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Farming Brought To New Heights
Although still in its early stages of development, urban rooftop farms have already started to attract attention
Forward-Thinking Entrepreneurs, Neighbors, And
Farmers Have Discovered A New Use For Rooftops: Farming.
By Alexandra Neag
November 5, 2020
Who said rooftops should only be used for cocktail bars and beauty spots overlooking the city?
Although still in its early stages of development, urban rooftop farms have already started to attract attention.
Statistics predict that by 2050 the population of the world will reach 9.7 billion. By the same year, the UN predicts that 68% of the world’s population will most likely live in urban areas, up from 55% in 2018. This substantial growth would imply the need for more agricultural land and more fresh products. Yet, if we consider the climate change challenge and the transport pollution that aggravates it, we are in dire need of more local farms.
There is considerable potential for space usage. There are 4.85 trillion sq ft (450 billion m2) of roof space in the US alone, but only 1% is being used. This way, local businesses could supply their greengrocers locally without the added carbon footprint of transportation.
Leveraging rooftop space in metropolitan areas is a great advantage. This would make a significant positive environmental impact. Transport of goods accounts for 12% of all agricultural emissions worldwide.
Reducing transportation costs and pollution is not the only way in which rooftop farms would be more eco-friendly. They would also improve air quality, absorb heat, and cool down the building. They also would add more of a green landscape to the concrete jungle, which is proven to have psychological benefits for people.
Healthy food would be readily available to local businesses, which would reduce the cost of transport and, therefore, the prepared food cost to customers. The urban farmers might even use fewer pesticides as the crop would not be at risk of being eaten by insects and rodents, producing more nutritious and tasty ingredients for people’s diets.
As the advantages of city farming have become more prominent, many places worldwide have started to adopt this initiative. Among them are the City Farm in Tokyo, Dakakker in Rotterdam, and Brooklyn Grange in New York City. In each of these urban farms, people have added new elements and ideas to match the local demand. In Tokyo’s city farm, they adjusted the agricultural conditions to grow soybeans, eggplants, and rice. These are traditionally the most used ingredients in the region. In New York, on the other hand, the extra space has enabled further expansion. They now also raise chicken for eggs as well as bees for honey production.
In Paris’ 15 arrondissement, we can find the biggest rooftop farm. They went a step further and created a soil-free system where fruit and vegetables are grown on vertical columns using coconut fibre. Their model seems to be the most fructiferous, sustainable, and clean so far. As a result, they started offering a consultancy worldwide to help other city farmers start such productive and eco-friendly agriculture systems.
All in all, it is exciting to see such innovative solutions emerging to combat global issues and improve urban efficiency. Although there is still a lot of progress left to be made, ingenious entrepreneurs have shown that farming can be brought to new heights.
RELATED TOPICS : FEATURED, FOOD WASTE, MOBILITY, ORGANIC, PARIS, ROOFTOP FARMING, ROOFTOP GARDENS
Writer and Marketer. After launching new models in the automotive industry, I’ve shifted my focus to writing about sustainable mobility and ground-breaking ideas for a better future.
SmartHectar And AgTech Insight Announce Corporate Innovation and Implementation Services With The Launch Of Enable Latin America
SmartHectar and Enpact work with corporates to help identify and prioritize technology needs, bring potential solutions from startups, facilitate “innovation challenge” programs, and refine products
November 5, 2020
SmartHectar And AgTech Insight Announce Corporate Innovation and Implementation Services With The Launch Of Enable Latin America
Driving innovation throughout the Ag and food ecosystems can be a challenge which is why SmartHectar, AgTech Insight, and Enpact are working together to lead Latin American corporates through industry modernization challenges. With the launch of Enable Latin America, AgTech Insight is bringing their innovation implementation services to the table to further the success of these programs and provide corporates with the technical and tactical support required when integrating technology.
SmartHectar and Enpact work with corporates to help identify and prioritize technology needs, bring potential solutions from startups, facilitate “innovation challenge” programs, and refine products. AgTech Insight will further support stakeholders by providing additional services to fully commercialize and integrate the solution. As the corporate innovation program wraps up, AgTech Insight works with the AgriFood organization to understand user needs and company culture to develop and implement an action plan. They can manage field trials, and once proven, provide localization, go to market support, and training to scale those solutions throughout the operations to achieve full impact.
“It is exciting to be collaborating with the incredible work SmartHectar and Enpact do! By offering another level of support to their programs, we are able to complete the idea-to-commercialization loop and help both corporates and innovators see measurable success in their efforts” Says Aaron Magenheim, CEO of AgTech Insight.
As the new project kicked off, Matthias Schmidt, CEO of SmartHectar and Marcelino Turati Gomez talked with Aaron Magenheim, and Gonzalo Perez, MD at Arpegio Ventures to share with us some of their perspectives and insights. Read it here.
SmartHectar and Enpact have been successfully running Enable Southeast Asia and Enable West Africa programs which foster collaboration between corporates and startups in the region to drive innovation in AgriFood and water technology. Agriculture has always been at the core of the Latin American economy and especially in the last few years, we have seen an increase in digital trends and technological innovation taking hold in the sector. The new approach which Enables Latin America brings to the region will speed up adoption and return on investment to corporates, startups, and the ecosystem as a whole.
Contact
AgTech Insight - Aaron Magenheim, CEO
+1-855-410-2030
Matthias Schmidt-Rex (CEO SmartHectar Innovation)
+49 151 42414237
Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund Closes Omaha Investment
The Harvest Returns Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund recently funded the first tranches of an investment in a vertical farm and restaurant business that will produce locally-consumed food year-round in Omaha, Nebraska
The Harvest Returns Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund recently funded the first tranches of an investment in a vertical farm and restaurant business that will produce locally-consumed food year-round in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund invests to create a positive impact to the agriculture industry across economically disadvantaged regions of the U.S. The fund seeks to provide investors with tax-favorable, risk-adjusted returns in assets uncorrelated with the stock and bond markets. The fund’s investment objective is to achieve tax-advantaged capital appreciation in production agriculture projects that are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.
“Gather Omaha represents exactly the type of project in which we designed this fund to deploy capital,” said Chris Rawley, fund manager of the Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund and CEO of Harvest Returns. “The track record of the Gather management team and Omaha’s local economy makes this an appealing opportunity for investors who seek to diversify their portfolios out of volatile stocks.”
Opportunity Zones were created as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to encourage investment in underfunded, low-income, and distressed communities. Opportunity Zones offer a chance for investors to earn significant returns and tax incentives, including delayed and potentially reduced taxes on capital gains.
“We are really excited to work with a fund like the Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund that aligns perfectly with our model of an Opportunity Zone and Urban Agrarian move,” said Graeme Swain, manager of Gather Omaha. “It isn’t too often that you find two companies aligning ideologically on such a specific agenda.”
Gather Omaha will produce locally sustainable food using a vertical hydroponic farming system. Hydroponic production uses fewer resources than traditional farming practices with 95 percent less water usage, zero pesticide use, and a carbon footprint reduction from shorter shipment distances due to local consumption. In addition, to use within their restaurant, the produce will be sold to local schools, hospitals, grocery stores, and farmers’ markets.
About Harvest Returns
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Harvest Returns, Inc. is a financial technology marketplace created in 2016 by two military veterans to bring agricultural producers together with investors. Through democratizing the agriculture investment process, the online platform provides curated, diversified offerings of farms, ranches, and timberland to qualified investors.
For more information, please visit harvestreturns.com.
Why Vertical Farming Is The Future of Agriculture
Can you imagine the possibility of harvesting yields equivalent to 3,000-4,000 sq. ft. of land in a 1,000 sq. ft. of land?
Utsav Patel
November 7, 2019
Although ‘do more with less’ is an age-old philosophy, it is still an ongoing mantra for many individuals and companies today. In other words, ‘do more with less,’ means produce more with less. The term ‘productivity’ in the 1800s and 1900s used to be the measurement of the output of goods and services available. While in the 2000s, it means squeezing every bit of output that we can from data.
When it comes to data, most of us cannot resist but think about data-driven technologies, from the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning to Big Data. The adoption of such data-driven technologies has made possible for Harley Davidson to reduce its lead time from a fixed 21 days motorcycle production schedule to just 6 hours. BASF USA, the North American affiliate of BASF SE – the largest chemical producer in the world, reduced their unplanned downtime to 80%. Dr. Marcus Elliott, a Harvard-trained physician, established a P3 facility to assess and train athletes to revolutionize pro-sports. With so many transformations in other industries, agriculture is no exception.
Can you imagine the possibility of harvesting yields equivalent to 3,000-4,000 sq. ft. of land in a 1,000 sq. ft. of land? Vertical farming technology makes that possible. Essentially, this farming technology, based on such data-driven technologies, allows doing more with less. Less water. Less fertilizer. Less land. No soil. Fewer chances of crop failure. But the higher quantity and fresh quality of crops. That’s why iot based vertical farming is the future of greenhouse agriculture.
In this blog post, we’ll see what vertical farming is, what pushes the shift towards vertical farming from conventional agriculture, the types of vertical farming and the advantages of vertical farming.
What is vertical farming
Vertical farming is a method of growing plants in vertically stacked layers in fully controlled environments. By growing plants in vertically mounted shelves, it remarkably reduces the amount of land required for traditional farming methods. Since a vertical farming setup resembles a multi-storied building of plants, it is often associated with urban farming. Vertical farming can be either aeroponic, where without the use of soil, plants are grown by systematic spraying of water and nutrients on roots, or hydroponic, where plant growth is supported using a nutrient-dense bowl of water. Along with knowing what makes vertical farming productive, it is also vital to understand why vertical farming has become the need of the hour today.
Why there is no alternative to vertical farming
The population of the world has quadrupled over the last century. According to the United Nations, in 1915, there were 1.8 billion people. Today, that figure rises to 7.7 billion. And it may reach up to 9.8 billion by 2050. However, it’s not only the growing population but increasing incomes in developing countries, as well, which are driving up the global food demand.
While food demand is expected to increase 70% by 2050 to feed the expected 9.5 billion people, it is estimated that an approximate of 19.5 million hectares of agriculture land is converted annually into urban centers and industrial developments. Therefore, it has become evident that farmers must increase food production, either by increasing the amount of agricultural land or by enhancing productivity on existing agricultural lands. The first option is clearly not possible, while the latter is possible through vertical farming. Some more compelling reasons for vertical agriculture are as per the following:
To meet mounting demands for food, timber, fiber and fuel, since 1945, we have caused 50-1,000 times more extinctions than their natural rates. That’s higher than the extinctions that happened during the 18th and 19th centuries combined.
The average temperature of our planet has increased by 0.85 °C. Grain yields decrease by about 5% with the rise of each one-degree. Surprisingly, since 2001, annual averages have shown the warmest global temperatures than any time ever before on this planet.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), currently, 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to water. And around 2.7 billion go through water scarcity at least one month of the year. Imagine the scenario by 2050.
Overall, vertical farming can be promising to save the planet’s valuable resources and provide the common man with better opportunities for health and sustenance.
Types of vertical farming
Hydroponics
If you have ever put a plant clipping into a glass of water in the expectation that it will grow roots, you have practiced hydroponics. Hydroponics is an agricultural method where plants are grown without the use of soil Here, the nutrients which plants usually obtain from the earth are dissolved into water instead.
Hydroponic systems require only about 10% of the water than the water needed by soil-based farming. That’s because hydroponic systems allow water and nutrient solutions to be recycled, reused and because no water is wasted as well. Further, hydroponics needs little or no pesticides and needs only about 25% of soil-based plants’ nutrients and fertilizers. This not only reflects cost savings but also protects the atmosphere by not introducing any chemicals into the air as well as the produce. On a broader level, let’s also consider the transport’s environmental impacts. Because hydroponics allows local production and requires fewer areas to import their crops, both price and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced as a result of reduced transport requirements.
Moreover, since plants grown in hydroponic systems have easy access to water and nutrients, they are not required to establish complex root systems to get the nutrients they need. Therefore, hydroponics enables a shorter harvest time. The method saves time and yields better, lush plants in around half the time than conventional farming requires.
Aeroponics
Like hydroponic systems, the aeroponics system also allows the growth of plants without soil. Here, the roots are sprayed with water and/or nutrient solution. The dispersion of mist provides the roots with the necessary amount of moisture to allow the plants to grow.
Did you ever think that naked roots could not only survive, but thrive? With the aeroponics system, the roots get maximum oxygen. As a result, roots thrive and plants grow faster. Not only that, such closed-loop systems use 95% less irrigation than soil-grown crops. Also, it is easier to harvest, particularly for root crops.
Aquaponics
This system is the same as the hydroponic system, but it does have some additional benefits. The goal here is to create a symbiotic ecosystem that supports each other – plants and fish.
Water becomes nutrient-rich, when you grow fish in indoor pools. This water serves as a wholesome food for the plants growing in your vertical. On the other side, the water going through the hydroponic subsystem is cleaned, oxygenated and returned to the tanks of aquaculture for the fish. This saves a lot of time, efforts and money, as there is no need to recycle the pond’s water frequently.
This groundbreaking method is employed by many commercial vertical farms as aquaponics allow them to make more profits by producing two goods at the same time.
Advantages of vertical farming
Vertical farming is, undoubtedly, a radical approach for producing quality fresh food in the least amounts of time and all year round. Though it does not rely on favorable weather conditions, skilled labor, high soil fertility and significant water usage, vertical farming technology delivers some extraordinary benefits.
It produces a harvest that is nutritious, environmentally friendly and affordable. As these harvests do not require long-distance transportation, it results in reduced fuel usage and decreases greenhouse gas emissions as well. In recent years, climate change has become the hottest topic. Amongst the industries that contribute to climate change, transportation is the second. By the way, due to limited transportation demand, consumers can get quality fresh vegetables at lower prices. And because of better access to healthy diet at affordable prices, the neighborhood is likely to lower their risk of diseases and witness an increase in their general health.
Moreover, vertical farming also enables more efficient use of waste. For example, a city’s grey, brown and black water can be used for irrigation after some minor treatment. Further, using anaerobic digesters, plant matter can be converted to methane gas, which can be used to generate electricity.
To know more about how data-driven technologies can help to monitor your vertical farming, contact our team of experts or stay tuned with us. We are in favor of promoting planet-friendly practices. How about you?
Categories:Blogs
CANADA - MONTREAL: Growing Kale On The shores of Hudson Bay? Year-Round Vegetable Farming Comes To Inukjuak
There are obvious challenges to growing greens year-round in a subarctic climate. Here's one you may not have expected: Inuktitut only has a handful of words for vegetables
The Isolated Nunavik Community Will Soon
Be Able To Grow Its Own Produce Year-Round
Sean Gordon · CBC News
November 08, 2020
Residents of Inukjuak, on the shores of Hudson Bay, have been farming vegetables in 'cold frames', but the community recently acquired a container farm that will supply the town with fresh produce year-round. (Courtesy of the Pirursiivik Project)
There are obvious challenges to growing greens year-round in a subarctic climate. Here's one you may not have expected: Inuktitut only has a handful of words for vegetables.
So in addition to coming up with new and inventive ways to achieve some level of food sovereignty, the plan to provide remote communities with fresh produce year-round is a linguistic and anthropological exercise as well.
"We're hoping in the coming years new terminology will be created," said Karin Kettler, who heads the Pirursiivik Project, a four-year initiative that is jointly funded by the One Drop Foundation, the Makivik Corporation and the RBC Foundation.
A few weeks ago, the project unveiled its latest initiative: a hydroponic container farm in the community of Inukjuak, a town of 1,800 on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay.
The plan is for it to provide a regular supply of fresh vegetables, a large portion of which will be given away to the community (the rest will be sold in local stores).
"We've done several gardening projects and our latest addition is a hydroponic container," Kettler told CBC's Breakaway.
"And inside this container we're planning to grow lettuce, spinach, kale and a local plant called qungulit in Inuktitut. It's very similar to what you call mountain sorrell ... it's kind of a leafy green, it has a nice lime, sort of lemony taste."
The remote northern community of Inukjuak took delivery of a hydroponic container that will be used to grow a year-round supply of fresh vegetables. (Courtesy Pirursiivik Project)
Pirursiivik sowed the seeds for the idea, so to speak, a couple of years ago. It conducted a poll in the community to determine its greatest need.
"'Many of the respondents wanted to have locally grown fruits and vegetables, primarily for their freshness," Kettler said. "In isolated communities we have to rely on the south for fresh vegetables and fruit. So if we can have a garden or a greenhouse ... then it reduces spoilage."
In the summer 2019, Pirursiivik introduced 'cold frames,' or raised boxes with plastic lids, that allow for vegetable cultivation in the warmer months.
"They were installed in front of different organizations around town and we encouraged ... [people] to grow their own spinach, their own herbs and different vegetables," Kettler said.
The community just finished its second growing season in the boxes, and it was a rousing success. It's main ask now is to have a year-round greenhouse. The hydroponic container is the first phase toward building one, which Kettler said should happen "in the next year or two."
Until then, the local community will continue experimenting with strange new fare from away.
"Bok choy isn't something you can find on the land around town," Kettler laughed. "This project is to help inform and teach people how to use new vegetables they may not be familiar with."
Folks have already developed a taste for what Kettler called "monster kale"—it appears to revel in long hours of direct northern sunlight—and other vegetables.
This year, Kettler's group held a veggie growing contest that drew 35 entries in the various categories, largest kale leaf, best tomato, etc. The prizes were awarded in October.
The hydroponic container should be operational by January, at which point the first crops will be planted.
"We should have vegetables to share in March," Kettler said.
The average temperature in Inukjuak at that time of year is –15 C. Happily, that will no longer present a barrier to eating fresh, local vegetables.
with files from Julia Page
Jellyfish Barge: The Floating, Modular Greenhouse
Studiomobile and Pnat came up with the Jellyfish Barge which is a floating, modular greenhouse designed especially for coastal communities and can help them cultivate crops without relying on soil, freshwater, and chemical energy consumption
By 2050, the global demand for food is expected to be 60-70% higher than today at the rate our population is increasing. There will be a scarcity of water and cultivable land and we need to solve this issue before we enter a global food crisis.
Agriculture is already being threatened by climate change where in some parts things like rising sea levels are causing floods in fertile land and the weather is making it more challenging to grow crops in other parts. To avoid a major food crisis, we need to come up with alternative solutions for agriculture like this floating greenhouse which can give nature time to recuperate and us some time to switch to more sustainable habits.
Studiomobile and Pnat came up with the Jellyfish Barge which is a floating, modular greenhouse designed especially for coastal communities and can help them cultivate crops without relying on soil, freshwater, and chemical energy consumption.
The innovative greenhouse uses solar energy to purify salt, brackish, or polluted water. There are 7 solar desalination units planted around the perimeter and are able to produce 150 liters (39.6 gallons) of clean freshwater every day from the existing water body the greenhouse is floating on.
The simple materials, easy self-construction, and low-cost technologies make it accessible to many communities who may not have a big fund. The module has a 70 square meter wooden base that floats on 96 recycled plastic drums and supports a glass greenhouse where the crops grow.
Read more at Yanko Design (Ruchi Thukral)
9 Novembert 2020
Aponix Upgrades 3D-NFT Vertical Barrels Components To ‘Version 3'
The Aponix vertical barrel system is an alternative vertical NFT solution from Germany that can be used instead of rack systems to use vertical space more efficiently in hydroponic setups and at the same time use natural sunlight better
The Aponix vertical barrel system is an alternative vertical NFT solution from Germany that can be used instead of rack systems to use vertical space more efficiently in hydroponic setups and at the same time use natural sunlight better. The system aims to maximize the number of possible grow spaces per level arranged in a given 3D room by increasing the diameter from a ‘Tower’ to a ‘Barrel’.
The whole system is based on lego-like ring segment pieces that serve either as spacers or provide differently organized inserts for standard 2-inch netpots. Assembling multiple of these ring segment pieces will result in stackable ring segments or barrel levels to assemble one or multiple such vertical cylinders. With more ring segments stacked, the height and the number of grow spaces are increased.
By the end of 2020, Aponix will have developed the new ‘Version 3’ that will incorporate all collected improvements from the existing global user based from the last 3 years and adding a few more features:
Liquid will be guided more precisely inside. It will also have a new more robust and tight connection mechanism and air traps to keep liquid inside also on high flow rates.
There will be a backwards-compatible and reusable grow plug insert, that is supposed to replace 2-inch one-time use plastic netpots also in other systems. It will also have an optional plant trellis insert to grow larger flowers and fruiting dwarf varieties.
There will be a new lid-base that speeds up setup of lines of vertical barrels and enable rotation of the units if needed.
There will also be a dedicated sprinkler dome lid enabling different sprinkler options including own solutions and also the own existing pressure-less irrigation option using the water buffer.
Vertical barrels will be more stable and can be built higher using the new V3 part.
There will only be a single ring segment piece in ‘Version 3’ with 2 grow pod inserts that only allow 2 stacking positions instead of 4 in V2. If spaces are unused they can be capped with a nice green cover plug.
As of 2020. Aponix also changed their market strategy from looking for distributors to starting to work only with product partners who bring in own engineering and create more specific and distinguishable solutions based on aponix components. Aponix parts are now defined as being mere infrastructure parts that always need to be integrated into a greater individual context involving more or less horticulture engineering depending on the application. Which means product partners create their own unique solutions based on aponix components adding other external even competitive pieces, logic and/or service and market them independently under their own brand and own product name.
For more information:
Aponix
hello@aponix.eu
www.aponix.eu
Mon 9 Nov 2020
A Healthy Hydroponics Ecosystem
“I believe the current pandemic has provided us the opportunity to completely reimagine the global food system,” says Tony Hunter, a global food futurist
October 28, 2020
How New Ways of Growing Can Help
The UAE Achieve Food Security
A little under two years ago, Mariam Hareb Almheiri, UAE Minister of State for Food Security, made a presentation to the country’s leadership. The National Strategy for Food Security aims to take the UAE to top spot in the Global Food Security Index by 2021; enable sustainable food production through technological means; improve nutrition; and reduce waste. One of the technologies that can help turn this national strategy into reality is hydroponics.
Rethinking the food system
“I believe the current pandemic has provided us the opportunity to completely reimagine the global food system,” says Tony Hunter, a global food futurist. “Countries should look to ensuring domestic manufacture of basic foodstuffs for their own populations.” Hunter, who gave a talk on the potential silver linings of the pandemic for the global food industry in a Gulfood webinar earlier this year, believes hydroponics may be a promising method of ensuring a country can supply some of its own fresh produce at a time when Covid-19 has rendered international supply chains vulnerable.
Paresh Purushothaman, Managing Director at Greenoponics, says, “There is a lot of support in the local community for developing farms that use water-conserving methods such as hydroponics.” His company, which specialises in hydroponic and other soil-free agricultural technologies, serves both retail customers – primarily homes and offices – and commercial clients, who use slightly larger systems to grow their own produce.
Hydroponics at home
It’s easier than you think to set up a mini hydroponics system in your home – so long as you have a good grasp of its principles and a bit of patience, explains Purushothaman. “All you need is one free square metre to get started. A small system using a technology called deep water culture is the easiest way to start. You can grow leafy greens including basil, parsley, coriander, various varieties of spinach and rocket leaves.”
Greenoponics’ smallest system, Ezee, can grow all of these, and can fit 16 plants at once. Slightly more ambitious home gardeners can opt for the bigger Eva, which can grow up to 20 plants at once – including cucumbers and tomatoes – using a nutrient film technique. A staple for both salads and cooking, these fruits take about 35 to 40 days to mature, and one plant can provide multiple harvests.
New technologies
Meanwhile, The Sustainable City in Dubai is home to special controlled-environment domes that fuse fish farming and urban farming – a term referred to as aquaponics. “We have advocated urban farming since day one not only in response to the UAE’s food security strategy but also as a lifestyle,” explains Karim El-Jisr, Chief Sustainability Officer - Social. “Urban farming can assume many shapes and sizes, including aquaponics, which combines conventional aquaculture (better known as fish farming) with hydroponics (soilless farming).
“Whereas indoor farming tends to focus hydroponics for the production of leafy greens and vegetables, we wanted to explore aquaponics as a way to produce animal protein within a community. We currently operate an aquaponic system that produces fish and fodder such as alfalfa. Aquaponics is about nutrient cycling, whereby fish waste becomes a source of nutrients for the plants, which help maintain water quality for the fish,” he says.
El-Jisr says the pandemic has highlighted the need to prioritise local supply chains, and urban farming is simply a great opportunity to create value for society while protecting the environment. “Food security is about improving the availability of and access to healthy and essential foods, including fibre and protein. The benefits of urban farming, including hydroponics, is that we can produce a lot of food in small spaces, and save a lot of water.”
While he says hydroponics can increase yields over conventional farming by a factor of 12 while reducing per-crop unit of water consumption by up to 95 per cent, he does concede that one of the challenges of indoor farming is the energy requirements of recreating a plant’s natural environment.
Purushothaman points out to the increasing affordability of LED lighting and automation solutions as key to the medium-term growth of indoor farms. “Automation can set the release of nutrients and water circulation to a timer, while ensuring the oxygen content, PH levels and electrical conductivity of the water are at their optimal levels – all factors that determine a plant’s growth.”
Besides energy consumption, both El-Jisr and Hunter highlight the cost competitiveness of hydroponic produce – compared to conventionally farmed imported produce – as a key challenge to hydroponics becoming more mainstream. However, Hunter cites the lowering cost of technology as a means of redressing the balance, while El-Jisr says, “With time, through innovation, indoor farming will overcome these challenges.” With technology, believes Hunter, “Countries no longer need to be bound by the tyrannies of arable land and fresh water or be at the mercy of the agricultural and political policies of other countries.”
Lead photo: A mini hydroponics system at homeImage Credit: Supplied
Autonomous Delivery Startup Nuro Hits $5 Billion Valuation On Fresh Funding of $500 Million
Nuro, the autonomous delivery startup founded by two former Google engineers, has raised $500 million, suggesting that investors still have an appetite for long-term pursuits such as robotics and automated vehicle technology
Kirsten Korosec@kirstenkorosec / November 9, 2020
Image Credits: Nuro
Nuro, the autonomous delivery startup founded by two former Google engineers, has raised $500 million, suggesting that investors still have an appetite for long-term pursuits such as robotics and automated vehicle technology. Nuro now has a post-money valuation of $5 billion.
The Series C round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., with participation from new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company and Baillie Gifford. The round also includes existing investors such as SoftBank Vision Fund 1 and Greylock.
Nuro was founded in June 2016 by former Google engineers Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu. While the startup was initially bootstrapped by Ferguson and Zhu, it has never struggled to attract investors. Nuro completed its first Series A funding round in China in 2016, a deal that gave NetEase founder Ding Lei (aka William Ding) a seat on Nuro’s board. A second, U.S.-based, round in June 2017 raised Nuro’s total Series A funding to $92 million. But it was the monster $940 million investment made by the SoftBank Vision Fund in February 2019 that catapulted Nuro ahead of numerous other startups attempting to commercialize autonomous vehicle technology. Nuro had a $2.7 billion valuation following the SoftBank investment, meaning its value doubled in about 18 months. That money has helped it grow to more than 650 employees.
Unlike many other startups in the AV industry, Nuro has focused its effort on designing a low-speed electric self-driving vehicle that transports packages, not people. Some of Nuro’s first tests and pilots were with Toyota Prius vehicles equipped with its self-driving system. Nuro partnered in 2018 with Kroger to pilot a delivery service in Arizona. The pilot, which initially used Toyota Prius vehicles, transitioned to its R1 delivery bot. Nuro has also partnered with companies like CVS, Domino’s, and Walmart.
The company has since developed a second-generation vehicle, known as the R2. This delivery bot, which is designed for local delivery service for restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses, received an exemption from the federal government earlier this year that allows it to operate as a driverless vehicle.
“We are witnessing an unprecedented shift in consumer demand for safe and affordable local delivery services,” Zhu, CEO, and co-founder of Nuro said in a statement. “This funding, which brings us together with many of the world’s top investors, positions Nuro confidently toward a future where our world-class technology is adopted into people’s everyday lives.”
The company, which is testing and operating R2 on public roads in Arizona, California, and Texas, told TechCrunch that the new funding will allow it to “confidently grow for years to come, with multi-year runway to build in multiple cities and scale across multiple markets.” Nuro’s near-term focus is on scaling its service in Houston and implementing R2 into commercial service.
USA: Tanimura & Antle Recalls Romaine, Michigan Reports E. Coli Cases
“At Tanimura & Antle, food safety is a number-one priority and the company prides itself on its preventative measures,” according to the company’s notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website. “It is unlikely that this product remains at retail establishments due to the shelf life of lettuce and the number of days that have passed.”
November 8, 2020
A state agency in Michigan is advising residents not to eat Tanimura & Antle brand romaine lettuce packed as single heads, and the company has issued a recall of the lettuce.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on Nov. 6 issued its advisory, the same day the Salinas, Calif.-based company recalled single heads of romaine.
Random testing by the state’s agriculture department found a sample with E. coli, and more testing by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services laboratory determined the strain is “highly related” to the strain linked to two cases being investigated in Michigan, according to a news release from the state’s agriculture department.
Tanimura and Antle’s recall covers almost 4,000 cases of single heads of romaine with the Universal Product Code of 0-27918-20314-9. The Produce Traceability Initiative codes on the cartons are 571280289SRS1 and 571280290SRS1.
“At Tanimura & Antle, food safety is a number-one priority and the company prides itself on its preventative measures,” according to the company’s notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website. “It is unlikely that this product remains at retail establishments due to the shelf life of lettuce and the number of days that have passed.”
The sample was collected at a Walmart in Comstock Park, according to the Michigan agriculture department. According to the Tanimura & Antle notice, its recall “is based on the test result of a random sample collected and analyzed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as part of their routine sampling program.”
The Tanimura & Antle recall, however, does not list Michigan as a destination for the recalled romaine. The single heads of romaine were packed on Oct. 15-16 and were shipped to Alaska, Oregon, California, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, New Mexico, South Carolina, Washington, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Puerto Rico.
The recall and Michigan advisory comes as the FDA is investigating two E. coli outbreaks involving separate strains of the pathogen that “are recurring, emerging or persistent strains,” according to an Oct. 28 news release.
Those two strains are “genetically related” to E. coli outbreaks related to romaine lettuce: one from a 2019 outbreak that led to 23 illnesses, and another from a 2018 outbreak that led to 21 illnesses and one death. Each of the current outbreaks have two cases reported in Michigan, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the Oct. 28 announcement, the FDA said there was no evidence to link the outbreaks to any specific foods, and that a pathogen strain being linked to a food safety event in the past does not prove a link to a current outbreak.
Related story:
FDA says E. coli outbreaks have strains
Lead photo: ( Courtesy FDA )
US: MINNESOTA - Hydroponics Venture In A Shipping Container Has St. Paul Inspectors Scratching Their Heads
Their bottleneck? The city of St. Paul won’t let Cannon and his colleagues put their nutrient mix to the test until they get the proper permits for whatever it is they’ve got — a shipping container? a storage facility? — which defies simple definition under the city’s legislative code
By FREDERICK MELO | fmelo@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
October 29, 2020
As an astronomer and physicist, John Cannon’s work is literally out of this world. His expertise as the department chair at Macalester College in St. Paul is studying nearby low-mass galaxies.
Cannon’s latest adventure off St. Paul’s Snelling Avenue is, quite literally, more down to earth: backyard hydroponics.
With the intent of saving his home planet, or at least improving his corner of it, Cannon recently launched the urban agriculture venture Minnesota Acre Farms LLC with a full-time gardener and two administrators from the University of St. Thomas.
Their thesis: proving that a railroad car-sized growing container behind Wells Pianos, by Snelling and Palace avenues, can produce as many fresh vegetables as a two-acre farm, and do it year-round.
Their bottleneck? The city of St. Paul won’t let Cannon and his colleagues put their nutrient mix to the test until they get the proper permits for whatever it is they’ve got — a shipping container? a storage facility? — which defies simple definition under the city’s legislative code.
“We didn’t think there was going to be all this bureaucratic overhead,” said Cannon, noting similar Freight Farms facilities are already in operation at a Second Harvest Heartland site in Minneapolis and an independent farm in Shoreview.
“Winter is coming, and that is when the machine can really flex its muscles,” he said. “We haven’t even plugged it in.”
SLOW PROCESS FOR HYDROPONICS VENTURE IN SHOREVIEW
Despite his enthusiasm, even some fellow practitioners of urban agriculture think Minnesota Acre Farms might have launched a little prematurely.
Chris Glasoe is the proprietor of the Frisk Fra Boksen — “fresh from the box” — a hydroponics venture in Shoreview. Glasoe said it took his operation three appearances before that city’s Planning Commission and two before the City Council to get city codes changed and a permit issued.
The Shoreview process started in April 2019. They received final approval in late August of last year, and their container arrived in January.
‘HYPER-LOCAL’
Cannon and his colleagues received their vertical hydroponic installation from Boston-based Freight Farms in late August of this year, hoping to prove they could grow vegetables in a peat moss nutrient bath for local distribution. The goal, in part, is to avoid Big Agriculture’s big carbon footprint and sometimes-questionable labor practices.
“The lettuce you buy at the grocery store is nutritionally depleted,” Cannon said. “Our slogan is ‘hyper-local greens for the Twin Cities.’ We can distribute fresh greens within hours of harvest, even in the depths of winter.”
City inspections officials say they’re generally sympathetic to those goals, but Cannon’s set-up looks a lot to them like a large outdoor storage container. And he doesn’t have permits for a large outdoor storage container.
OUTWARD APPEARANCE
Vanessa Cannon at Minnesota Acre Farms, an urban agricultural venture housed in a shipping container behind a retail store on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)
In September, the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections issued Minnesota Acre Farms notice of a city building code violation. The team later met with the city’s legislative hearing officer, who upheld the violation.
“There’s nothing in the legislative code about hydroponic farming, but there is language about storage containers,” Cannon said. “We keep asking that the facility be evaluated based on what it does instead of on its outward facing appearance.”
Cannon’s colleague, Mitchell Karstens, appealed the city’s decision to the St. Paul City Council, which had been scheduled to discuss the hydroponics venture on Oct. 21.
Supportive city residents who learned of the appeal through social media posts wrote to council members to highlight the importance of sustainable urban agriculture and locally-sourced food.
RECLASSIFYING
Instead of moving forward, the appeal was taken off the council’s hearing agenda as the Department of Safety and Inspections works through how to reclassify the container.
Titled “Illegal Use,” an Oct. 20 letter from city inspections indicates Minnesota Acre Farms is now in violation of at least three aspects of state building codes, including lacking a copy of the manufacturer’s installation instructions, which must be available on-site.
Just as importantly, you’re supposed to apply for a building permit and then install an outdoor storage container, not the other way around.
“I have reviewed the materials you submitted and have determined that the shipping container currently violates a number of sections of the state building code,” said St. Paul Building Official Steve Ubl, in a letter asking for more information. “Because the shipping container was placed in its current location without proper plans or required permits, the city has been working to fully understand its classification and your plans for proposed use.”
The container, which is roughly 40 feet long, 8½ feet wide and 9 feet tall, takes up unused space bordering the alley behind Wells Pianos, discouraging passersby from pulling a U-turn there.
“(Cannon) noticed my big beautiful parking lot, and approached me, and I said ‘sure, why not?’ He seemed like a nice guy,” said Kieran Wells, proprietor of Wells Pianos.
“They’ve offered to pay me rent, but I don’t really want to take any rent until they get squared away,” Wells said. “It’s been there for months and it’s not a problem. … It cuts down on some of the through-traffic.”
Lead photo: Minnesota Acre Farms is housed in a shipping container behind a retail store on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul as seen here Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Business partners Vanessa and John Cannon, Tyler May and Mitch Karstens estimate they can grow 1,000 heads of lettuce, along with herbs and root vegetables, each month in the space. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)
Important Tips For Designing A Hydroponic Production Facility
Growers should always choose a properly sized and engineered system. The reality is that the budget will drive many of the growers’ decisions
Why Do You Keep Saying Buffer Capacity?
For anyone that has called me to discuss the design of their new vertical farm or greenhouse, they have probably grown quickly tired of me using the term buffer capacity. But, of everything I have learned over the past 25 years, the understanding of “buffer capacity” might possibly be the most important. It makes your production system easier to manage, more predictable and more stable. All traits that can be found in all successful farming and commercial horticulture production facilities. (You might remember my recent article on simplicity, well this goes right back to that.)
Let’s start by agreeing that I am not properly using the term buffer capacity which is normally defined as the moles of an acid or base necessary to change the pH of a solution by 1, divided by the pH change and the volume of buffer in liters; it is a unitless number. A buffer resists changes in pH due to the addition of an acid or base though consumption of the buffer.
Now let us focus on how we can manipulate that definition to fit the needs of designing a greenhouse or an indoor farm. When referring to buffer capacity in our production environment we are referring to our system’s ability to keep key elements (temperature, humidity, wind, nutrients, light, CO2, oxygen, water) from fluctuating unless we as the grower determine that we want it to and have the ability to manipulate these key variables while keeping the others in balance.
The ability to keep key elements from fluctuating unless the grower determines that the variables should be adjusted to produce a crop response. Adjustments should be met with the abilities to keep all other elements in balance.
For this article I am going to use (3) examples of how designing “buffer capacity” into your farm will lead to better production and more consistency.
Greenhouse Structure.
For those starting to investigate different greenhouse types and designs or for those that have already gone through the process, I think we can all agree that the choices are limitless, and for the most part the look of the greenhouse has not changed much of the years with one major exception. They have gotten much taller. Taller greenhouses provide a more uniform, stable and ultimately superior growing environment for the crop. During hot weather (as an example), the additional space creates a buffer that avoids trapping heat and humid air around the plants.
Water holding tanks and nutrient solutions reservoirs
For beginning growers this is the area where the right decisions might provide the biggest advantages. Experienced growers may choose to size their systems differently depending on their budget, crop and space but one thing is for sure, they will make sure that they have ample water availability as well as on demand storage to respond to changing crop needs.
Larger tanks and reservoirs (as compared to the amount of plants in the system) have a considerable buffer before they will run out or need to be dumped. The most obvious benefit is that of ensuring the tanks don’t run dry and cause extensive damage to the pump(s) or loss of crops and production. The most important benefit might be a properly sized system’s ability to keep the nutrient solution from having big erratic swings in EC and pH.
Substrates
Hydroponic substrates provide an (additional) reservoir for water, a place for plants to take up nutrients, an area for the plant to develop a sufficient root system as well as location for gaseous exchanges. A good grower will consider all the other decisions that he or she has made in building the greenhouse and designing the irrigation system then decide how much buffer capacity their substrate needs to provide. If the buffer capacity of the irrigation system is limited, the grower may choose to use more substrate with a higher water holding capacity so the total system is more durable on hot summer days. If the grower has a tremendous amount of confidence in their access to water, the responsiveness of their irrigation system and their ability to fix the system if they have problems then the grower might choose a substrate that they can steer thereby providing them more control in the greenhouse.
Growers should always choose a properly sized and engineered system. The reality is that the budget will drive many of the growers’ decisions. Understanding buffer capacity in the system will allow growers to get the most out of their investment while still focusing on consistent and uniformed crop production.
To continue the conversation, email us and schedule some time with either Chris Higgins or our newest grower consultant Tyler Baras (aka The Farmer Tyler.)
Next article. Can indoor farming be profitable?. Simple answer: of course. Complexed answer it all depends.
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Tagged GreenhouseHydroponic Production SystemsHydroponicsVertical Farming
Growing Crops Vertically To Feed The Growing Indian Population
Dr. Dickson Despommier, Father of Vertical Farming and professor emeritus Columbia University, says, “If we could engineer the vertical farming approach to food production, then no crops would ever fail due to severe weather events (floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc.).”
Agrihouse India Ltd set up the country’s first aeroponic laboratory at the University of Agricultural Sciences Dharwad in 2016. Dr. Dickson Despommier, Father of Vertical Farming and professor emeritus Columbia University, says, “If we could engineer the vertical farming approach to food production, then no crops would ever fail due to severe weather events (floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc.).”
Currently, there are many vertical farms in the US, Europe, Japan and China, while some of the most robust ones are underway in the Middle East. Despommier says: “If vertical farming in urban centres becomes the norm, one anticipated long-term benefit would be the gradual repair of many of the world’s damaged ecosystems.”
Despommier, in his research article for Agrihouse India International Pvt Ltd, says that there is good reason to believe that a significant amount of energy to run a vertical farm can come from organic waste such as methane. He also states that vertical farms will be engineered to take in contaminated water and restore it to near-drinking water using bioremediation and other technologies yet to be fully developed. The byproducts of burning methane ― CO2, heat and water ― can be added into the closed loop atmosphere of the vertical farm for fostering optimal plant growth. “Any water source that emerges from the vertical farm should be drinkable, thus completely recycling it back into the community that brought it to the farm to begin with.”
Stoner has been the principal scientist for developing a high-performance aeroponic system for NASA for the orbital space shuttle and also earth. NASA endorsed that Stoner’s aeroponic system could reduce the use of water by 98 percent, fertilizer by 60 percent and pesticides by 100 percent. The system can be used for growing anything from leafy greens to strawberries and cucumbers to root crops. Stoner’s technology is widely used in commercial farms in the US, Canada, Vietnam and Europe.
Setting up of vertical farms in India will help mend damaged ecology, create food security and generate employment. Most importantly, it will save India’s farmers from resorting to extreme steps due to unpredictable climatic ravages. Let us all join in praying ‘Annadaata Sukhi Bhava’.
Read the complete article at Hindu Business Line
6 Nov 2020
CANADA: Vertical Farming Is On The Rise In Ontario
According to Elevate’s chief strategy officer, Travis Kanellos, the farm’s goal, for now, is to produce and market leafy greens, such as lettuce, arugula and basil; eventually, it will branch out to more products
November 2, 2020
Experts Say That A Technology Developed
For Space Travel Could Help Good Things Grow Right Here At Home
WELLAND — The technology behind vertical farming was originally developed with space travel in mind. Researchers, attempting to minimize the amount of real estate and materials needed for interplanetary travellers to grow food on long-haul trips, found that the tech could work on Earth. Despite the seemingly futuristic possibilities, vertical farming is becoming a practical reality in southern Ontario: a new vertical farm in Welland’s Industrial Zone had its first harvest last week. The facility, which opened in September, practises a high-tech way of growing food indoors that proponents say saves energy and will help improve food security and safety.
The vertical farm in Welland is about 1,860 square metres. (Courtesy of Amin Jadavji)
Whereas traditional farming involves planting across a wide area, vertical farms build upwards, stacking plants in layers. Run by Elevate Farms, a company that grows and sells produce in vertical farms, the facility in Welland is about 1,860 square metres, 465 of which is growing space. Plants are stacked 13 layers high (about 7.5 metres) and grow with their roots in water, rather than soil. They get their light from LEDs, which can be adjusted to produce changes in the plants’ colours and nutrients.
According to Elevate’s chief strategy officer, Travis Kanellos, the farm’s goal, for now, is to produce and market leafy greens, such as lettuce, arugula and basil; eventually, it will branch out to more products. Kanellos says the farm should be able to produce an estimated 454,000 kilograms of greens per year: “That facility will have a capacity of 1 million pounds annually out of a 5,000 square-foot box. And that’s our quote-unquote standard facility.”
McGill University professor Mark Lefsrud, an expert in food security and urban agriculture, says that, while vertical farming currently accounts for less than 1 per cent of all farming in Canada, within 20 years, “I’d expect it to slowly creep up to around 20 per cent of the total market.”
In a March report, Ontario’s Greenbelt Foundation identifies vertical farming as a priority to expand fruit and vegetable growth in the region and lists six vertical farms operating in Ontario (not including Elevate Farms): one in Kingsville, two in Guelph, and three in Toronto. All grow leafy greens, herbs, and microgreens (such as kale). The report notes that global investment in vertical farms is estimated at US$3.1 billion; about a third of that takes place in North America.
To Youbin Zheng, a professor and expert in controlled environment facilities at the University of Guelph, building more vertical farms in southern Ontario makes sense: “If you look at the Greenbelt and Golden Horseshoe, our land is limited, very limited, but our population has been increasing. If you grow vegetables in the field, there are only a few months in a year you can produce outside. If you grow inside with vertical farming, what you can get is just enormous.” The Greenbelt Foundation report states that, by building up, a vertical farm can produce the equivalent of more than 4,000 square metres of greenhouse space using just 185 square metres of floor space.
Proponents also cite the significant benefits of vertical farming when it comes to food security and safety. The farms can be close to major population centres, reducing the need for transportation. In the case of Elevate Farms, Welland’s easy access to transportation routes means lower transportation costs and fresher, more nutrient-rich food for the consumer. Closer monitoring of produce and the fact that it stays within one country’s border may also reduce the risk of contamination. Before the pandemic, Kanellos says, “we had numerous outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella in different products across the supply chain — and we're going to eliminate that.”
Despite the significant savings when it comes to land and energy, nobody is suggesting that vertical farms will replace traditional farms anytime soon. For Elevate Farms, Kanellos says, “the play is not to try and replace traditional agriculture” but to supplement the existing market with what the farm produces.
At the vertical farm in Welland, plants are stacked 13 layers high and grow with their roots in water. (Courtesy of Josh Siteman)
University of Guelph professor Mike Dixon is a leading expert in vertical farming who also works with space agencies including the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. Dixon leads the school’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility and advises Intravision Group, the research and development company behind Elevate Farms. “I've been long quoted as saying the next worst place after the surface of the moon to try to grow plants is a snowbank in northern Canada,” he says. While food-insecure communities such as First Nations in Ontario’s north could benefit from vertical farms, experts point out that building them is costly. Labour is expensive, and energy costs are high: lighting accounting for about 40 per cent of capital costs, as the Greenbelt Foundation notes. “First Nations communities have a hard time covering this without serious subsidies from the government,” Lefsrud says.
Another hurdle for vertical farms is diversifying what they produce. Josh Siteman, the Canadian managing director of Intravision Group, calls leafy greens the “tipping point for vertical farming,” which proved there was a market. Zheng notes that greens are relatively easy to produce and have short growth cycles, meaning that if something goes wrong, it’s not a huge loss to start over. But there are only so many greens a person can eat.
“I'm kind of sick and tired of people growing lettuce,” Dixon says jokingly. “Lettuce is not food until you add the ranch dressing. But everybody and their dog — I would say 95 per cent of the entrepreneurial ventures in horticulture [within] controlled environments — are growing lettuce or some variation on a salad green that has marginal nutritional value, in most cases.” Other popular produce, such as fruits and legumes, take more time to grow and require more nutrition, Dixon says, and harvesting them is more challenging and costly.
Lefsrud notes that there are companies working to produce berries and legumes in vertical farms, and Kanellos says Elevate Farms will eventually move in that direction. He also says the business plans to expand to more Canadian locations but declines to share which ones.
Dixon says that artificial-intelligence systems will be the next big game-changer for vertical farms, allowing growers to work more efficiently and precisely, thereby opening up more possibilities. “The imaging technology that we can bring to bear even now can detect nutrient imbalances, water stress, all kinds of abiotic and biotic stress responses in plants, and affect a management strategy to mitigate those problems long before you and I would ever know that there was a problem. Even a skilled horticulturist would not detect some of the kinds of nutrient imbalances,” he says. “We’ll evolve away from lettuce.”
Ontario Hubs are made possible by the Barry and Laurie Green Family Charitable Trust & Goldie Feldman.
Related tags: Food
Author: Justin Chandler
Justin Chandler is TVO.org's Hamilton-Niagara reporter.
Locally Grown Produce With A Vertical Farm In Copenhagen
After Taoyuan, Taiwan and Shenzhen in China, the YesHealth Group has now opened a new-generation Vertical Farm in Europe - Copenhagen to be exact
06-11-2020
Author: Nordic Harvest
New challenges need new responses. Vertical Farming is a solution that delivers efficient agriculture in terms of resources, uses sustainable energy and is an excellent farm-to-fork strategy. After Taoyuan, Taiwan and Shenzhen in China, the YesHealth Group has now opened a new-generation Vertical Farm in Europe - Copenhagen to be exact..
We’ve seen urban vegetable gardens, guerrilla gardening and for some now more structured solutions when it comes to growing vegetables in cities. We also showcased a Canadian enterprise, the Lufa Farms commercial greenhouses that are hidden on the rooftops of disused architecture, providing locally grown, fresh produce for the community. We can see a real surge in the numbers of people seeking feasible and, where possible, sustainable solutions when it comes to growing vegetables locally for people living in the city.
One of the possible answers to the problem of growing fresh, healthy produce for city dwellers is Vertical Farming, which uses just a fraction of land and water compared to traditional farming methods. The vegetables are grown in dedicated indoor facilities, where the climate is maintained at ideal conditions all year round, and there are no insects, bacteria or other pests to fear.
This, of course, means no pesticides are required. Technological advances are a fundamental feature of this type of farming, which was developed by the Taiwan-based YesHealth Group. This technology has evolved into agriculture 4.0 that underpins the Vertical Farm they are about to launch in Copenhagen.
In the case of the greenhouses developed by the Taiwanese company, their proprietary technologies play a prominent role in limiting environmental impact, not least in terms of energy requirements, which are obviously higher than traditional agriculture in the fields.
This is, in fact, one of the accusations fired at vertical farming. Here though, their technologies include a LED grow light system, micro-nano bubble hydroponics technology, and liquid microbial fertilizer formulae. This is in addition to their knowledge of plant physiology, as well as their use of big data and artificial intelligence to increase efficiency.
The group’s latest Vertical Farm, constructed by YesHealth Group in partnership with Nordic Harvest, is located in Copenhagen, Denmark, in Copenhagen Markets, Northern Europe’s biggest wholesale food market. Here they will be growing greens, herbs and kale on shelves that rises as high as 14 floors, as far as the eye can see. This will be the world’s largest vertical farm, capable of harvesting up to 3000kg of leafy greens per day at maximum capacity.
It will also be one of the most sustainable Vertical Farms, thanks to Denmark’s renewable energy infrastructures. “Vertical farming helps Denmark to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of agricultural crop produced, and thus we at Nordic Harvest help agriculture with the green transition that is highly needed when Denmark has to deliver a 70% reduction in greenhouse gases in 2030”, says Anders Riemann, CEO and founder of Nordic Harvest.
In short, a defining moment for the vertical farming movement and the cleantech sector as a whole. With the transparent policies in place in Denmark, the figures and statistics of the Copenhagen Vertical Farm will be made public to verify these claims so you can enjoy a delicious organic salad without feeling guilty.
Christiane Bürklein
Project: Nordic Harvest
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Year: 2020
Images: courtesy of YesHealth Group
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The 5 Best LED Grow Lights To Use For Indoor Plants And Greenhouse Growing
Grow lights mimic natural sunlight and utilize the correct color spectrum to encourage photosynthesis to help plants grow indoors
The best grow lights allow us to garden indoors and in our greenhouses throughout the year. Grow lights mimic natural sunlight and utilize the correct color spectrum to encourage photosynthesis to help plants grow indoors. LED grow lights are energy-efficient, long-lasting, and have the full light spectrum, and we’ll cover the best LED grow lights in this article for indoor and greenhouse growing. This article will cover the best grow lights to use for indoor and greenhouse growing.
Kind LED Grow Light K5 Series This is one the best LED grow lights for indoor plants because of its grow light spectrum. This provides plants with a wide range of lights to optimize their growth and lets you grow all kinds of crops year-round. You can use these LED lights for hydroponic and indoor growing.
MD Lighting LED Grow Light This LED lighting system is set up like a lamp and allows for LED replacement bulbs for long-lasting use. It uses the right wavelengths to help encourage and promote plant growth. The grow light is easy to adjust and move to ensure all parts of the plant are receiving an equal amount of sunlight. It’s energy-efficient and saves money on electric bills.
Phlizon 1200W LED Grow Light The Philzon 1200W is one of the best LED grow lights for indoor plants and greenhouse growing. This grow light system doesn’t use a reflector in order to reduce heat emissions for plant protection. It’s known for generating less heat, being energy efficient, which is a cost-effective solution for electric bills. There are two light switches: VEG (blue and white LED light) which is used to promote young vegetative growth, and BLOOM (red and white LED) to promote flowering and blooming in the plants. The full spectrum of light can be found in this grow light to ensure your plants get the necessary nutrients.
HAUS Bright LED Grow Light Bulb These bright LED growing light bulbs provide a full spectrum of light that will help you grow your plants indoors all year round. It’s easy to install since it’s a light bulb and you can hang it anywhere! Only 20w of power is used, but it still produces 1200 lumens to keep your plants healthy.
Aceple Small LED Grow Light This LED grow light is perfect for small plants like succulents or potted plants. This Aceple grow light is one of the best LED grow lights for indoor plants and you can set it up at your office or wherever you may have a small assortment of plants. It provides red and blue lighting, which is essential for healthy leaves and blooming.
Want to learn more about the best LED grow lights for indoor plants and greenhouse gardening? Join our microgreens class to learn the basics about everything there is to know about microgreen and indoor growing. If you can’t sign up for our class, subscribe to our weekly blog and Youtube channel for weekly updates!
#bestledgrowlightsforindoorplants #bestgrowlight #indoorgrowlight #growinglight #growlight #bestgrowlights
St. Petersburg Urban Farm Saves Resources By Turning Shipping Containers Into Vertical Farmland
“There’s no dirt. There are no bugs. No chemicals. No soil. There are no herbicides. No pesticides inside any of our farm containers,” O’Malley shared
By FOX 13 News Staff
11-05-20
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Brick Street Farms is an urban hydroponic farm located in the heart of St. Petersburg. It upcycles shipping containers into 40-foot grow houses. It started in Shannon O’Malley and Bradley Doyle’s garage.
“We converted our garage to a grow room. We saw an incredible opportunity. We didn’t have the money to convert a warehouse, so we bought a shipping container,” O’Malley explained.
Each container is the same as two to three acres of traditional farmland. It’s six levels of vertical farmland.
“There’s no dirt. There are no bugs. No chemicals. No soil. There are no herbicides. No pesticides inside any of our farm containers,” O’Malley shared.
All of the plants are started with a seed and are grown and harvested inside the shipping container. Every 12 hours, the lights inside the container flip to a different section to give the plants 12 hours of light and dark to represent day and night, so they can rest in between growth cycles.
O’Malley says each farm with about three acres of farmland uses approximately 15-20 gallons of water per day compared to a traditional soil farm that uses 1,000 gallons of water per day per acre.
“Not only are we saving resources, but we are creating delicious, incredibly local food,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley says they plan to bring farms and modular farm containers to cities across the state and country.
She added, “We really are bringing urban farming into fruition.”
Brick Street Farms sells to grocery stores, restaurants, and hotels. Its produce can also be bought on-site at its farm market or online at https://brickstreetfarms.com/.
Indoor Ag Science Cafe November 10th 11:00 AM Eastern Time
Indoor Ag Science Cafe is an open discussion forum, planned and organized by OptimIA project team supported by USDA SCRI grants
November Indoor Science Cafe
November 10th Tuesday 11:00 AM Eastern Time
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Come & join us with your questions
Indoor Ag Science Queries (iASQ)
Open Discussion
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OptimIA project members
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Indoor Ag Science Cafe is an open discussion forum, planned and organized by OptimIA project team supported by USDA SCRI grants.
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New Green Space Trend In City Centers: Vertical Gardens
One of the major environmental problems we face today is air pollution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, 8 million people die each year from air pollution-related causes
BY MEHMET EMIN BIRPINAR
OCT 27, 2020
Throughout history, the world's population has lived in rural areas by and large. In the 1800s, at least 90% of the world's population lived in the countryside, while the urban population constituted less than 10%. With the development of trade, people switched to urban life as cities became centers of trade.
As industrial production became widespread, migration multiplied and people moved to areas with more production, establishing new and large settlements.
Especially with the Third Industrial Revolution, rapid urbanization began and today, 54% of the world's population lives in cities. By 2050, the world's urban population is projected to rise to 66%.
At the heart of mass migration lies the anxiety of a comfortable life with transportation, communication, education, and health being the most obvious reasons for this. This puts pressure on the area where people migrate to, as the resources are limited but the number of people looking to take advantage of them increases every day. While cities offer people the chance to live a more comfortable life at the same time they create local, regional, and universal problems that are difficult to solve.
Population growth and rising income levels are another source of problems. In our country, the population has increased by 50% in the last three decades from 55 million to 83 million. In the same period, developments within the country, where national income per capita increased by about four times, also led to an increase in consumption. This excessive consumption has undoubtedly put pressure on the environment.
Currently, cities consume 75% of natural resources globally and are responsible for 50% of the waste generated while also producing on average 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Of course, cities should address needs, such as food, housing, clean air, water, and waste services but additionally should provide green spaces where citizens can go to be healthy, take a break, and refresh.
Silent Killer: Air Pollution
One of the major environmental problems we face today is air pollution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, 8 million people die each year from air pollution-related causes.
Air pollution is an important environmental problem for Turkey, too. While developments designed to reduce pollution such as the spread of natural gas, the advancement of technology, the spread of public transport and alternative means of transport have been implemented and lowered pollution levels to some degree, pollution caused by public transport, in particular, continues to add to the issue.
The main factor affecting air pollution levels is vehicle density. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data, the number of vehicles on the streets in 1990 was 4 million, 8 million in 2008, 23 million at the end of 2019 and has reached 25 million currently. As with the population, about 20% of vehicles are in mega-city Istanbul.
A project carried out by Hacettepe University on behalf of Ministry of Environment and Urbanization revealed that about one-third of these vehicles are over 16 years old and equipped with old technology. This makes the application of green walls, which are becoming more and more common in the world, more attractive and necessary in order to prevent air and noise pollution caused by heavy vehicle traffic.
Refreshing green spaces
According to WHO assessments, the green space per person should be 9 square meters (97 square feet) for a healthy life. However excessive densities occur in some regions that can pose a number of difficulties for green space production.
The new garden trend was developed in order to prevent such problems in several developed megacities such as New York, Melbourne, London, and Paris, in order to alleviate the increased air pollution to some extent and to enable people to relax spiritually.
With the concentration of population density in certain regions within the scope of commercial activities, the space problem has become important in the world, and vertical growth has been achieved by developing multi-story buildings for housing. Vertical agriculture (multistory garden applications), which is also a new application in the agricultural sector which is gradually decreasing due to climate change and soil erosion, is becoming increasingly popular today.
Vertical gardens began emerging in the 1970s but now new types of green spaces are being cultivated that can be put to many different applications. Whether it be a rooftop garden, vertical garden, green or living wall, leading cities around the world including New York, Melbourne, London and Paris are incorporating a bit more nature into their concrete landscapes.
These gardens' most important trait is that they do not require additional space and are usually cultivated on unutilized rooftops or external wall surfaces. Even public transport stops, such as train stations, and the tops of the vehicles themselves are being used to increase the green view.
Benefits at hand
These gardening practices, which have been in our lives for the last 50 years, offer environmental benefits such as preventing air and noise pollution and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and economic benefits such as energy savings and reducing possible health costs.
Moreover, they act as a kind of filter for important air pollutants released from exhausts. According to research, a 60-square-meter garden wall can filter 40 tons of harmful gasses and 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of heavy metals. They also contribute to the air quality by absorbing harmful volatile organic compounds.
According to a 2012 article in the Environmental Science & Technology magazine published in the U.S., green wall applications on roads in the canyon structure (with buildings or walls on both sides) reduce harmful dust (PM10) by up to 50%. Again, similar results were obtained in studies conducted under an article published in ScienceDirect in 2016, where green wall applications were seen to prevent air pollutants by 24%-61%.
One of the important effects is the prevention of greenhouse gases. The greenery functions as a swallow space for greenhouse gases that lead to global warming. A living wall of only one square meter removes 2.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide gas from the air, while they also give 1.7 kilograms of oxygen to the environment, which is our source of life.
A study conducted at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the largest university in Australia, also stated that if green walls are constructed correctly they can act as an ecological buffer, preventing both air and noise pollution. The study's results show that green walls can combat up to 63% of carbon emissions, which would contribute to the fight against climate change.
One of the important benefits is the reduction of noise. Vegetation in vertical gardens allows the noise from vehicles to be dispersed in multiple directions, rather than reflected directly in one. It acts as a kind of noise barrier by dampening it within itself. Up to 40% noise reduction can be achieved depending on the selected plant type and planting frequency.
Vertical gardens also absorb the sunlight, stabilizing the temperature in the region and preventing the formation of heat islands in city centers, one of the major problems caused by global climate change. They also absorb the energy in the environment through plant sweat. However, if it is applied to the external wall of a building, it keeps the building cooler in summer and protects it against adverse weather conditions such as winds in winter, thus contributing to energy saving.
According to the report of the ninth National Roof and Facade Conference held in 2018, the studies carried out by the National University of Singapore showed that reducing the temperature of a building by only one degree leads to as much as 5% in energy saving. Likewise, according to the evaluations of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), which has a history spanning 120 years, green walls contribute to energy efficiency by 23% like green roofs and rooftop gardens and can reduce temperatures by up to 10 degrees.
In addition, they are more aesthetically pleasing in appearance and provide relief for people as well as acting as the natural habitat for species of birds and insects. In this way, they help promote biodiversity, which is one of the major environmental problems facing the world today.
On the other hand, research shows that they also increase productivity in business environments as cleaning the air eliminates complaints such as headaches, eye irritation, and fatigue caused by air pollution – allowing employees to feel more energetic. They also provide relief by reducing stress.
Watching a green space for 3-5 minutes is known to improve blood pressure, heart rhythm, muscle tension and brain activities. According to relevant research, a green working office increases productivity by 15%. Amazon Towers in Seattle hosts 40,000 plants of 400 different species while the Desjardins building in Canada’s Quebec province is home to the world's largest living wall with a height of 65 meters, housing 11,000 plants.
The 800-square-meter entrance surface of the iconic Musee du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris has been adorned with 15,000 plants. Paris has a target of covering 1 million square meters of roadside wall, roofs, and façades of buildings facing main streets with greenery.
As part of the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) project, 800 trees and 15,000 plants were planted on the balconies and rooftops of two 111-meter-high buildings in downtown Milan, overwhelmed by air pollution, bringing both fresh air and making it a beautiful site. Additionally, as part of the project, thousands of bird and insect habitats have been created in the center of the city, which has been landlocked by concrete.
A living wall was created in the passenger boarding hall at London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest airport, to create a healthy environment for passengers. In the section called Garden Gate, seven panels with an area of 4.5 square meters were created, each containing 240 plants.
The motivation to create the gate was customer satisfaction. Passengers reported 47% satisfaction prior to the living wall which increased to 72% once the wall was up and operating healthily.
Likewise, studies carried out by the U.K.'s Birmingham and Lancaster Universities in 2012 revealed that adding more green life to the streets could prevent air pollution by 30% on a cumulative basis. According to British experts, green walls reduce NO2 emissions by 40% and particulate matters by 60%.
In this respect, walls on both sides of a busy main road that runs through London have been converted into green walls. It is reported that a four-meter square wall can produce the same effect as 275 trees. It is predicted that a portion of the £500 million budget allocated for the development of the green infrastructure of the city will be designated for the development of living walls in areas with heavy traffic.
Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, launched the initiative in 2018, covering columns on the roads with heavy traffic and the walls around the roads with green vegetation. The aim is to prevent vehicle-induced air pollution while beautifying the city.
More than 1,000 columns were covered with greenery and living material in an area exceeding 54,000 square meters and the project is expected to meet the oxygen needs of 25,000 people while absorbing 27,000 tons of harmful gases and about 6,000 tons of dust annually.
Turkey's efforts
Great efforts are being made both on a local and national front to increase green areas per capita in our country. As part of its vision project for 2023, the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning aims to bring 81 million square meters of green space to 81 provinces with the project of national gardens greatly contributing to this goal.
According to the municipal data, as a result of the investments made by the capital Ankara in the last 25 years, the green area per person has reached 20 square meters, marking a 10-fold increase with this figure standing at 6-7 square meters per person in Istanbul and 4-5 square meters in Izmir, another important big city of Turkey. Keeping this value in mind, when we look at other world metropolises, it is around 3 square meters in Tokyo, 5 in Barcelona, 10 in Paris, and 23 in New York.
These values are not the same for the entire province and differ in parts. According to international assessments, woodlands, green vegetation on roadsides, and green spaces on private property (including the gardens of public buildings) are not included in these values.
Therefore, due to space limitations, vertical and rooftop gardens are becoming a matter of greater importance with Turkey creating the necessary regulations in 2013, bringing the issue to legal ground.
The amendment to the Planned Areas Type Zoning Regulation paved the way for the building gardens on rooftops. Given the numerous benefits of green spaces such as air quality, energy saving, temperature balance, and contribution to biodiversity, this regulation is of great importance.
However, we cannot say that rooftop gardens and vertical gardens have become very common in our country.
Municipalities are implementing green initiatives especially in megacities such as Ankara, Izmir, and Istanbul where local governments are cultivating roadside wall gardens in areas with heavy traffic.
Caring for a wall or rooftop garden is very simple as they require minimal interference as they are designed with an internal irrigation system but do need an annual pruning, some fertilizer, or, when called for, the removal of harmful pests. The walls offer numerous ecological, economic, and mental benefits, with municipalities decorating the panels with figures derived from recycled plastic - both reducing maintenance costs and decorating the area.
Istanbul municipality's move
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) administration is taking an odd position after it previously stopped investments in advanced biological treatment plants with a membrane system that would bring with it a new era in wastewater management in Istanbul, saving a lot of money. The 55,000-square-meter green wall application, which offers countless benefits, unfortunately, faces a massacre.
Developing and growing vegetation is being removed and replaced by graffiti using a synthetic chemical paint. The IBB claims the move is due to the walls' high cost as well as pollution caused by the chemicals used in the care of these areas. However, the plants used for the vertical gardens are no different from those in other public parks and gardens and are subject to the same care and chemicals.
People continue to visit public parks, even bringing their children, and do not experience any side effects from the pollutant chemicals used on the plants, so why should the case for the roadside be any different? Moreover, plants in public parks and gardens are prone to vandalism whereas vertical gardens on roadsides are not.
The graffiti process in these areas has negative environmental effects with an average of 11,000 to 15,000 liters of paint being used, meaning at least 5-10 tons of volatile organic compounds will be released into the air. In addition to destroying the benefits of green vegetation, volatile organic compounds are formed as a result of the painting that emits compounds into the air, which are extremely harmful to health. When these compounds interact with NO2 gas released from vehicles it causes the formation of ground-level ozone, which is extremely harmful. Ground-level ozone, whose effects will gradually increase with hot weather, puts those with respiratory conditions such as asthma at great risk.
Colorful graffiti is more likely to distract drivers with dark colors absorbing more solar energy than concrete would, causing temperatures to further rise. The murals decompose faster due to sunlight and other meteorological factors and therefore will inevitably need to be renewed – an inevitable financial burden that eliminates the benefits the vertical gardens offered.
The destruction of a beneficial, functioning system – instead of utilizing the one million square meters of available wall in Istanbul – highlights the lack of planning that has gone into the move.
In our world where the effects of global warming are increasing day by day as heat islands emerge and high air pollution makes city centers more uninhabitable the importance of greenery per square meter increases. Environmental investments should increase rather than eliminating the existing ones.
As we have always said, the environment is an issue that cannot be politicized. Since all environmental investments will prevent health costs, we consider a healthy environment a form of preventive medicine. In this respect, we call on the authorities to do their duty. Let us not destroy the refreshing living walls but rather increase their number as it will benefit us all.
*Deputy Minister at the Republic of Turkey's Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, chief climate change envoy
Tags: VERTICAL GARDEN ISTANBUL ISTANBUL METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY ENVIRONMENT
Global Warming, Decreased Crop Yields, And The Food Waste Industry
With the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement and the proposal of the Green New Deal, concerns continue to grow over global warming and the stability of our food supply
November 4, 2020
Written by Daniel Cunniffe
With the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement and the proposal of the Green New Deal, concerns continue to grow over global warming and the stability of our food supply.
Will global warming affect crop yields?
Among the many impacts of global warming, the two that would likely affect crop yields the most are rising sea levels and more severe, unpredictable climate conditions. Rising sea levels would reduce the land available for farming and severe, unpredictable climate conditions such as strong tropical storms, floods, drought, altered growing regions, or even less rain during the year could decrease crop yields, change the types of crops traditionally grown on a farm, or even make that land unusable for farming.
Smaller crop yields and a smaller food waste industry
The food waste industry depends on the food industry and its crops for raw materials. A decreased crop yield means less food, less food waste, and a decreased food waste industry. One impact of a decreased food waste supply is greater competition between food waste businesses for fewer raw materials. Additionally, if crop yields decrease, the price of food increases, leading consumers to utilize more of a food’s edible potential - a secondary decrease in food waste. Bones, eggshells, and banana peels are commonly thrown away, yet all of these are edible and are more likely to be consumed under conditions of food scarcity.
Different climate conditions, different crops, different food waste industry
Traditionally, farms were handed down from father to son or daughter, where the parent would teach the children what types of crops they could grow along with all of the intricate details and tricks to growing those crops.
Crops that a farm can grow is largely based on the climate conditions of the growing region they’re in, which in turn affects things like soil type, humidity level, etc - all of which are prime factors that allow for healthy crop growth. Global warming will likely shift these growing zones for certain crops. For example, say global warming turns the climate of Canada to that of Mexico, where once Canadian farmers could only grow cold weather crops, now they instead grow oranges.
The idea is that a farm may experience changes in the types of crops they can grow and thus this changes the crops available to local food waste companies. Companies that use waste from a single crop, may have to move locations, ship that food waste from a distant farm, or go out of business altogether as growing zones shift. This will in turn affect the food waste supply chain in ways that the industry may not be prepared for. Growing zones are not concerned with political borders.
If a company depends on a certain crop and the growing region of that crop shifts outside of the country, that company may have to ship food from outside of the country and take on additional costs, such as customs and taxes.
What can the food waste industry do about global warming?
Enter soilless systems - They can be grown indoors and protect crops from severe weather conditions like, droughts, pathogens, and pests. Additionally, companies like Re-Nuble are reducing the carbon footprint of the food supply chain through closed loop agriculture which allows us to avoid further global warming and empower farmers to increase crop yields. This will further ensure a stable food supply, healthy environment, and healthy food for our future.
Tags: closed loop, crop yields, food supply chain, global warming
Lead Image Source: https://sustyvibes.com/impact-climate-change-agriculture