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Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) Consortium to Revolutionize Agriculture
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) is launching the Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) Consortium, a public-private partnership that transcends the bounds of traditional agriculture to develop flavorful, nutritious crops specially intended for indoor agriculture
First-of-its-Kind Consortium Develops Crops Intended for Indoor Agriculture
WASHINGTON (April 3, 2019) – The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) is launching the Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) Consortium, a public-private partnership that transcends the bounds of traditional agriculture to develop flavorful, nutritious crops specially intended for indoor agriculture.
Sustainably feeding a growing global population requires researchers to examine innovative food production approaches. One approach gaining traction is controlled environment agriculture (CEA), also known as indoor agriculture. Worldwide, interest in indoor agriculture is booming. Yet, CEA research largely focuses on design elements for the indoor systems, such as vertical productions facilities and lighting, not the plants themselves.
“The majority of the crops grown indoors have been developed over thousands of years for outdoor production,” said Sally Rockey, FFAR’s executive director. “While understanding the indoor system’s design elements is important, PIP seeks to understand which environmental and genetic factors help crops thrive indoors.”
The PIP collaborative convenes a diverse array of participants representing aspects of the indoor agriculture industry. The collaborative pools resources to fund joint research that produces nutritious, flavorful crops that can grow anywhere, year-round, profitably. PIP’s research will explore increasing nutrient content and yields, growing crops with less energy and understanding how crops perform best in CEAs.
“Do you remember the taste of tomatoes from your childhood? If you’re like me, every summer you complain that commercial tomatoes today are not the same. Commercial tomatoes are abundant, shelf-stable and disease resistance – but not perceived as tasty as they once were,” noted John Reich, FFAR Scientific Program Director. “However, PIP’s research could produce a tomato plant that grows quickly indoors, tastes great and is highly nutritious. This plant would require less energy to grow indoors, potentially increasing affordability, and could be grown anywhere regardless of environmental constraints.”
With a growing population, shifts in consumer demand for healthier, tastier food and challenges arising from a changing climate, producing crops indoors can mitigate these challenges and meet demand. CEA is successfully growing lettuce and other leafy greens profitably. PIP’s research seeks to make CEA an option for growing a variety of crops, including leafy greens and herbs, tomatoes, strawberries and blueberries. Initial PIP projects will focus on improving nutritional content and changing the size and shape of the plant.
This research has implications for a wide variety of agricultural environments, including outdoor agriculture and space. For farmers planning outdoors, PIP’s research has the potential to reduce strain on the environment, make crops more resilient to stresses, bolster food and nutritional security and shorten the supply chain for producers. The research is also useful for government agencies and corporations interested in growing food in space for long-term space exploration.
FFAR is investing $7.5 million in PIP, and with matching funds from participants, the consortium will invest a minimum of $15 million to develop flavorful, nutritious crops for indoor agriculture. PIP’s participants represent world-class indoor growers, breeders, genetics companies and agricultural equipment leaders, including AeroFarms, BASF, Benson Hill Biosystems, Fluence Bioengineering, Intrexon, Japan Plant Factory Association and Priva.
About the Precision Indoor Plants Consortium
Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) is a public-private partnership created by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) to produce new flavorful, nutritious crops specially intended for indoor agriculture. By focusing on innovative science and technology, the consortium’s research efforts will increase our ability to produce crops that are high-value, of consistent quality, and desired by consumers. Ultimately, PIP can help food producers grow flavorful, nutritious food indoors.
FFAR’s initial $7.5 million investment is matched by the PIP participants for a total investment of $15 million to develop flavorful, nutritious crops for indoor agriculture. PIP’s participants include AeroFarms, BASF, Benson Hill Biosystems, Fluence Bioengineering, Intrexon, Japan Plant Factory Association and Priva.
Fluence Bioengineering - Quote From Dave Cohen, CEO
Fluence is proud to be a founding member of the Precision Indoor Plants Consortium. Our cultivation and engineering teams are aggressively innovating how growers use LED lighting solutions to cultivate nutritious, high-quality produce. PIP is an important initiative to verify research into photobiology for commercial applications and enable more growers to profitably cultivate plants for people that do not normally have access to fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits,” said Dave Cohen, CEO, Fluence Bioengineering.
"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
How GLASE is Blazing A New Frontier in Lighting
By Erico Mattos | January 25, 2019
Primary organizers of the GLASE consortium are Tessa Pocock of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (left) and Neil Mattson (center) and Erico Mattos of Cornell University.
Lighting control is the last frontier in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Well-designed horticulture lighting systems can reduce energy use in greenhouses and indoor farms, thereby increasing production and profitability. Light-emitting diode (LED) technologies have the potential to improve energy efficiency and therefore energy costs of greenhouses, but in many ways the hardware capabilities are further ahead than our understanding of how to best operate these systems.
Working in the rapidly growing CEA industry, the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium is a public-private partnership to develop, transfer, and implement advanced energy-efficient LED lighting systems with improved environmental controls for more efficient and sustainable greenhouse production. Formed by Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Rutgers University, GLASE is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The consortium’s mission is to advance CEA through a holistic approach, bringing together different areas of expertise from academia and the marketplace, and creating a hub for technology and information exchange among industry stakeholders and key players.
First-Year Focus: Research and Participation
The combination of engineering practices with plant science is being recognized as valuable, if not critical, to the field of horticultural lighting. During its first operational year in 2018, GLASE developed a series of multidisciplinary activities aimed to optimize CEA systems. Recent technologies developed by consortium researchers include:
• The use of a remote chlorophyll fluorometer to monitor plants relative growth rates
• A proposed standardized horticultural lighting label to facilitate the comparison of lamps across manufacturers
• Improvements to the Lighting and Shade System Implementation (LASSI)
• A control system to optimize lighting control and reduce greenhouse energy consumption
• Light-spectrum optimization for plant growth
The participation of industry stakeholders is paramount in guiding GLASE research and bringing the innovations to market. GLASE is working with industrial partners to commercialize and accelerate the adoption of new energy-efficient technologies nationwide. Since April 2018, 21 industrial members have joined the consortium. The participants are a combination of commercial greenhouses, indoor farms, lighting manufacturers, and service providers. With $5 million secured for research and outreach for the next five years, GLASE will continue to work with industry partners to further develop and implement new energy-efficient technologies to achieve energy-related improvements in greenhouse system operations by optimizing energy efficiency, crop yield, and quality.
What’s Next for GLASE
Future GLASE activities include:
• The development of automated lighting and shade control systems integrated with control of wavelengths for optimal crop growth
• The use of CO2 enhancement in greenhouses
• Investigation of LED use to alter plant physiology and morphology to increase yield or the production of chemical compounds that increase crop value
• The design of novel prototype luminaires for greenhouses
• The development of software that includes whole greenhouse systems management to synergistically control lighting, ventilation , and humidity.
GLASE also works with commercial pilot facilities to test technology adoption in real-world production settings. To ensure the development and implementation of effective technologies, GLASE is supported by a scientific advisory board (SAB) and an industrial advisory board (IAB). The SAB identifies new areas of research and vets GLASE-developed technologies, whereas the IAB offers the consortium guidance on the optimal path to market and provides a source of technical and market intelligence.
Working toward industry standardization, GLASE has established a partnership with Intertek to offer its industrial partners a complementary lighting test to characterize horticultural lighting fixtures following the proposed lighting label published by A.J. Both, et al. This is an effort to provide growers with a reliable comparative platform to select among the available lighting technologies that best fit their unique needs.
Through the development of strategic partnerships and increased industry participation, GLASE is expanding its activities in 2019. In addition to having the opportunity to work with other GLASE partners, members of the consortium receive the benefits of a seat on the GLASE Industrial Advisory Board, early notice of invention disclosures (IP), quarterly technical reports and industry meetings, access to Cornell University and RPI research facilities, networking, marketing, and educational and training programs.
How You Can Participate
As part of the consortium outreach activities, GLASE is developing a national greenhouse energy benchmark database. The aggregated data will be used to support the development of new energy incentive programs, guide national funding opportunities, and allow GLASE researchers and other academic institutions to identify new areas of improvement in Controlled Environment Agriculture systems. Participating greenhouse and indoor growers will have the opportunity to benchmark their production systems against a national database to identify areas of improvement to increase operations’ profitability.
To learn more about GLASE and how to join the consortium, go to Glase.org.
Erico Mattos (em796@cornell.edu) is the Executive Director of GLASE. See all author stories here.
Van Gelder Fruits & Vegetables And PlantLab Establish Indoor Farming Collaboration
RIDDERKERK (NL), 31 January 2019
Foodservice supplier Van Gelder and indoor farming specialist PlantLab have entered into a partnership to produce various types of fresh vegetables in PlantLab’s fully controlled Plant Production Units (PPUs).
Within the Experience Center located at Van Gelder’s new facilities which will incorporate aspects of knowledge sharing, innovation and experience, Van Gelder will showcase specialty crops. Cultivation will take place within two Plant Production Units designed and developed specifically for these purposes by PlantLab. Next to this, PlantLab will produce various crops in large volumes at its own production facilities for Van Gelder. These exclusive crops will enable chefs currently working with Van Gelder to provide new and exciting culinary experiences to their guests.
More vegetables on the table
“In today's world everyone is focused on eating healthier, but this has been a primary focus of Van Gelder for many years. Since early 2011 we have been actively promoting a healthy lifestyle which is a fundamental philosophy to our new facilities”, says Managing Director Gerrit van Gelder. “Together with our growers, suppliers and partners, it is our responsibility to ensure the products we deliver are high in quality, healthy and fresh. This also means that we are constantly looking for products with better taste and higher nutritional value.” Gerrit van Gelder continues: “During this search we encountered indoor farming and in PlantLab we have found a highly qualified partner.”
Indoor Farming at PlantLab
Indoor farming is a new cultivation method which allows crops to be grown in a multilayer system within a completely enclosed environment. “At PlantLab we refer to this as Plant Paradise®; the optimum growing conditions for the most flavorful and nutrient rich produce,” according to Ard Reijtenbagh from PlantLab. Our fresh produce is grown close to the consumer year round irrespective of climate or season. Ard Reijtenbagh explains: “This allows us to reduce transport-related CO2 emissions and waste in the supply chain. Furthermore, we only harvest once our crops have reached their peak in flavour. PlantLab’s products are grown pesticide-free and we utilise up to 95% less water during production”. This local and sustainable manner of growing fresh produce is a perfect fit in Van Gelder’s new facilities.
Partnership
The partnership between Van Gelder and PlantLab has a strong emphasis on sustainable production and delivery of fresh, flavourful, nutrient rich (vitamins and minerals) vegetables with a constant focus on food safety. Furthermore, both organisations will focus on innovation of new products at the Experience Center in Ridderkerk (NL). The newly designed and developed Experience Plant Production Units will provide inspiration for indoor farming, new products, new flavours and vegetables that contain higher nutritional values.
Gerrit van Gelder enthusiastically explains, “Together with our clients we will search for new products with exceptional new flavours. By doing this we can distinguish ourselves with exclusive, high-quality products. PlantLab will collaborate with us in the field of production, product innovation, technology, software and cultivation”. PlantLab’s Ard Reijtenbagh explains: “It’s of great importance for us to be in touch with the market, partnerships such as with Van Gelder enable us to do so”.
About Van Gelde
Van Gelder groente & fruit is a vegetable and fruit supplier located in Ridderkerk, the Netherlands. Founded as a family business, Van Gelder has developed into a foodservice wholesaler with national coverage, with its own growing and production facilities. Using this model Van Gelder has seen substantial growth over recent years and all signs point to further expansion in the future. In order to be able to continue practicing all activities, Van Gelder is currently constructing its new hyper modern facilities. The new Van Gelder facilities form the entrance to the new business park, Nieuw-Reijerwaard, the most sustainable business park in Europe. This is on the same location where Leen van Gelder sr. once started growing Brussels sprouts.
The new Van Gelder facilities will be a place for education, innovation, inspiration and experience focused on fresh! Alongside growing, packaging, processing, storing and transporting vegetables and fruit, the family business will also share knowledge on nutrition, health and sustainability in a unique way.
Seeing, tasting, smelling, feeling and hearing: all the senses will be stimulated at the Experience Center; the meeting place for healthy nutrition.
About PlantLab
PlantLab produces fresh vegetables in its indoor farm systems known as Plant Production Units (PPUs). PlantLab’s technology is developed in-house at its R&D center in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NL). PlantLab supplies products to various supermarkets and foodservice companies in Europe and North America from its Plant Production Units on location.
Considering Growing Controlled Environment Edible Crops?
By David Kuack, UrbanAgNews.com
January 17, 2019
Regardless of whether specialty crops are grown in hoop houses, greenhouses or indoor vertical farms, growers are incorporating technology to improve production and profitability.
When it comes to technology, most controlled environment growers are looking for ways to produce their crops as efficiently and as economically as possible. Purdue University horticulture and agricultural economics professor Ariana Torres is focused on the marketing and economics of specialty crops, especially those grown in controlled environments.
“Because of my educational background in controlled environment I focus more on that type of production,” Torres said. “I have three appointments at the university. I teach entrepreneurship. I do research on technology adoption for specialty crop operations, including vegetables, ornamentals, herbs and organic agriculture. I also investigate how consumers perceive grower technologies. My extension appointment allows me to bring the findings from my research to growers and other stakeholders.
“I collect information on farmers markets every week. I have an extension program called Horticulture Business with a website that is hosted by Purdue University. I am also working on developing financial tools like online enterprise budgets and financial calculators where growers can learn about risk and the break-even analysis of various crops.”
Purdue University horticulture and agricultural economics professor Ariana Torres tours Big Tex Urban Farms at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.
Photos courtesy of Ariana Torres, Purdue Univ.
As a graduate student at Purdue, Torres studied controlled environment production learning that light requirements and nutrition not only vary by crop, but also by variety.
“I can transfer those learning skills to other crops,” she said. “Ninety percent of my current research is on edible crops and 10 percent is on ornamentals. This split also reflects what is happening in the industry. Greenhouse growers and ornamental growers are slowly transitioning to edible crops as well. Many hydroponic systems that were developed for greenhouses and poly houses were designed for ornamental production.
“Of the specialty crop growers I’m working with, 50 percent are controlled environment and 50 percent are outdoor field growers. I initially started working with field crop growers and have transitioned more into controlled environment systems.”
Focused on cost-efficient technology
Torres is focusing on how growers can adopt cost-efficient technologies. She is particularly interested in assisting growers in accessing information about the cost efficiency of technologies.
“I am also interested in finding out how these technologies are perceived by consumers,” she said. “I am starting to study consumers’ perceptions and their willingness to pay for specialty crops.
“One project I’m particularly interested in studying is related to value-added technologies. There are specialty crop growers who sell wholesale in bulk while other growers cut, wash, dry and label products. Value-added can be defined as any physical or labeled transformation of a product. I’m evaluating the transformation of the identity of a crop. Anything related to whether a crop is non-GMO, organic, pesticide-free, locally grown or domestically produced.”
Differences in operation size, customer base
Torres said that small and large specialty crop growing operations have very different market channels.
“The goal of most large operations is to produce large volumes,” she said. “That involves a lot of efficiency—producing the highest value crops that can provide the highest profits selling large volumes to one or two customers.
“Small hydroponic growers are not only looking for a higher profit, they are also looking to access different market channels than large operations. They tend to diversify their number of crops and their number of market channels. For example, small operations tend to sell to restaurants, farmers markets, independent grocery stores, community supported agriculture and they may also sell online.”
Torres said once small operations incorporate technology they tend to stick with it for as long as possible to recover their investment.
“At small hydroponic operations there tends to be less technology and lower investments,” she said. “They also tend to grow more edible crops, including tomatoes and other small fruit, and try to capitalize on higher prices for locally-grown hydroponic crops.
“Large operations are aiming to produce fewer crops and larger volumes with potentially smaller profit margins than small operations. These large operations grow fewer crops and their technologies tend to be more expensive. For example, large growers tend to use more expensive sensors, substrates, irrigation systems, lighting fixtures, and they are usually more willing to experiment with newer technologies. These operations also tend to be more efficient as a result of technological efficiencies.”
Automation limitations
Torres said Europe still leads the way in agricultural automation.
“More technology will be coming from Europe, but I’m not sure if it will come from European companies,” she said. “There are more U.S. researchers and companies doing research on automation and its impact on controlled environment agriculture.
“The Dutch have been very innovative on controlled environment technologies for automation. One of the successes for the Dutch growers is that they are very specialized. A grower has one crop, two crops at most. If a grower is producing one crop like tomatoes, then automation makes a lot of sense. In the U.S. it’s more difficult because growers are more likely to produce a larger number of different crops. The challenge is when growers produce multiple crops like baby kale, microgreens and tomatoes. These are crops that have different production requirements, different stages and different pest pressures. In regards to automation, what works in Europe may not necessarily work in the U.S.”
Factors affecting profitability
Torres said the type of structure and facility can also impact investment and profitability.
“With hoop houses there is usually less technology and fewer investments compared to greenhouses,” she said. “There also tends to be less technology and lower investments at small operations. If these small growers capitalize on higher prices for hydroponic crops, they can be profitable relatively quickly.”
Ariana Torres and a visiting scholar collect prices of specialty crops sold at Indiana farmers markets.
Torres said indoor vertical farms tend to take longer to be profitable because of the startup costs. There can be a large investment in technology.
“Even though greenhouse growers typically need more employees than vertical indoor farms because their operations are larger, most vertical farms are dealing with a higher level of technology requiring more qualified labor resulting in higher labor costs,” she said.
“Energy costs are also going to be higher for vertical indoor farms. The reason profitability is harder to reach for large indoor farms in the first and second year is a reflection of the investment and operational costs.
“Customer base also impacts profitability. A bag of lettuce may cost $4 at a farmers market and $5 at Whole Foods. The prices are not that different considering that selling at a farmers market allows a grower to capture a higher share of the consumers’ dollars. Also considering that operational costs for growers selling wholesale are very different, it is evident why profitability is harder to reach for large growers. If growers sell to wholesalers, the price they receive can be considerably lower than the price paid by consumers. In addition, labor costs per square foot tend to be higher for indoor farms and operational costs can be higher. However, these indoor farms can produce a lot of product so that they are able to supply large volumes.”
Vertical farms can be profitable
Torres said she has been able to collect limited information on indoor vertical farms.
“Small vertical farms tend to sell to independent grocery stores and local farmers markets,” she said. “The vertical farms I have seen in the Midwest tend to be small and their level of technology they usually have built themselves and/or recycled a lot of equipment. They can be very profitable because they are small and are able to capitalize on high prices for locally-grown crops like leafy greens and microgreens.
“Even though these vertical farms are producing on a small scale, they can be very profitable because they are rotating crops every four to six weeks. They can have as many as 12 crop cycles, which is a lot of production.”
Ariana Torres is visiting urban hydroponic operations like this one in Indianapolis.
Torres said where these indoor vertical farms start to run into trouble is when they look to scale up production.
“When small operations scale up, they are going to become a full time job and may need to start hiring employees,” she said. “Once they start to scale up because of increased demand for their product or just because they want to expand their business, that’s when they are likely to run into financial stress. They would need to invest in more technology and their customer base is going to change, moving from direct-to-consumer markets to wholesale or retail. When growers move into bigger market channels and start selling to larger retailers and wholesalers, their business model changes and with that their financial performance.
“With indoor vertical farms, scaling up may involve a lot of investment, especially going from a small to large operation. In field agriculture, it is much easier to scale up to increase profit and revenues. For large indoor vertical farms, for the first three to five years depending on how much money is invested, they are going to just break even or maybe generate negative numbers. Those indoor farms that are able to succeed during the first three years usually have investors with deeper pockets who are willing to see the operations through the long term.”
For more: Ariana Torres, Purdue University, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, West Lafayette, IN 47907; (765) 494-8781; torres2@purdue.edu; https://www.purdue.ag/hortbusiness.
This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer from Fort Worth, TX.
TAGS Education Greenhouse Technology Indoor Ag Technology Plants Purdue University
Princeton Environmental Institute Urban Challenges Awards $509,000 To New Urban Sustainability Projects
Vertical farms in post-industrial America, origami-based noise-pollution barriers and cement made from burned waste make up the latest round of projects funded by the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) Urban Grand Challenges program
Morgan Kelly, Princeton Environmental Institute
January 18, 2019
Vertical farms in post-industrial America, origami-based noise-pollution barriers and cement made from burned waste make up the latest round of projects funded by the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) Urban Grand Challenges program. Totaling $509,000, the new awards are active through September 2020 and are described below.
The Urban Grand Challenges program combines the study of the natural and built environments to address the interrelated environmental and social issues facing the world’s rapidly expanding urban areas in a world of increasing environmental volatility. Urban Grand Challenges supports and encourages interdisciplinary faculty and student research at Princeton in the environmental sciences, engineering, architecture, the humanities, policy, the creative arts and the social sciences.
Results from these projects are not only published, but also form the basis of community outreach efforts. In addition, each project includes an educational component — particularly in the form of Princeton courses and PEI internships — that perpetuate the knowledge needed for a sustainable future.
The Princeton Vertical Farming Project was established by Paul Gauthier, associate research scholar in geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute, to study how vertical farms can be implemented in communities, particularly in cities.
Photo by Nick Donnoli, Office of Communications
The sustainability of vertical farming in the cities of tomorrow
Paul Gauthier, associate research scholar in geosciences and PEI, is building on the Princeton Vertical Farming Project (PVFP) he established in 2017 to study how vertical farms can be implemented in local communities, particularly in cities. He is working with the nonprofit Isles Inc. based in Trenton, New Jersey, and the 1,200-square-foot Kêr Farms based in Hamilton, New Jersey, to develop a 1,200-square-foot vertical farm and a “food hub” in Mill One, a former industrial building in Trenton. The goals of the project are to prove the feasibility of establishing vertical farms in former industrial buildings, study the social impacts of vertical farming on underserved communities, and better identify the energy and environmental costs of vertical farms. Most importantly, the farm will serve as a source of fresh food for local residents and be used to teach Trenton and Princeton communities about the benefits of vertical farming and the nutritional benefits of “hyper-local” organic food. Gauthier will build on the PVFP’s current partnerships with Hopewell Elementary School and Princeton Public Schools to develop an educational program at Isles Youth Institute designed to help students learn the necessary skills to become a successful farmer.
Farms In The City: How A Chinese Firm Uses Tech To Boost Yield
By Feng Yilei
2018-12-01
An appetite for clean, fresh greens is growing with the burgeoning population in Chinese cities and towns. But feeding the rising demand is a challenge, partly because of the country's massive shift from being an agrarian to urban economy.
In the next 15 years, over 200 million Chinese are expected to move from rural areas into urban and suburban environments. This will greatly reduce the labor force on China's arable lands, which some say calls for a revolution in farming methods in order to create sustainable food production.
Beijing COFCO wisdom farm. /COFCO Photo
In suburban Beijing, a number of plant factories built with innovative techniques have incorporated farming into urban growth.
Dr. Wei Lingling, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) aims to get the most output with the least resources at the highest efficiency. They use technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to precisely control production.
On a small plot of indoor space, plants are rooted on layered shelves vertically and bathe in light continuously during the day. Sensors linked to automatic irrigation and temperature control systems provide optimal conditions for growing.
Planned production means a higher yield resource-wise, space optimization, and labor savings. Dr. Wei believes CEA technologies will be more accurate in the future to better balance cultivation and the environment with less energy consumption.
“And in this closed production system, we circulate water and fertilizer to cut emissions, and improve sustainability of agriculture,” she added.
Plant factory using artificial light. /VCG Photo
While many believe this industrialized and intelligent way of farming will gradually replace extensive farming, which relies heavily on manual work and land usage for mass production, ordinary Chinese may have to accept difficulties in their daily lives during the process of moving on to the next stage.
For individual farmers that own the country's hundreds of millions of small plots, some have temporarily transferred their leaseholds to these high-tech farms and are adapting to their new roles.
Villager Wang Xiangang said that he got paid for both his land and working on the farm as an employee meaning he no longer worries about natural disasters and has time to learn about organic farming. He doesn't make as much as he used to, but it is stable.
And when conditions are ripe – will consumers be ready to pay a higher price for the products? Experts say the public will recognize the value of these crops as awareness of food safety and environmental stewardship rises. And once the demand rises, more players are expected to use tech-based food production, which will drive down prices.
The Salvation Army Teaches Children How To Grow Indoors
Mark Lindberg, social enterprise ministry specialist at Salvation Army
Photo: Patrick Williams
With help from CropKing, the organization offers educational programs for at-risk youth at its Fresh Face Farm in Akron, Ohio.
November 15, 2018
GIE Media Horticulture Group
Children in and around Akron, Ohio, could help develop systems that could one day be used to grow food on Mars, upload blueprints for “food computers” and grow produce for wholesale and food pantries.
It’s all part of the studies they’re undertaking with the Salvation Army Summit County Area Services (SCAS), which opened Fresh Face Farm, an indoor growing facility, at its Akron Fort Romig location in January 2018.
The indoor farm provides the children learning opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), culinary arts and other subjects, says Major Kevin Jackson, SCAS coordinator. Jackson says about 90 percent of these students are “at-risk,” which the Journal of General Internal Medicine defines as populations that may have low literacy rates, be economically disadvantaged, face abuse or persecution, or experience other issues. SCAS has partnered with Akron Public Schools (although participation at the farm isn’t limited to children in the district), the University of Akron, NASA and MIT. CropKing provided automated hydroponics systems, sole-source lights and other materials.
“The kids are pretty much involved in every aspect,” Jackson says. “Technology is what drives their world, so the CropKing system was perfect for us in terms of the computer and the sensors, and the automation that came with it.”
The students range in age from 18 months to 18 years, Jackson says. Younger students start out learning about aquaponics and ebb-and-flow systems — which take up about 6,000 square feet of the 18,000-square-foot Fort Romig warehouse. Once the students reach about first or second grade, they begin working in a walled-off 7,000-square-foot commercial grow room in the warehouse that The Salvation Army has outfitted with CropKing’s nutrient film technique (NFT) and Bato bucket hydroponic systems.
In the grow room, lettuce and leafy greens flourish under LEDs, while tomatoes prosper under high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights. Mark Lindberg, social enterprise ministry specialist and the operation’s only full-time employee, says the lights run from about 5 p.m. — after the students have gone home — until the early morning hours. Fresh Face Farms sells most of its produce wholesale, but it sends some to food pantries or home with students.
Basil growing in NFT systems under LED lights at Fresh Face Farm
Photo: Patrick Williams
The idea behind Fresh Face Farms began when Jackson, who has been involved with The Salvation Army his whole life, was given an assignment: to come up with a model to break intergenerational poverty. At the time, he was working throughout the western United States, and he tried growing outdoors in Montana. After weeks of 60-degree temperatures, he planted his crops, then in early June, six inches of snow fell. His wife, Linda, who is now also SCAS coordinator, suggested they try a new approach to farming.
After transferring to Akron, Jackson says he ran an online search for a possible equipment supplier and found CropKing in nearby Lodi, which he calls “sheer luck.” He applauds CropKing’s customer service and expertise, calling the business “not just a vendor.” “You know what's amazing to me?” he asks. “Every once in a while, they’ll just be driving by, and they’ll just stop by [and say] ‘Hey, how's it going? Can we take a look around?’”
Lindberg says he has had similar experiences interacting with CropKing. “Paul calls me on my cell phone,” he says. “It’s like, ‘Hey, Mark, I'm going over that way. You going to be there tomorrow?’ ‘Sure!’”
Growing up in Ashland County — a mostly rural area in Ohio — Lindberg says his parents had a garden, and he was interested in horticulture from a young age. He went on to work in facilities management, but after more than a decade with The Salvation Army, the opportunity presented itself for him to work at Fresh Face Farms. In preparation, he took CropKing’s Grower Workshop to familiarize himself with controlled environment agriculture (CEA).
Lindberg has passed some of the information he learned in the workshop onto the students at Fresh Face Farms. One lesson included how to adjust the alkalinity of water to get it to a desired pH range. On a related note, but one not taken straight from his CropKing Grower Workbook, Lindberg also had students guess the pH of orange juice and milk and then assess the pH of those liquids. “That’s one of the things I love, is this is all hands-on [education],” he says. “This is not just show and tell, but it's experiencing.”
The technology and the hands-on education come together to form a learning experience that shows promising results for inspiring children to explore new avenues of interest and excel in their lives and careers, Jackson says. Some of his former students out west have even gone on to study growing in hopes of making it a career. “When you say, ‘Salvation Army,’ it’s just not what you’re thinking,” he says. “That’s The Salvation Army of the future.”
LEDs HPS Lighting Hydroponics Tomato Indoor agriculture Food nutritionLocal food Education Food security CEA Dutch buckets
'The Next Evolution of Farming Has Already Begun'
By Austin Stankus - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
The world population continues to grow with ever-increasing urbanization predicted to reach 80 percent by 2050. The U.N. predicts that human population will reach nearly 10 billion by 2050. This increasing population is also growing richer — and hungrier.
To feed this population using traditional farming practices, much more land would need to be brought under cultivation. But, already much farmland around the world has been degraded from poor management practices, and lands remaining available for food production are decreasing from the effects of erosion, salt buildup and pollution.
As you read this today, tens of millions of children are going to bed hungry, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimating the number of hungry in 2018 at 812 million or approximately one out of 9 people.
Something needs to change. Food production needs to get more efficient, more equitable and more environmentally minded. Moreover, food production should follow the population to the cities, or as Dickson Despommier, a forerunner of this movement, simply states: “Put the food where the people live.”
Indoor farming through controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) will be an important component towards establishing local food systems that can address this pending crisis in global food insecurity. CEA, simply put, is using smart, sustainable farming practices inside of high-tech greenhouses. This is nothing new, and these modern greenhouses are an established technology and can be found around the world. In fact, much of the lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in the EU come from CEA in the Netherlands and Spain.
These greenhouses have incredible benefits compared to traditional farming: They use less water because they are protected from the sun and wind, they use fewer pesticides because insects and disease can be kept outside, and there is less waste because production can be matched exactly to consumer demands.
If hydroponics or other soil-less practices are used, the farmer does not need to use tractors for tilling, plowing and reaping, so the oil bills and energy consumption are lower. In addition, the fertilizer usage is reduced, and all the fertilizer the farmer uses is consumed by the plants, thereby reducing nutrient-rich runoff that can pollute watersheds.
Known as eutrophication, this nutrient pollution is a huge problem for coastal communities in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico and has impacted fisheries, recreational activities and livelihoods around the world.
However, CEA greenhouses can occupy a lot of space. So, the next logical evolution is stacking these modern greenhouses, one atop the other.
Vertical farming, as greenhouses stacking is called, has additional benefits. Reducing the footprint means that more food can be grown in a smaller area and therefore can be brought closer to the people eating that food. As populations move toward the cities, it makes sense for the food to follow.
Part of the vision of vertical farms is the reconnection of the producer and the consumer plus the restructuring of food value chains to become more transparent and responsive to the needs and wants of the people.
An added benefit of farming inside of skyscrapers is the option of having mixed-use buildings. When combined with a wholesale market, the skyscraper can not only produce the food but get it to the consumer faster. Less time in storage, less transportation and less handling means fresher produce and reduced need for postharvest treatments like irradiation and chemical fumigation.
There are still some daunting challenges as well as some encouraging recent developments.
Unleashing the innovative power of American small businesses has jump-started the transition to modern farming, and the public desire for local, healthy food is an economic engine driving the industry toward change. In fact, there are currently so many vertical farm startups that a shortage of qualified workers is now the main hurdle to accelerating the establishment of new indoor farms. On one hand this is a challenge to the industry, but on the other it presents an enormous opportunity for job creation in urban areas if an inclusive, enabling environment is codeveloped with the vertical farms to provide vocational training and career advancement prospects.
On a technical level, there is a significant energy demand needed for pumping water, maintaining good environmental conditions like temperature and humidity, and powering the grow lights to keep producing year-round. However, with smart buildings wired on intelligent platforms, the energy consumption can be monitored and controlled to maximize efficiency — and by tying into other green enterprises like photovoltaic and biogas generation, this energy demand is decreasing day by day. In fact, with the new innovations in LED lighting technology, the power demand has been reduced tenfold in the last few years.
The next evolution of farming has already begun, and big players are already involved. In fact, the National Grange wrote a letter to Congress with their support to public-private funding mechanisms to accelerate the modernization of agriculture, specifically highlighting the potential of vertical farming.
With this type of buy-in from large agribusinesses, national and international agricultural organizations, funded with innovative financial mechanisms, and driven by the innovative spirit and technological power only found in the U.S., vertical farming will feed tomorrow’s children with healthy, safe food; protect the environment while being resistant to environmental shocks; and spur economic growth in the process.
For a detailed look at one such startup, see the centerfold story on Skyscraper Farm.
• Austin Stankus, an integrated farming specialist, is chief science officer at Skyscraper Farm LLC.
As Director of The New School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Mike Evans Wants to Create an Environment Where Creative Collaborations Lead to Innovative Discoveries
As director of the new School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Mike Evans wants to create an environment where creative collaborations lead to innovative discoveries.
Mike Evans grew up in rural Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where he spent his summers pulling tobacco and running a soybean drill for his grandparents and neighbors.
He saved enough money during those hot summers to buy his first car — a 1980 Ford Pinto — which he proudly parked in the Cage during his first year at Virginia Tech. He’d been exposed to the university through his high school’s Future Farmers of America program, which brought him to campus to take part in horticultural competitions.
As a student majoring in horticulture, he fell in love with researching the plants he’d been surrounded by his entire life. The intensive laboratory work he did during his undergraduate years at Virginia Tech prepared him well for the rigors of graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D.
Evans went on to a career in higher education that involved research to help industries thrive, Extension outreach programs that impacted local communities, and academic programs that prepared the next generation of students for the challenges of facing the world.
Now, the Hokie alumnus has returned to Virginia Tech to use all the skills he’s acquired to lead the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ latest strategic initiative.
Evans is the director of the newly formed School for Plant and Environmental Sciences, which combines three former departments — horticulture; crop and soil environmental sciences; and plant pathology, physiology, and weed sciences — under one administrative roof.
“When we bring people together you get something new called ‘creative collisions.’ These intersections lead to innovation on a level that changes the paradigm of what is possible,” Evans said. “We want to create an environment in the school where the silos are broken down and people are interacting in unique ways to allow opportunities for more of these creative collisions to occur. This benefits everyone from students and professors to industry leaders and local producers.”
Though faculty and administration have been involved in planning the school via committees, public forms, and other outlets for three years, it becomes officially operational on July 1.
“Mike’s experience makes him the perfect person to lead the school and help our faculty, staff, students, and Extension professionals find new ways to work together to make an even greater impact on our college, the state, and the world” said Alan Grant, dean of the college.
Evans most recently worked at the University of Arkansas, where he was an interim associate dean in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences. Prior to Arkansas, Evans was a professor at Iowa State University. At both institutions, he was a horticulture faculty member, teacher, and researcher who focused on controlled agricultural environments, such as greenhouses, and how to use hydroponic techniques to increase yields of food crops. He started his career as a researcher at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center with the University of Florida where he conducted research and Extension programs related to greenhouse crops and ornamental plants.
Evans points to projects he did as a horticultural researcher that show how collaboration can lead to greater impact.
A few years ago, he was researching how lettuce is best grown in a controlled environment using hydroponics. He started to talk with a plant pathologist who was trying to find ways to combat powdery mildew on spinach. The two began to collaborate on ways to grow the spinach in a greenhouse, which allowed for faster growing cycles. This development in the greenhouse helped the plant pathologist do quicker scientific trials than it would have been possible in the field. The teamwork between disciplines was what made the solution possible.
“You never know what innovative, cross-disciplinary solutions are possible until you tear down the walls that exist and build a space where ideas can freely flow — and new ideas can be born,” he said.
Similarly, the school will merge three former departments and bring researchers, faculty, and staff together to use their diverse experiences and skillsets to tackle issues ranging from increased crop production to ways to grow healthier food throughout the world.
None of the majors or degrees offered by the three former departments will change, though Evans said the school will explore creating new majors that build upon the expertise of the faculty and meet the demands of students and industry. All clubs and student organizations will remain as they currently operate. The school also will focus on ways to expand the college’s physical footprint, such as constructing new greenhouses or the future Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building 2.
“I believe that by creating a space where new relationships can form and risk-taking in the name of innovation is encouraged, there is unlimited potential to make a lasting impact in plant and environmental sciences,” he said.
Contact:
Vertical Farming: Bursting With Promise -- But Unknown Costs
By Dr. Michael Evans - - Wednesday, October 10, 2018
The production of food crops such as fresh greens (like lettuce and arugula) and herbs (such as basil) in vertical production facilities is part of a larger field of agriculture often referred to as controlled environment agriculture (CEA). In addition to production of these types of crops in vertical facilities, production also occurs in such facilities as greenhouses and plant factories inside of converted warehouses and shipping containers. The types of crops most commonly grown in CEA production include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, strawberries and fresh greens and herbs.
Depending on the crops being grown, different types of production systems might be used in CEA, but the most common systems are nutrient film technique, floating beads, Dutch bucket systems and various types of gutter systems. These systems might be true hydroponic systems — in which the plant roots are suspended in a static or recirculating fertilizer solution — or a system that uses an artificial soil or substrate in which the plant roots grow.
Across all of the types of controlled environment structures, systems and crops, the production of food crops in CEA has been experiencing rapid growth in the U.S. In fact, Rabobank, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company, reported that the value of U.S. greenhouse-grown food crops exceeded $3 billion in 2013 and is expected to exceed $4 billion by 2020.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistics also support the conclusion that greenhouse-grown produce production has been rapidly increasing. Many factors have been reported to be responsible for the growth in greenhouse food crop production including reducing water and fertilizer inputs needed to grow crops, an ability to better program and have predictability of crops in CEA versus open fields, the ability to grow crops year-round and thus better serve the local markets, the ability to potentially better use biorational disease and pest control, the ability to grow food crops on nonarable land, the ability to produce higher volumes of produce on limited land (especially with vertical farms), and the potential for reducing food safety issues as compared to open field production.
In addition to these factors, the growth of CEA was reported as being fueled by market and human factors. Karen Halliburton Barber of Rabobank noted in a report that, “There is a growing preference among U.S. retail and food service buyers for greenhouse produce.” She also noted that, “The buyers are seeking the quality and reliability of supply that greenhouse products provide.”
As a type of CEA, vertical farming affords the opportunity to produce larger volumes of these crops per area than traditional field production. This is achieved by both the potential for year-round production and the multiple levels of production systems employed. Vertical systems also allow for the production of produce crops in areas where land is very limited or very expensive as is often the case with highly urbanized areas. However, compared to both field production and even traditional greenhouse (single level production) hydroponic production, the fixed costs and variable costs of production will be different for vertical farming. Some costs are likely to be significantly higher while others might be lower. Costs are likely to be spread over higher levels of crop production.
It is important to understand these costs. It is important also to understand the market. What is the target market? What crops does the market want? How large is that market and what are the prices for a given product that the market will tolerate are all important questions before deciding to move forward with any type of CEA operation — including vertical farms. Having a strong understanding of the crops to be grown, the level of production achievable, the costs of production and the market will increase the chances for a successful CEA business venture.
• Michael Evans, Ph.D., is director of the School for Plant and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech (@VTCals).
Meet CropKing’s Nick Greens And Jake Emling
The two New Hires At CropKing Bring A Variety Of Experiences To the Lodi, Ohio-Based Operation.
September 18, 2018
CropKing, based in Lodi, Ohio, recently announced that it has expanded its team, with the addition of Nick Greens in the role of horticulturist/consultant, and Jake Emling in the role of horticulturist. The two new hires recently shared with Produce Grower their backgrounds and excitement about their new roles.
Nick Greens, horticulturist/consultant, based out of Lodi, Ohio
Horticulturist/consultant Nick Greens began his growing career in 2002 as an apprentice grower for a hydroponics shop. In 2007, Greens moved to Humboldt County, California, to work as an assistant grower for a collective of greenhouses, where he began experimenting with a vortex brewer to develop several recipes for compost teas.
In 2010, Greens moved back to Chicago to start growing produce for Blue Star Produce, where he perfected his compost tea recipes and became a pioneer in organic microgreens and leafy greens production. When he started growing microgreens in 2010, Greens used CropKing systems. He worked for and advised many Chicago indoor farms, including BrightFarms, Garfield Produce, Plant Chicago, Windy City Greens and Nick Greens Grow Team.
Greens has created many growing opportunities for youth in urban Chicago. He installed an indoor growing system at Kipp One Academy Charter School, and helped design and build the Food Science Lab at Schurz High School.
Having helped different microgreens operations get off the ground, Greens says he knows what it takes for small farming businesses to succeed. Now that he’s working at CropKing, Greens says he is excited to help customers solve their problems.
“Now that I’ve been at CropKing for a few months, I’ve really enjoyed the workshops,” Greens says. “Getting to meet potential growers and talk through their questions while also teaching about ways to provide heathy and sustainable food is one of the things I like best.”
Jake Emling, horticulturist, based out of Lodi, Ohio
Horticulturist Jake Emling developed a love of nature and the outdoors while growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he received both a bachelors and masters of science in horticulture. While at Michigan State, Emling researched various fruit crops in intensive growing systems. He also has worked in the fertilizer industry as well as with greenhouses, grower education and entomology.
Emling has worked throughout the United States with numerous crops and growers, and he says he is excited to pull from those experiences to help CropKing customers. “It is always interesting to me how the different cultural practices are used to produce the same crop in different locations,” he says.
In his spare time, Emling works in his one-third-acre vineyard. Additionally, he has experience working with computer-aided design. “Over the last few years I have been able to use my knowledge of engineering principles and horticulture to help improve different designs and layouts of greenhouses. I have been building things and tinkering all my life, so applying this skill with my background in horticulture has allowed me to solve problems for growers.”
At the end of the day, Emling says he is drawn to controlled environment agriculture (CEA) because of the range of experiences it presents. “I like the flexibility of different tasks that are needed to successfully produce a crop,” he says. “Also, [I like] the wide range of plants that you can grow in CEA. You are only limited to how much time you want to spend taking care of the needs of those specific plants.”
New Forum With CEA Scientists
By urbanagnews
September 21, 2018
Join three CEA scientists (Chieri Kubota, Erik Runkle and Cary Mitchell) who are organizing an online monthly forum series, called ‘Indoor Ag Science Café’. This online forum has been designed to discuss the science and technologies that can contribute to indoor controlled environment agriculture (AKA vertical farms). According to Chieri, “we wish to make the forum develop as a non-competitive, informal communication platform among indoor agriculture industries”.
Please contact Chieri Kubota (kubota.10@osu.edu) if you would like to join the Café.
The most recent topic presented by Erik Runkle at the Café is now available:
University of Arizona - Hydroponic Intensive Workshops
For more information:
Registration at CEAC.ARIZONA.EDU/INTENSIVE
Email: danaem@email.arizona.edu
Call Danae, Program Coordinator, (520) 626-9566
Virginia Smart Farming Conference on Using Controlled Environment Agriculture
August 8, 2018, created by Joyce Latimer
Join us for the 2018 Virginia Smart Farming Conference on Using Controlled Environment Agriculture to be held on Thursday, September 13, 2018, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville, VA.
From farms to greenhouses to warehouses, controlled environment agriculture is growing in the field of agriculture. Join academic and industry experts for this one-day event focused on the latest advances in protected culture, sensor technology, lighting, computer vision, automation, and vertical farming. Hear from technical experts as well as Virginia producers who have been successful in incorporating controlled environment agriculture into their business models.
Neil Mattson, Ph.D., Director of the Cornell University Controlled Environment Agriculture group will kick the conference off with his Keynote Address on Building a Controlled Environment Agriculture Business: Site, Structure, Crops, and Growing System. Later Neil will talk about niche markets filled by successful vertical farms and energy modeling in vertical farms and greenhouses.
In addition, Chris Higgins of Hort Americas will be joining us as a Special Guest Speaker for the Smart Farming Conference with an update on LED lighting options for commercial vertical farms as well as a presentation in the greenhouse track on using technology for climate control and reducing labor needs.
With speakers on using CEA on the farm, in the greenhouse, and in vertical/indoor farms, there is something for everyone. Check out the full program, speaker bios, and registration link on our website.
https://www.hort.vt.edu/sfcea/
Pre-registration ends September 4, 2018. Space is limited. Exhibitor space and sponsorship opportunities are still available.
About the Author:
Joyce Latimer
Professor, Horticulture, Virginia Tech
Joyce Latimer is a Professor and Greenhouse Extension Specialist at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg VA. Her specialty is in perennials production, problem solving, and plant growth regulation of herbaceous perennials under greenhouse and nursery conditions. Joyce also works with greenhouse energy efficiency education and implementation programs.
Joyce has been recognized for her Extension service to the industry with the Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence (Virginia Tech, 2010), Horticultural Initiative Award (Southeast Color Connection, 2010), and the Outreach Excellence Award (Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2007).
Sustenir Sows The Seeds of Success
Company plows efforts into high-tech methods of farming to maximize land-use and yield while reducing wastage.
July 31, 2018
Sustenir is an urban farming company that uses controlled environment agriculture to grow non-native plants in Singapore. Seen here are regional sales manager Jack Moy (left) and co-founder Benjamin Swan. The company is also looking at using AI to monitor plant growth. BT PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN
GROWING cold-weather crops such as strawberries and kale in Singapore might seem impossible to many, but that is exactly what Sustenir Agriculture is doing.
Since 2014, Sustenir has been using high-tech methods such as controlled environment agriculture (CEA), vertical farming, and hydroponics to grow a variety of non-native plants indoors.
For co-founder Benjamin Swan, this unlikely agricultural venture is far from frivolous. He sees it as an important environmental move: "It was really my opportunity to do the right thing, to fight the good fight, you know. This was something that needed to happen."
Cultivating an idea
The idea first came to Mr. Swan when he read an article about vertical farming on his MRT ride home from work in 2012 - and felt that current methods were not efficient enough.
"The illustrations that I saw, they were wasting a lot of space. It may work in the United States where there is a lot of space, but in Singapore and Hong Kong, where land is scarce and rent is high. It just wouldn't work wasting space like that," he says.
That night, the then-engineer and project manager designed more compact versions.
Much of that early design work has translated to Sustenir's commercial farm in Admiralty today, which covers an area of 10,000 square feet (approximately 930 square metres).
While keeping his day job, the budding indoor farmer spent his weekends and after-office hours connecting with academics and farmers from all over the world to learn more about this industry.
"I took bites from what everyone was doing, because everyone was doing things so differently, and from that, I just formed my own hypothesis on how growing would happen."
With the knowledge gained, he focused on "growing impossible products at impossible places".
His first impossible place was the basement of a swimming facility in April 2013. There, he experimented with varying light wavelengths, nutrient solutions, carbon dioxide levels, and many other variables to find the optimum conditions for different species of plants to grow.
"I was growing kale by tricking the plant into thinking it was cold by chilling the water. It was there that I learned the power of a controlled environment. You just need to think outside the box."
After seeing the fruits of his labor, he decided to become a full-time farmer. The construction of Sustenir's facility in Admiralty started in October that year.
Mr. Swan wanted to use the budding technology of CEA to address the growing issue of environmental sustainability.
"If we keep going with farming the way it's being done right now, we're going to need farming land the size of Brazil by 2050 to feed the growing population. That means more deforestation, more pesticide run-off into rivers killing fish - it's not great.
"It's not to say that traditional farming is the devil, but we're saying that we need to fix it because it's not sustainable."
Through Sustenir's methods of vertical farming, land can be optimized to obtain more yield.
In an area of 54 square metres, Sustenir produces 1 tonne of kale or 3.2 tonnes of lettuce per month.
According to some reports, this can be 14 to 127 times more than the yield produced through traditional farming on the same area of land, depending on the climate.
Unlike traditional outdoor farming, vertical farming is not affected by seasonal changes. This allows for continuous production.
This form of farming also reduces water consumption, as the harvested crops do not need to be washed before they are consumed.
Sustenir keeps the plants clean by keeping external air pollutants out of the growing area and by having staff put on clean-room suits before they enter. This cleanliness is then maintained by packing the produce in airtight containers.
Producing non-native plants locally also reduces the ecological footprint from transport and food waste.
"Thirty-three percent of produce is wasted in the logistics alone before it even gets to the merchants," says Mr. Swan. "Then the merchants also have wastage as well. It's what they call shrinkage."
Sustenir further reduces wastage by using all of its yields. Physically imperfect specimens are made into juice instead of being thrown away.
"Sometimes during the harvesting process, we could be a bit rough and the leaves are not perfect, so we don't sell those to retail," says general manager Jack Moy. "What we do is find a way to repurpose this, because they taste equally good and they have the same nutrition."
To support Singapore's self-sustainability - at least where greens are concerned - Sustenir does not grow local produce. Instead, the firm aims to grow imported veggies which are popular among residents.
"We put our customers at the heart of all our decisions," says Mr. Swan.
For instance, after learning that many Singaporeans are fans of Japanese and Korean strawberries, Sustenir made that fruit its newest project.
Officially launched on June 20 this year, the strawberries have enjoyed substantial demand - so much so that Sustenir plans to allocate more space in its farm for growing the fruit.
Unfortunately, not all its products were equally well-received.
Upon the launch of its kale, the Sustenir team gave out samples at Cold Storage stores, only to find that many locals do not enjoy the vegetable's tough texture and bitter taste.
Mr Swan then went back to the "grow room" - as the growing area is dubbed - and altered the environment to reduce these unpopular attributes of kale, resulting in a softer-leaf, less bitter product.
The team also visits farmers' markets to study customer preferences. This feedback is used to modify produce, for instance by cultivating sweeter strawberries or milder arugula.
Mr. Swan hopes to apply the same CEA methods to maximize the nutrients in plants and grow them for medicinal purposes, too.
Sustenir is also working on developing local grapes and wine.
Leveraging technology
Apart from its own techniques, Sustenir taps external technologies for greater efficiency.
Through Spring Singapore - now Enterprise Singapore, after its merger with International Enterprise Singapore - Sustenir partnered PBA Systems to create robotic arms for seeding. One robotic arm does the work of three people.
Sustenir also works with educational institutions such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) to boost awareness of and interest in the industry.
After learning about vertical farming and CEA, students get the opportunity to develop projects and help the company in its green journey.
Says Mr. Moy: "It's kind of like an internship. We even bring NUS (students) onto the business side where they can help with the marketing."
Ideas which the firm finds feasible will be commercialized, he adds. "So it's really cool for the students. They can be proud to share that they worked with Sustenir to create a new innovation that customers love."
In line with its zero-waste policy, Sustenir is working with SIT to find the most suitable way to turn physically imperfect kale into kale powder.
The company is currently exploring different ways of drying the vegetable - from spray drying to vacuum drying - to find one that retains the most nutritional value.
Another technology Sustenir is looking at is artificial intelligence, which can be used to monitor plant growth and detect problems so they can be nipped in the bud.
Says Mr. Swan: "We're working with companies right now to work on our own in-house AI technology, to not only help us monitor and track plant growth, but to also help with the whole farming system. Everything from upstream with the resource materials to downstream with the ERP (enterprise resource planning) system." He declined to reveal the companies.
Sustenir also plans to create an online platform, Sustenir Life, to educate consumers on health, fitness, and vertical farming.
The company will work with health and fitness professionals, environmentalists and charities to share their stories and promote their causes on the blog-like platform.
All this is in the service of a larger, industry-level goal: changing the nature of outdoor farming, too.
"That's really the future of Sustenir," says Mr. Swan. "It's to take technology and help outdoor farmers - through our center of excellence in indoor farming - to apply smart technology into their farms, to optimize their farming programmes."
This is another reason Sustenir does not grow local produce. This ensures it does not compete with local farmers, instead of complementing their existing products.
Currently, Sustenir's cold-weather crops can be found at select Cold Storage outlets and online at Redmart. Sustenir also supplies food chains, restaurants and hotels such as SaladStop!, Les Amis and Shangri-La.
Mr Swan hopes to expand to other countries. "We're going to start with Asia-Pacific. In all heavily urbanized cities in Asia, we want to have Sustenir."
The company is building a 50,000 square foot facility in Hong Kong and is working with local farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia to integrate smart technology - such as the robotic seeding arm - into their traditional methods.
Outdoor farmers can also tap Sustenir's research findings for optimal growth, for instance by varying the pH levels of water in response to changes in climate and temperature.
Ultimately, Mr. Swan envisions Sustenir broadening its reach to the whole world: "It's time for a change in agriculture."
Brought to you by The Future Economy Council
Webinar Series - Funding Opportunities For CEA Energy Efficiency
The GLASE Consortium Webinar Series features the latest technological innovations and best practices in the CEA field providing the audience the opportunity to discover new solutions and to connect with field experts.
Webinar Series
Funding Opportunities For CEA Energy Efficiency
This webinar will introduce some key funding opportunities to help CEA growers install energy efficient equipment. Growers and manufacturers will learn how to leverage federal, state, and utility funding to identify opportunities for energy efficiency and contribute towards the installation cost of the identified projects. Attendees will also learn about utilizing the joint GLASE/EnSave software tool to share operational details of their CEA facility to further the GLASE mission.
Date: July 12th, 2018
Time: 2 pm EST
Presented by: EnSave
Register here
EnSave is the United States' leading designer and implementer of agricultural energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction programs. Since 1991, EnSave has worked with a variety of clients including federal agencies, state government, energy utilities, and industry organizations to help drive sustainable growth within the agricultural sector. We are proud to be a GLASE industrial member.
3rd Greenhouse and Hydroponic Technical Management Course for India
3rd Greenhouse and Hydroponic
Technical Management Course for India
"Delish Veggies, Graeme Smith Consulting and Future Farms are pleased to announce the 3rd Greenhouse and Hydroponic Training Program in Pune India after the grand successes of our two training courses in 2017.
We received a phenomenal response for both training programs due to the presence of renowned international trainers from Australia and practical farm tours whereby we hosted many international participants, multiple Indian states, and 60 participants and received “extremely satisfied” feedback from all the participants.
Delish Veggies had to decline many participants in these training programs due to limited seats, therefore due to popular demand we are organizing a 3rd course this June (4th to 8th) and have again included many interesting topics and commercial farm set up sessions."
The course will again be conducted by two highly experienced Australian industry presenters Graeme Smith and Rick Donnan.
Graeme is the proprietor of Graeme Smith Consulting, he consults throughout the world, runs regular study tours to Holland/EU and North America, and is the past Chairman of Protected Cropping Australia. Recent international greenhouse projects include Hyderabad, Abu Dhabi, China and Rajasthan.
Rick owns Growool Horticultural Systems and is the Q&A columnist in the world’s leading hydroponic industry publication- Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses magazine and provides consultancy services.
The course assists participants to improve their ability to understand the key principles in a commercial greenhouse and hydroponic production by:
• understanding the principles of controlled production systems
• using correct strategies and technologies to manage
greenhouse climates and irrigation
• understanding plant growing requirements and plant
production techniques
• developing new strategies for plant protection and integrated
pest & disease management
• understanding plant nutrition and fertigation programs
• identifying the risks and opportunities of climate change
Topics Include:
• Media types & characteristics • Plant structure
• Nutrition & nutrient management • EC & pH
• Water quality and treatment • Plant physiology
• Environmental management • Irrigation management
• Greenhouse business and marketing plan • Plant health
• Greenhouse design and layout • Pest and disease control
Greenhouse Technical Management Course Details
Greenhouse Technical Management Course Photos
Location: Pune, India
Dates: June 4th to 8th 2018 (5 days)
Course cost: Rs. 50,000 excluding 18% GST. (Lunch, as well as morning and afternoon tea, will be provided throughout the course)
To register your interest, please contact the course Coordinator, Uday Mathapati on +91 9130098714 or email: udaymathapati@gmail.com or visit www.delishveggies.com for further information
What Are The Production And Training Issues Facing Controlled Environment Agriculture Growers?
What Are The Production And Training Issues Facing Controlled Environment Agriculture Growers?
Exclusives from Urban Ag News
Ohio State University professor Chieri Kubota is focused on helping to resolve the production and training challenges facing controlled environment growers.
Trying to produce vegetables in hot, humid conditions can be difficult for controlled environment growers whether growing in a greenhouse or a warehouse.
“The challenges of greenhouse growing in Ohio and the Midwest are different than the challenges faced by growers in Arizona,” said Ohio State University horticulture professor Chieri Kubota. Kubota, who joined the faculty at Ohio State this past June will continue the controlled environment agriculture research she was doing while at the University of Arizona.
“Some people think I’m an expert at dealing with heat stress because I was doing my research in an Arizona greenhouse,” she said. “But in Arizona growers don’t really have to worry about the heat inside a greenhouse if they are using an evaporative cooling system to lower the temperature. In Arizona, the outside temperature can be 110ºF, but the temperature in the greenhouse can be lowered to 75ºF-80ºF (25ºC-27ºC) as long as the air is dry enough and water is available. In Arizona the dryness can be a challenge, causing tip burn on sensitive crops such as lettuce and strawberry.
“I really didn’t have to deal with heat stress much in Arizona. But there are other parts of the country like the Midwest and East Coast that have to deal with hot, humid summer conditions and very cold winters. I would like to work on those issues and develop technologies, including climate control strategies that can mitigate the issues of growing crops year-round. In Ohio and the Midwest summer heat stress is a major issue for crops causing all kinds of physiological disorders including incomplete pollination and fruit ripening disorders. During the winter, heating and humidity can also be an issue. There is also an issue with low light levels so supplemental lighting is more important.”
Ohio State University horticulture professor Chieri Kubota is planning to continue the controlled environment research she started at the University of Arizona and plans to expand her program to study LED lighting and new crops.
Photos courtesy of Chieri Kubota, Ohio St. Univ.
Because of the limited optimum growing season in greenhouses in the Midwest, Kubota said using indoor productions systems makes more sense compared to Arizona.
“In this part of the country it is very difficult to maintain the optimum temperature range year round,” she said. “And because of the increased interest in vertical farming, I expect to put more effort in warehouse production systems, including the use of LED lighting.”
Improving vegetable grafting
Some of the projects Kubota started at the University of Arizona that she will continue to work on our vegetable grafting and hydroponic strawberry production. She is a member of a research team led by North Carolina State University plant pathologist Frank Louws that is working on vegetable grafting.
“I am continuing my research on improving grafting methods and the handling of grafted plants so that they can be shipped long distances,” Kubota said. “I am also creating a simple tool for growers to schedule grafted plant production. Having the grafted plants ready at exactly the same size is always a challenge for growers. The research group is working to develop a simple plant growth model based on environmental conditions to predict how many days are needed to finish a grafted crop.”
Kubota said the grafting research team is looking at a variety of plants, including tomato, watermelon, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, and muskmelon.
“Growers are commercially producing grafted tomato and watermelon plants, but there are many more crops that can use grafting technology to reduce loss from soil-borne diseases and to increase yields. My program is looking at all of these potential crops.”
Kubota said the grafting research also has application to greenhouse crops.
“The grafting technology was originally developed for soil-based production, but greenhouse vegetable growers discovered that even though they are doing soilless production, using grafted plants can increase crop yields,” she said. “In North America, greenhouse growers were the first group who started using grafting technology. The field growers are now more interested since they have fewer means to control disease. In terms of potential market, field production in the U.S. is much larger in terms of number of plants.
“Currently tomato accounts for the majority of grafted plants in greenhouses. Increased tomato yields have been the driver for greenhouse growers to use grafted plants. Some greenhouse growers have been trialing grafted cucumbers and some research has shown that grafted eggplants can increase yields.”
Improving strawberry production
Kubota who has been working on greenhouse strawberry production for nine years will continue working on this crop with an interest in the use of LEDs.
Chieri Kubota will continue her greenhouse strawberry research with an interest in increasing yields using supplemental light.
“Strawberry fruit production is not as productive as leafy greens or tomatoes in terms of dollars of return relative to the input of light,” she said. “I’m interested in studying the increase in yields relative to the increase in light. What is the dollar value of that increase of yield by adding for example, 1 mole of light? Unless there is an improvement in lighting technology, it may not make sense to grow strawberries under supplemental lighting.
“I would like to come up with a smart lighting system to reduce the lighting cost based on the understanding of strawberry physiology and how plants are grown in a greenhouse. I think we could reduce lighting energy use and costs quite a bit by doing that. Strawberries are physiologically unique in terms of light saturation and also in terms of the sink-and-source relationship of how much sugar can be translocated from the leaves so that the photosynthetic rate can be maximized.”
Developing new crops
Another area that Kubota would like to expand for CEA production is the development of new crops.
“Controlled environment growers whether they are growing in greenhouses or warehouses need to diversify and increase the number of crops they are producing,” she said. “Although I don’t have any new crop projects coming up, I am particularly interested in small fruits. Since Ohio and the Midwest have a cold climate, there may be an opportunity to do more with small fruit crops like raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and other berry crops for greenhouse production.”
Kubota is also interested in revisiting the study of spinach production in greenhouse and warehouses.
“Controlled environment growers seem to have a particularly difficult time managing diseases including Pythium on spinach,” she said. “I am interested in determining if there is a practical way to manage these diseases. Cornell University researchers had previously done a lot of studies on this issue years ago. I wanted to see what the difference was between the successful hydroponic growing of spinach in Asia and other countries and why U.S. growers can’t do that too.”
Expanding professional training, research programs
As part of her extension efforts at Ohio State, Kubota wants to expand the opportunities for growers to receive professional training.
“I want this training to go beyond Ohio and to go nationwide and even international,” she said. “I’m interested in training professionals with online courses and other programs at a reasonable cost.
“The heart of the horticulture industry is in this part of the country. There are many different types of growers, supporting vendors and technology providers here. They are well connected.”
Chieri Kubota said having an extensive group of CEA researchers and extension specialists at Ohio State will enable her to expand training programs for growers not only in the state but potentially worldwide.
Kubota said at the University of Arizona research in the plant science department was focused more on basic science such as how a particular gene functions in plants, but not necessarily horticultural plants.
“Here at Ohio State I am in the horticulture and crop science department so the other faculty members understand what horticulture is,” she said. “There are a number of people here working on controlled environment agriculture including horticulture, which covers floriculture, hydroponics, and high tunnels, and ag engineering, entomology, plant pathology and food safety. There is a complete set of researchers and extension specialists who can work on a variety of controlled environment agriculture issues related to horticulture crops. This makes it advantageous for not only developing research projects together, but also professional training for commercial growers.”
For more: Chieri Kubota, The Ohio State University, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, kubota.10@osu.edu; http://u.osu.edu/cepptlab; https://hcs.osu.edu/our-people/dr-chieri-kubota; https://www.facebook.com/CEPPTLAB.
That Healthful Looking Green Leafy Stuff in Your Fridge May Not Be As Great For You As You Think.
That Healthful Looking Green Leafy Stuff in Your Fridge May Not Be As Great For You As You Think.
How could that be you ask? Well…Let me explain.
Firstly, a brief ecology lesson;
- Healthy organic soil contains microorganisms* or microbes
- These microbes work to break down plant matter in the soil
- This breakdown of vegetation creates humate deposits in the soil
- Humate deposits are rich in the amazing fulvic acid and humic acids (also known as minerals)
*Soil microorganisms can be classified as bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae and protozoa. Each of these groups has characteristics that define them and their functions in soil.
So, how does this relate to my lettuce?
Right now, less than 4% of the soil in North America is certified organic farmland, and worldwide chemically based farming practices are continually polluting the soil.
This means the valuable microbes are being killed off by things like herbicides and pesticides, fertilizers, ultimately leading to mineral depletion. Without these precious microbes even re-mineralizing the soil is futile, as the humates and fulvic acid are still missing.
Ok, on to that lettuce finally! Chances are it was grown in an environment that was lacking microbes, and thus the creation of humates and fulvic minerals are almost nil to very low. As a result, the lettuce is lacking in minerals even though it may look lush and green.
I get it, sick soil = means my lettuce is lacking
But what effect does this have on my health? And what’s this fulvic acid stuff you keep talking about?
Patience please, your answers are on the way in our next couple emails while your waiting you can watch today's message from our founder HERE.
Let's make tiny farming not so tiny!