more prominent role in terms of food production. For example, a small country like Singapore just set a 30 by 30 goal last year. This was done to support the local food production to meet 30% in demand of the Singaporean population by the year 2030. In this case, the cultivation area is a big issue and vertical farming is expected to play a significant role in Singaporean food production. Other examples are countries in the Middle East where the majority of land is desert and not arable. Again, vertical farming can overcome this limitation and could provide food security for these countries.”
For more information:
Dr. Siriwat Sakhonwasee, assistant professor
tongscpl@yahoo.com
Publication date: Wed 12 Aug 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© HortiDaily.com
Hydroponic Seedling Propagation Session Joins Indoor Ag-Conversations Series - August 12, 2020 @ 2pm EST
Indoor Ag-Con, LLC will bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss best practices, technology developments and more during the Free Webinar, "Hydroponic Seedling Propagation," on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, from 2-3 pm EST
'HYDROPONIC SEEDLING PROPAGATION' SESSION JOINS
INDOOR AG-CONVERSATIONS WEBINAR SERIES | AUGUST 12, 2020 @ 2 PM
LAS VEGAS (AUGUST 3, 2020) -- Indoor Ag-Con, LLC will bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss best practices, technology developments and more during the free webinar, "Hydroponic Seedling Propagation," on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, from 2-3 pm EST. The latest addition to the Indoor Ag-Conversations webinar series, the panel will be moderated by Joe Swartz, Vice President, AmHydro; and feature John Jackson, CEO, Sustainable Indoor Growing Systems, Inc (SIGS); Dr. Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D, Corporate Research Manager, Smithers-Oasis and Nick Greens, Founder | Agriculture Specialist, Nick Greens Grow Team.
"The only way to achieve high quality, uniform crops is to start with high quality, uniform seedlings," explains moderator Joe Swartz, AmHydro. During the session, Swartz and the Indoor Ag-Conversations panel will take a deep dive into hydroponic seedling propagation, covering areas including “best in class” techniques & methodologies netting outstanding yield results; technology advances from LEDs and NFTs; environmental controls and more.
The Indoor Ag-Conversation webinar is free and attendees can register at www.indoor.ag/webinar Panelists include
Joe Swartz, Vice President, AmHydro, is a master hydroponic farmer. He has more than 55,000 hours of hands-on greenhouse production time. He is a year-round grower for 35 years and a consultant to the hydroponics industry for more than 20 years. His specialties include professional grower training, system design, and crop production methods. Other specialties include biological pest control, greenhouse business management, specialty produce marketing, and food safety protocols. He has consulted for companies, growers, and investors across the globe. He also has successful growing operations in 66 countries around the world.
Dr. Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D., Corporate Research Manager, Smithers-Oasis, is responsible for new product development and technical support. He also leads the efforts to provide technical support to other Oasis Grower Solution units located globally. Bringing 12 years of industry experience to his position, Rapaka plans to continue Oasis Grower Solutions’ growth by developing innovative products and helping the customers to be more successful. Rapaka also is working to expand the Oasis Grower Solutions’ footprint into new markets and countries. Rapaka is an accomplished researcher who is regularly published in scientific journals and industry trade publications
John Jackson, CEO, SIGS, is an award-winning entrepreneur and University of Arizona alum with an MBA from the Eller College of Management and McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship where he serves as an adjunct lecturer. John has successfully launched investor and grant-funded businesses and operated tech-based companies to early stage revenue. Born in Compton, California, John continues his grandfather’s legacy as a sharecropper of tomatoes in rural Oklahoma and looks to empower all growers to be more sustainable, environmentally responsible, and efficient in their operations by providing the best young plant inputs possible. SIGS aims for growers to “Grow Plants not Seeds," ensuring an optimal head start to their production cycle.
Nick Greens, Founder |Agriculture Specialist, Nick Greens Grow Team started his growing career in 2002 as an apprentice grower for a hydroponics shop in San Diego, California. In 2010, Nick moved to his native Chicago to start growing for Blue Star Produce. During his time there, he perfected his compost tea recipes and became a pioneer in organic microgreens and leafy greens production. He worked for and advised many Chicago indoor farms, including Garfield Produce, Bright Farms, Windy City Greens, Plant Chicago, and Closed Loop Farms. Nick also created the microgreens program at FarmedHere in 2014. He built its first NFT systems, creating crop and lighting recipes, and helped improve monthly sales by nearly 20% by 2016.
Indoor Ag-Con LLC, producers of the premier event for the indoor|vertical farming industry, created the new Indoor Ag-Conversations series to share content originally planned for its May 2020 in-person annual conference that has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
To learn more about this session, as well as other upcoming programs
on the schedule, visit www.indoor.ag/webinar
ABOUT INDOOR AG-CON LLC
Founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con, LLC produces the premier event for the indoor | vertical farming industry touching all sectors of the business — produce, legal cannabis, hemp, alternate protein and non-food crops. In December 2018, three event industry professionals – Nancy Hallberg, Kris Sieradzki and Brian Sullivan – purchased Indoor Ag-Con LLC, setting the stage for further expansion of the events globally. For more information, visit: https://indoor.ag
Indoor Ag-Con, 950 Scales Road, Building #200, Suwanee, GA 30024, United States