Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Green Bronx Machine and Stephen Ritz - Our New PBS TV Show Featuring Leslie Ladybug And Tower Garden
This week we debut our friend Leslie Ladybug, who moves into a new Tower Garden home - Basil Towers - teaching all about seeds, vertical farming, healthy living, and growing food with children all year long - using 90% less water and 90% less space
I could not be more proud of Green Bronx Machine and our new series: Let's Learn debuting on PBS today. This series, designed to inspire healthy living, healthy learning, equity, empathy, compassion, and wellness features a series of diverse and inclusive characters right from our Bronx classroom!
This week we debut our friend Leslie Ladybug, who moves into a new Tower Garden home - Basil Towers - teaching all about seeds, vertical farming, healthy living, and growing food with children all year long - using 90% less water and 90% less space. Leslie teaches us that you too can grow food all year long and have fun doing it!
WATCH THE EPISODE NOW
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And, you can find teacher and student resources to accompany all the fun and learning right on the GBM website.
We hope you'll tune in and share all the learning! Stay tuned to meet Patti the Pigeon, Sammy the Shark, Bobby the Bear, Sam the Squirrel, Artie the Ant, Mr. Met, and General Sequoia - the world's biggest tree - in weekly episodes coming soon!
With love from the Bronx, to the world, your pal,
Continuing Education: Urban Agriculture
It’s been 10,000 years since the agricultural revolution gave rise to cities. Agriculture now covers more than half of the world’s habitable land and is spreading at a rate of about 15 million acres annually
April 1, 2021
It’s been 10,000 years since the agricultural revolution gave rise to cities. Agriculture now covers more than half of the world’s habitable land and is spreading at a rate of about 15 million acres annually. Cities, meanwhile, now comprise more than half the global population (over 80 percent in developed countries), and the numbers are rising. Using current farming methods to feed a global population expected to hit 10 billion by midcentury would require adding new farmland equal in size to the continental United States.
This alarming situation is not even factoring in the impact of the climate crisis, which is expected to alter growing seasons and disrupt the phenological cycles that keep plants and their pollinators in sync. What’s more, new agricultural land mostly comes from felling biodiverse, carbon-sequestering forests to make room for mono-crops that stash very few greenhouse gases and for livestock that actually generate them. That makes the climate crisis worse and farming more difficult.
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In addition to land consumption, agriculture guzzles three-quarters of the fresh water used globally each year, while runoff from fields treated with herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers contaminates significant amounts of the water that’s left. Then there’s transportation. As farms extend farther and farther from the cities they supply, food is trucked, shipped, and flown vast distances: farm to plate, the ingredients in a typical American meal travel an average of 1,500 miles. From a security perspective, the fact that most of the world’s food production is controlled by just a handful of corporations is unnerving. And from a public health perspective, the emergence of Covid-19 and other new diseases offers yet another indicator of ecological imbalance. It’s time to rethink the way we farm.
Food security, as defined by the United Nations, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that serves their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Key to achieving food security in a way that’s more sustainable than current practices is urban agriculture—not as an outright replacement for rural farming, but as a crucial component in a balanced system.
Urban agriculture can take many forms: rooftop greenhouses, raised beds, and community-farming initiatives such as the City of Atlanta’s “Aglanta” program, which turns underused parcels in utility rights-of-way into farm plots eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture certificates and associated loans. Ultimately, though, horizontal strategies are not productive enough to make a real dent in the food needs of a city. (If raised beds covered every rooftop in Manhattan, the produce grown would feed only about 2 percent of the borough’s population.) Just as cities grow vertically, so too must urban agriculture, and that means bringing it indoors.
“Controlled environments have been used for many years,” says Chieri Kubota, a professor of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State University. “Now that multiple issues are making conventional production outdoors more difficult, putting controlled environments in and near cities brings food production closer to potential markets—and also to younger generations of potential farmers who want to live in urban centers.”
Vertical agriculture is a type of CEA that—like high-rise buildings—stacks layers to provide usable area many times the footprint of the site. Instead of growing in soil, which is a heavy way to deliver nutrients, plants in vertical farms are grown hydroponically, aquaponically, or aeroponically. In hydroponics, plants are cultivated in nutrient-enriched water, which is captured and reused so that the system uses as little as a tenth of the water conventional agriculture needs. An aquaponic system pairs hydroponics with fish production, circulating the nutrients in the fish waste to feed the vegetables, and using the plants as a biofiltration system that returns clean water to the fish. Reducing water consumption even further—by as much as 98 percent, compared to field growing—aeroponic systems deliver nutrients in a fine mist to plant roots that are just hanging in the air. And because controlled environments exclude the weeds and pests that trouble field-grown produce, the use of herbicides and pesticides is all but eliminated.
Stacked plants may need to be rotated to make the most of available sunlight, which can be supplemented (or even substituted altogether) with LED grow lights. These can be calibrated to provide blue and red light in optimal doses for each type of plant, and timed to increase plant growth with extended days and growing seasons. (While it’s technically possible to grow any type of crop this way, for now it’s mainly leafy greens and tomatoes that are economically viable.) Cool enough to be strung right in among the plants without burning them, LEDs reduce site electricity consumption (and costs) per square foot of grow area by about a third compared to older technologies, such as high-pressure sodium. “Energy is a game-changer,” says Dickson Despommier, an emeritus professor of microbiology and public health at Columbia University, whose seminal 2010 book, The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, is widely credited with kick-starting vertical agriculture in North America. Cost-effective LED lighting opens up the possibility of converting urban and urban-adjacent building types such as parking garages, big-box stores, and shopping malls into productive local farms, he says.
With productivity rates that are orders of magnitude greater than conventional farming, high-rise growing is gaining traction worldwide. The world’s first such system began operations in 2012 in Singapore. The land-strapped city-state, which imports about 90 percent of its food, aims to grow a third of its produce locally by 2030. Indoor vertical farms in the country now produce about 80 tons of greens a year, and the Singapore Food Agency is supporting research into and development of the method as its main bet on the future.
In China, great swaths of arable land have been lost to development (more than 30 million acres between 1997 and 2008) and 20 percent of what’s left is contaminated. At the same time, the country has a strong tradition of urban-adjacent farming. When a 247-acre agricultural site, midway between Shanghai’s main international airport and the megacity’s center, recently came up for redevelopment, global design firm Sasaki proposed that, rather than create yet another tech park, the client take its agricultural mission to the next level. As a result, the Sunqiao Urban Agricultural District is slated to become one of China’s first comprehensive national agricultural zones. Sasaki’s master plan, which has received approval from the Pudong District and is now proceeding for formal approval from the City of Shanghai, expands the district’s role in Shanghai’s food network, integrating vertical agricultural production, research, and education into a dynamic public domain. In addition to research and development facilities and an agriculture production zone, the plan provides for a civic plaza showcasing productive landscapes, a science museum, an interactive greenhouse, an aquaponics display, and a destination market. “It’s urban agriculture on steroids,” says Michael Grove, chair of landscape architecture, civil engineering, and ecology at Sasaki.
The Sunqiao project will include a civic plaza with productive landscapes (top), a science museum, and an interactive greenhouse (above), among other elements. Image courtesy Sasaki, click to enlarge.
Grove identifies three primary drivers for prioritizing urban agriculture globally: the need to curtail agricultural sprawl and thereby protect ecosystems, to reclaim economic agency by diversifying control of food production, and to build community: “Food brings us together,” he says. Behind Asia’s early adoption of urban agriculture, he sees a historic understanding among the region’s societies that the well-being of the population requires systemic support. That may also be a factor in Europe, where the Netherlands is a global leader in controlled-environment technology, and Denmark is home to the world’s latest and largest vertical farm, a partnership between a Taiwanese CEA tech company and a local start-up: with growing shelves stacked 14 deep, the 75,000-square-foot wind-powered facility has the capacity to produce 1,000 metric tons of greens a year.
A hub for teaching, research, and community engagement, located within sight of downtown Columbus and designed by Erdy McHenry Architecture, supports Ohio State’s CEA efforts. Brad Feinknopf
North America has been slower to adopt vertical farming, a lag that Ohio State’s Kubota attributes in large part to the year-round, nationwide availability of produce from California, Arizona, and Florida. But now, she says, climate disruptions and shortages of viable farmland in those states, along with the increasing urbanization of the workforce, strengthen the rationale for controlled environment agriculture. To support Ohio State University’s multidisciplinary research into CEA, a one-acre vertical greenhouse is under construction within sight of downtown Columbus. As part of the facility, the recently completed Kunz-Brundige Franklin County Extension Office serves as a hub for teaching, research, and community engagement around food, health, agricultural production, and sustainability. Both buildings are designed by Philadelphia-based Erdy McHenry Architecture.
Although still tiny, vertical farming is the fastest-growing sector in U.S. agriculture. A projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 20 percent from 2020 to 2026 is expected to bring sales to around $10 billion a year. And while significant numbers of start-ups in the capital-intensive sector have failed—as indicated by the track record of several initiatives profiled in this magazine eight years ago —experts say that’s an inevitable aspect of an emerging technology.
Among the growing number of enterprises going strong, however, is Vertical Harvest, the first vertical hydroponic greenhouse in North America. Cofounded by architect Nona Yehia, principal at GYDE Architects, the company began operations in 2016 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Jackson is a rural town, but it performs like a city in relevant ways: 97 percent of its developable land is already in use, and, with a four-month growing season, 98 percent of its food is imported. Inspired by Despommier’s work, the need for a local food supply, and the opportunity to provide meaningful work for community members with intellectual and physical challenges, Yehia designed a three-story greenhouse for a 30-by-100-foot municipally owned lot next to a parking garage. “The town councilor who showed us the property thought we’d put up a plastic hoop structure to extend the growing season a couple of months, employ a few people, and call it a day,” recalls Yehia. But she and her business partners wanted to grow as much food as possible, to employ as many people as possible, and to do both year-round. “That’s where the idea to grow up came from,” she says.
Vertical Harvest’s three-story CEA facility in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, produces as much food on a tenth of an acre as on a 10-acre conventional farm. Photos © Vertical Harvest (1), Hannah Hardaway (2 & 3)
With a footprint of a tenth of an acre, the greenhouse produces as much food as would a 10-acre conventional farm. It employs 30 people, more than half of whom have a disability. And it’s profitable. “It would have been easier as a nonprofit,” Yehia says, “but we were committed to creating a replicable model that is not about charity: it’s about empowerment.”
After five years of operation, Vertical Harvest is ready to expand. Construction is scheduled to start this year on a second location that incorporates affordable housing and municipal parking in Westbrooke, Maine. The new 70,000-square-foot greenhouse is expected to provide the equivalent of 50 full-time jobs and to produce 1.3 million pounds of produce a year, supplying hospitals, corporate cafeterias, schools, chefs, restaurants, and caterers, as well as individual customers. “These ecosystems can put out a lot of food,” says Yehia. “Making sure you have customers who can buy at scale is as essential to success as growing plans.”
Vertical Harvest intends to build up to 15 farms in the next five years, with agreements already in place for projects in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Chicago, and discussion is underway for five other locations. Like the Wyoming and Maine projects, they will integrate social value and community engagement with their agricultural mission. “It’s the perfect intersection to show what architecture can achieve in its social role in our communities,” Yehia says. And while she has run Vertical Harvest as designer, entrepreneur, and urban farmer, it’s entirely possible for architects to advocate for urban agriculture in their more usual role as prime consultants, coordinating the work of other experts.
As CEA picks up speed, the time may not be far off when every municipality will incorporate vertical farming into its civic infrastructure, valued the way public libraries and recreation centers are. “It should be something that we all expect to see when we go to cities,” Yehia says: “infrastructure that grows food and futures, and bolsters the sustainability of the community.”
Continuing Education
To earn one AIA learning unit (LU), including one hour of health, safety, and welfare (HSW) credit, read the article above and watch this video.
Then complete the quiz. Upon passing the test, you will receive a certificate of completion, and your credit will be automatically reported to the AIA. Additional information regarding credit-reporting and continuing-education requirements can be found at continuingeducation.bnpmedia.com
Learning Objectives
Explain how conventional agricultural methods contribute to climate change.
Define terms such as urban agriculture, controlled environment agriculture (CEA), and vertical agriculture.
Describe technologies relevant to CEA, such as hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics.
Discuss how CEA can enhance food security and bring social value to underserved communities.
AIA/CES Course #K2104A
Lead photo: Sunqiao Urban Agricultural District has been designed by Sasaki for a site midway between Shanghai’s city center. Image courtesy Sasaki
KEYWORDS cities / climate change / urban planning
USA: MARYLAND - BW Students Learning High-Tech Plant Growing Techniques
Bishop Walsh School is teaching students through hands-on experience about the efficient ways plants can be grown. The school recently acquired a ZipGrow Tower through federal grants, which is designed for high-density hydroponic farming
April 1, 2021
By Brandon Glass bglass@times-news.com
CUMBERLAND — Bishop Walsh School is teaching students through hands-on experience about the efficient ways plants can be grown. The school recently acquired a ZipGrow Tower through federal grants, which is designed for high-density hydroponic farming.
Mick Burkett, a teacher at Bishop Walsh, holds up pH meters. Burkett is teaching students through hands-on experience about the efficient ways plants can be grown.
“As far as food goes, of all industries, that’s one industry that’s not going away. There’s a lot of science to growing, so it’s important to have high-tech growing techniques,” said Mick Burkett, a Bishop Walsh teacher who is heading the project. “The kids are going to learn how to grow with state-of-the-art science aquaponics, hydroponics, ZipGrow towers.”
The towers are built to make easier production, irrigation, and planting, which will be important in a future where more people live closer together and planting space is limited.
Some 2,000 seed plants can be grown in a smaller than expected platform. Due to the towers being vertical, they take up much less space when compared to planting in soil in a field or a garden.
Students monitor the nutrient levels in the solutions using pH meters and add more as needed.
“The first graders, they’re learning about what is a living thing, so they’re growing mint,” said Burkett. “They’ll be able to put the mint in little pots in our maker space. They’re going to be doing everything from scratch, from growing the plant to making their own little flower pot.”
Eventually, the goal is to have food from the greenhouse and ZipGrow station on the table at Bishop Walsh, to grow enough food to sustain themselves and contribute to the community.
“Instead of farm to table, this is from BW to BW. It is great economically, it’s great for the environment,” said Burkett. “It’s good in so many ways.”
There are also plans for a spring sale at some point, where 50% of whatever is made would go back into the greenhouse and other technologies. They also want to pick out a local organization to donate to.
The genesis for the ZipGrow project was the greenhouse the school built over a year ago, which due to the pandemic has not been used yet, but will eventually be able to hold, Burkett estimated, 6,000 starter plants.
The ZipGrow station was born out of federal funding the school receives through the county and ran about $5,000, said BW Principal Jennifer Flinn.
For now, for students, it’s come as you want, as the school is not able to have clubs due to the pandemic; however, next year the expectation is there will be clubs dedicated to growing plants.
Lead photo: Bishop Walsh freshmen Michael Nowaczyk and Rianne Treadwell examine the plants on the ZipGrow Tower.
Follow staff writer Brandon Glass on Twitter @Bglass13 - Submitted Photo
JD’S Plant Factory Sparks Children's Early Interest In Agriculture
JD hosted nearly 100 primary school students and their teachers for a field trip at its hydroponic plant factory in the Tongzhou district of Beijing on March 22
by Ella Kidron
March 31, 2021
JD hosted nearly 100 primary school students and their teachers for a field trip at its hydroponic plant factory in the Tongzhou district of Beijing on Mar. 22. The event was part of a larger program which started last year in which JD offers the plant factory as a high-tech educational facility for elementary and middle school students as well as families to learn hands-on.
JD Plant Factory in the Tongzhou district of Beijing
During the activity, the general manager of the plant factory, Zhongsheng Wu, gave a lecture on basic crop growth knowledge, providing the group with a preliminary understanding of hydroponic planting. Following the lecture and observation, the children got to have a taste test.
As quality and food safety is of utmost importance to JD, every student and teacher donned a white lab coat, shoe covers, masks and head coverings, and stepped into the air shower for a disinfection prior to entering the factory.
Zhongsheng Wu, general manager of JD Plant Factory, teaches students about hydroponic planting
On the weekends, the factory is usually full of parents and their kids. It is a good way for kids to get outside and have much-needed contact with nature. Parents are also delighted by their kids’ newfound love of vegetables. Wu said: “Parents come to us and say, ‘my kids never eat vegetables at home no matter what, but here they are eating veggies like little rabbits!’”
Parents show their children veggies at the plant factory
They often come home with bags of vegetables, and will also adapt to buying them online through JD.com, enhancing omni-channel conversion. Furthermore, parents will often post on their WeChat Moments (similar to a Facebook wall) too, helping raise overall awareness of the plant factory.
A boy excitedly enjoys a salad with veggies from JD Plant Factory
As the younger generation becomes increasingly tech-savvy, there are concerns that fewer people will choose to go into agriculture. According to Statista, the percentage of the workforce in agriculture from 2009 to 2019 has declined from 38.1% to 25.1%. The plant factory visit can help to pique children’s early curiosity. Wu explained: “Children are the foundation of the future of agriculture. Through our programs, they learn that agriculture can be fun, interesting, and high-tech.”
One of the teachers said at the end of the activity, “It was so well-organized. Students not only got to learn and understand the growth of a seed but also have hands-on practice.” Immersion education for kids is much needed and critical to their development. “Apart from ensuring the farm-to-table supply chain, being able to provide this type of education gives the plant factory an even greater purpose,” said Wu.
Built by JD in partnership with Mitsubishi Chemical of Japan, the plant factory gives JD an entry point at the very beginning of the supply chain and creates high-end vegetables using advanced hydroponic technology, artificial LED light source, and Internet of Things technology in a fully-closed environment. Covering 11,040 square meters, it is the largest plant factory with the combination of sunlight and artificial light in China.
(ella@jd.com)
Tags: Social Responsibility
Lisette Templin, Professor At Texas A&M University - A Pioneering Woman In Agriculture
Lisette Templin is the director and founder of the Texas Urban Farm United (TUFU - TAMU) a startup vertical farm she and a couple of students began in 2019
According to Lenny Geist and Anne Amoury, with Kansas Freedom Farms, one of many pioneering women in agriculture is Lisette Templin, a professor of health and kinesiology at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station, Texas. Lisette Templin is the director and founder of the Texas Urban Farm United (TUFU - TAMU) a startup vertical farm she and a couple of students began in 2019.
As a faculty member overseeing Physical Education, Templin is keenly aware of how food choices and essential daily nutrition are to overall animal and human health.
She and her students received a small grant from the TAMU public health school to go vertical. Templin has a number of hydroponic growing towers in her new venue she and a few co-workers maintain. Some of the all-natural forage is donated to the university’s “12th Can” food bank program to alleviate local hunger...clearly one of Templin’s strongest passions.
Lisette Templin (Photo credits: Texas A&M University)
“Food as medicine must play a more urgent and vital role in the health of our children and the health of our country. Indoor hydroponic farms can play a pivotal role in transitioning people off of medication from chronic diseases as well as strengthen the immune system.
Micro and macronutrient dense food grown locally can effortlessly replace food that is highly inflammatory to the human body while providing the needed phytochemicals that promote health,” she wrote recently. Templin is in the process of applying for grants and financial support in hopes of raising $1 million (USD) to erect a two-story CEA facility that will be home to hydroponic growing operations on the top floor with a kitchen, cafeteria, classrooms, and offices on the ground floor.
Photo credits: Texas A&M Urban Farm United / The Eagle
“Hydroponic food is about the impact of delivering maximum nutrient density to the immediate local community. Hydroponic vertical growing technology's innate potential is its ability to eradicate food deserts across our country,” Templin says. Clearly, she’s a Texas trailblazer with tall towers to tend.
According to Lenny Geist, "we need more like Templin, to improve agriculture and promote environmental stewardship. It behooves the stuffed shirts to follow the determined bunch out on the “north 40” -- the bunch that likes to wear Gucci or Louis Vitton heels just as much as they do Justin or Tony Lama boots."
"They aren’t afraid of hard work, trying new things, and exploring what’s possible even if it means a setback or two along the way," he adds. "Since they see these as learning opportunities to get better and march forward toward their ultimate objectives having gained greater perspectives. Someday, these movers and shakers or any of their sure-to-follow feminine disciples may just give the old, stodgy stuffed shirts the boot. There are lots of reasons to believe this will be for the best."
For more information:
Lisette Templin,
Texas A&M, Texas Urban Farm United
lisettetemplin@tamu.edu
www.agrilifetoday.tamu.edu
29 Mar 2021
UNITED KINGDOM: “Vertical Farming” Training Centre Unveiled At Reaseheath College In Nantwich
The project aims to showcase the technological innovations within the fast growing and specialized sector and offers undergraduates and businesses applied research and technical training
March 20, 2021
The UK’s largest training and research centre for vertical farming have been completed at Reaseheath College and University Centre in Nantwich.
Vertical farming is the practice of growing plants indoors under fully controlled and sterile conditions in stacked layers.
The Vertical Farming Centre is part of the Institute of Sustainability and Food Innovation.
It’s a joint venture between Reaseheath and its academic partner, the University of Chester.
The project aims to showcase the technological innovations within the fast-growing and specialised sector and offers undergraduates and businesses applied research and technical training.
Reaseheath also plans to link with local schools, particularly in the practical application of digital and STEM subjects.
Covering 200 square metres, the main facility has three floors to ceiling growing chambers and a separate research growing room.
The project has been supported by Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, which has contributed £340,000 through its Local Growth Fund.
This government funding is available for projects which benefit the local area and its economy.
Simon Burgess, Reaseheath’s Head of Projects, Research and Innovation, said: “This is an exceptionally exciting project which offers tremendous benefits to both our students and our academic and industry partners.
“University Centre Reaseheath is extremely good at applying practical science to commercial research and this will open up a lot of opportunities, for instance through our ability to set up trials and develop the optimum conditions for growing particular crops.”
Clare Hayward, Chair of the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, added: “Innovation in agriculture is important for all our futures and central to the agenda we are progressing through our Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission.
“Vertical Farming comes with the promise of increased crop yields from a smaller area of land, along with many other benefits, and Cheshire students need to be able to access this 21st century technology.”
Martin Ellis, Director of iGrowing Ltd, said: “It will provide excellent hands-on access for students and businesses and enable them to fully understand the benefits, both commercial and environmental, of these growing systems.
“There is no doubt that vertical farming will play a greater part in sustainable crop production in the future.”
Crop Production Supervisor Jake Jackson, a University Centre Reaseheath graduate, is in charge of the day to day management of the new facility.
He said: “I’m extremely excited as to where this might lead.
“Who knows, in the future we may see vertical farms on supermarket roofs!”
Lead photo: Jake Jackson tends crops in Reaseheath’s new Vertical Farming Centre)
Tags: Farming, Reaseheath, vertical
Hydroponics Farming: Why Hydroponic Farms Are Trending In India?
As per reports, India’s hydroponics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.53% between 2020 and 2027.
Hydroponics is slowly gaining popularity in India and attracting more and more farmers. Basically, hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture, which is a method of growing plants, usually crops, without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in an aqueous solvent.
Hydroponic farming can be done in a small space also like a balcony which is a soil-less, water-based farming process. Rather than using soil for plant nutrition, crops are fed nutrient-rich water, negating a lot of the baggage that comes with soil-based methods.
Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in a nutrient-rich solution, skipping the soil. “It has been practised for centuries, so it is not a new technology," points out Akhila Vijayaraghavan, the founder-director of Coimbatore’s Parna Farms, adding the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are believed to have been hydroponically grown. “The Aztecs created vast hydroponic systems using rafts called chinampas," she says.
The film piqued Gopal’s interest, and he began reading about the method to grow plants without soil. “We started working with hydroponics as a project in 2012. At that time, we didn’t know much about the plight of farmers and how a technology like this could add value," said Gopal. The idea was to create awareness among the right audience and sell “through prototypes and hobby kits."
Urban farmers are taking to hydroponics, a water-smart solution to grow pesticide-free produce on rooftops and terraces. As per reports, India’s hydroponics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.53% between 2020 and 2027.
What is Hydroponics
Hydroponics is a branch of hydroculture, in which plants are grown without soil by using water solvent which consists of minerals nutrient solution. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots only, roots are exposed to the nutritious liquid, or roots may be supported physically by a medium like gravel.
Plants are also grown through a process called photosynthesis, in which plants use sunlight and a chemical inside their leaves called chlorophyll to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, as shown in reaction.
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6(Glucose)+ 6O2
The nutrients we use in hydroponic systems may come from different sources, such as fish excrement, duck manure, or chemical fertilisers.
1Advantages of Hydroponics
Plantation without soil
We can grow plants in places where the land is limited, doesn't exist, or is contaminated. In the early time period, Hydroponics was a successful technique used to supply fresh vegetables for troops in Wake Island. It has been considered as the future farming to grow foods for astronauts in space by NASA.
Better use of space and location
All those plants need are provided and maintained in a system, you can grow plants in a small apartment, bedrooms or kitchen as long as you have some spaces.
Roots of plants usually expand and spread out in search of foods, and oxygen in the soil but in the case of Hydroponics, roots are sunk in a tank full of oxygenated nutrient solution and are directly in contact with vital minerals. This means that you can grow your plants closer, and consequently huge space savings.
Climate control
Hydroponic growers can have total control over climate, temperature, humidity, light, the composition of the air. This means you can grow foods all year, regardless of the season. Farmers can produce foods at the right time to maximize their profits.
Water-saving
Plants grown by the process of hydroponically can use 10% of water, as compared to one grown on the field because water is recirculated, in this method. Plants will take up the water they need, while run-off water will be captured and return to the system. Water loss in this system will only occur in two forms - evaporation and leaks from the system.
Use of nutrients
You can have 100% control of the nutrients (foods) that plants need in this method. Before planting, growers can check what are plants requirement and what amounts of nutrients needed at particular stages and at what percentage they should be mixed with water.
Better growth rate
Do hydroponic plants grow faster than in soil? Yes, because you can set conditions favourable to the plant’s growth like temperature, lights, moisture, and especially nutrients. As plants are placed in favourable conditions, nutrients are provided in sufficient amounts and come into direct contacts with the root systems. Therefore, plants do not waste valuable energy in the search for diluted nutrients in the soil and put their complete focus on growth.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA: GCU’s Farm Fills Neighbors’ Plates, Students’ Souls
Twenty-six vegetables of numerous varieties grow here in the shadow of the six-story Agave Apartments
March 03, 2021
by Mike Kilen
GCU Outdoor Recreation Club members plant greens in the Canyon Urban Farms raised beds.
Story by Mike Kilen -Photos by Ralph Freso - GCU News Bureau
Nathan Cooper looked across the farm in the middle of the Grand Canyon University campus, where spinach and tomatoes, melons, and broccoli were growing amid students tending them. It’s always easier for farmers to tell stories standing shoulder to shoulder, looking out.
“There was this old woman in my hometown in Minnesota …” the Manager of GCU’s Canyon Urban Farms began.
A smile appeared. Every year, the woman had grown a bountiful patch of tomatoes and gave them all away. Everyone in town knew it. There was a waiting list to get her tomatoes that came from a seed variety dating back decades in her family.
“She died a couple years ago,” Cooper said. “I want to get one of her seeds and dedicate a spot to her here.”
Students Savannah Miles and Gracie Grettenberger (from left) listen as Canyon Urban Farms Manager Nathan Cooper gives them planting tips.
Canyon Urban Farms has that woman’s sentiment at its heart — growing as an act of giving. Cooper had just delivered a batch of produce to Lutheran Social Services for the neighborhood refugee population.
A year into the project, he has the quarter-acre plot to the north of Agave teeming with life – and not just with plants: Students have found it a place of contemplation, a reminder of grandma and renewed growth during a rough pandemic year.
“This was rocky soil,” Cooper told group a half-dozen students from the GCU Outdoor Recreation Club, which arrives weekly to tend the garden and learn from it. “It is turning into the best soil you will ever find.”
The 35 raised beds are filled with it, and now several in-ground raised beds are teeming with organic matter, supplied by compost bins of rotting vegetables and other waste.
He urged the students to contribute to the garden by taking a small container, toss in it waste from their rooms – banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells – and bring it to the compost bins, where it will be heated by bacteria’s hard work, turned and broken down into the magic of beautiful natural fertilizer.
“As you work, just pick up a handful of the dirt,” he told them. “You will see how much more living it is. You can feel it.”
Students found there is nothing like the taste of a carrot fresh from the ground.
It reminded senior Payton Oxner of his grandmother’s garden in South Dakota.
“During the pandemic, that’s where they got a lot of their food,” he said.
During the pandemic, this is where the Outdoor Rec Club got a lot of its nature. With off-campus outings restricted, it was a welcome addition to step outside into new possibilities.
“COVID took so much from us, so we wanted to create community right here on campus,” said senior trip guide Gracie Grettenberger. “When you say, ‘We have a garden on campus.’ What? They want to be a part of developing it.
“Living in a dorm, we don’t have the opportunity to garden on our own. They miss this, and being able to do this on a campus is a mindful experience.”
It’s part of what brought freshman Savannah Miles to the garden, where she held a package of three different varieties of peppers to plant in an in-ground bed that Cooper called the “salsa garden,” where in weeks peppers and tomatoes can make a delicious addition to any meal.
Gracie Grettenberger of the Outdoor Recreation Club plants seeds in the in-ground beds.
“It’s a meditative activity that wipes away the stress,” she said. “It’s beautiful to make your own produce. Plus, I like dirt. I like playing in dirt.”
Twenty-six vegetables of numerous varieties grow here in the shadow of the six-story Agave Apartments, and Cooper has had to learn which areas get just the right amount of sun for each type of produce.
Some of the broccoli has bolted, but he tells a student that even the leaves can be used to juice.
Kaleb Morrow said that’s also why he and other students are interested in a garden – to go back to the ways of healthy eating, fresh from the dirt outside your room.
“It takes some time to know the intricacies, but you can grow anything,” he said.
While a student’s mobile phone sat in the dirt, leaned against a Bluetooth speaker playing singer/songwriter tunes you’d hear in a coffee shop, Cooper talked of the appeal of this garden — not only as a place to reap the fruit of your labor but as a tool of education. He urged each student to take a package of herb seeds to put in a pot in their rooms.
“You throw a seed in the ground and it comes back a living thing,” he said.
Savannah Miles prepares the ground for planting.
His goal is also to be a good steward of the earth with a self-sustaining garden, using the seeds to plant next year’s crop and using food waste to regenerate the soil.
Plans are growing as fast as the vegetables beyond its primary goal of helping feed the neighborhood.
New wheeled planters for maximizing growing location are planned for the University’s 27th Avenue office complex. A farmers’ market for community members is on his wish list, as are more gatherings on the east end of the acreage, saved as a place for teaching locations or for students to quietly gather among new life.
This virus, he said, created a lot of longing for a place like this.
“There is a lot of good that can be done from this garden.”
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at mike.kilen@gcu.edu or at 602-639-6764.
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Related content:
GCU Today: GCU’s urban farms plant seeds to nourish neighbors
VIDEO: Indoor Ag Sci Cafe Discusses Indoor Farming In Mexico With Karla Garcia, Hort Americas
“Indoor Farming in Mexico: Current Status and Opportunities”
With Karla Garcia
Microgreens FLN & Hort Americas
This presentation ‘Indoor Farming in Mexico: Current Status and Opportunities’ was given by Karla Garcia (Microgreens FLN & HortAmericas) during our 27th cafe forum on February 23rd, 2021. Indoor Ag Science Cafe is organized by the OptimIA project team funded by USDA SCRI grant program.
The Café presentations are available from YouTube channel.
Upcoming Cafes:
March 30, 11am EST – ‘USDA SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Grants Program Overview’ by Dr. Steven Thomson & Melinda Coffman (USDA NIFA)
Interested in giving a talk to share your thoughts and experiences? Contact them
USA - MICHIGAN: Indoor Agriculture Receives $100,000 Grant From MDARD
The indoor agriculture program is a new major brought to NMU which focuses on hands-on learning of indoor agriculture, sustainable farming practices, urban farming models, environmental infrastructure systems, helping solve the global food crisis, and more
NMU’s new indoor agriculture program recently received a $100,000 grant on Feb. 12 from Michigan’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to help offset the costs for a self-contained growing center.
According to MDARD’s page, the grants are to help “promote the sustainability of land-based industries and support infrastructure that benefits rural communities”.
MDARD received over 139 proposals, totaling over $11 million. The program only accepted 20 proposals, which totaled to roughly $1.7 million. This included NMU’s proposal for a self-contained growing center.
The indoor agriculture program is a new major brought to NMU which focuses on hands-on learning of indoor agriculture, sustainable farming practices, urban farming models, environmental infrastructure systems, helping solve the global food crisis, and more.
Last fall was the first semester that the program took off.
“One of the biggest challenges of growing a program is finding space, and even though there is some available around campus, and in the Jacobetti Center in particular, it still costs a lot of money to retrofit that space and make it usable for the intended purpose.” Evan Lucas, assistant professor of technology and occupational sciences, said. “We targeted this grant specifically to help alleviate the cost impact of adding space for our labs.”
Lucas went on by saying that the program submitted the idea of purchasing one to two shipping containers to enhance the curriculum. The shipping containers, depending on size and capability would be used to add growing space and diversity the type of growing space.
The program hopes that with the grant money they will be able to grow, and in turn create more space for students to work. Sarah Cormier, a junior in the indoor agriculture program, has exciting hopes for the grant money.
“I’d hope it’d encourage others to look into the program and think about food production differently,” said Cormier. “We are limited in our labs with the number of seedlings we can tend to, but with more systems we would be able to monitor more plants simultaneously.”
In turn, having more space means having room for more students. After quick shutdowns and pack-up times, last semester was hard for the program. However, Cormier felt that the experience this semester has been more straightforward.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the program had to cut back on the amount of students able to register. This left many students on waiting lists, unable to participate in the brand new program.
“We were unfortunately not able to open up more than we did without sacrificing the hands-on aspect of growing, which we weren’t really willing to do as that kind of defeats the main purpose,” Lucas stated.
However, Lucas was quick to say how integral Kim Smith Kolosa, another assistant professor of technology and occupational sciences, was to the program.
“She has done an amazing job taking this program from literally non-existent to exceptional in no time, and we couldn’t ask for anything better at this time,” Lucas said.
TAGS: grant, indoor agriculture, news
Have A Look Inside Large Plant Factory on JPFA Training Course
Plant factories, or vertical farms, are grabbing the headlines lately. Learn about them on our science-based practical online course--anytime at your convenience and anywhere in the world during the course period
Have you ever visited a plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL)? The Japan Plant Factory Association is now receiving applications for its 2021 Online Training Course on PFALs scheduled for Feb. 18-March 11. The course gives you the privilege of taking an exclusive look inside a large-scale, commercial PFAL in central Japan.
Plant factories, or vertical farms, are grabbing the headlines lately. Learn about them on our science-based practical online course--anytime at your convenience and anywhere in the world during the course period.
Besides introductory classes on the basics of PFALs, the course has the just mentioned PFAL virtual tour and the following other special content:
A lecture on phenomics and the potential of phenotyping
Hands-on technical training on PFAL business management
Tailored, further explanations on previous-course lectures,
Operational and hygiene management, future of PFALs in COVID-19 times (2020 Workshop)
Its introductory classes cover not only PFAL principles and the basics like photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, light environment and plant growth, nutrient solution and hydroponic cultivation, but also forthcoming technologies and PFAL business management.
The JPFA oversees a plant factory hub on the Chiba University Kashiwanoha campus in Kashiwa, northeast of Tokyo. The nonprofit organization has shifted from on-site to online training due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first-rate lecturers of the coming course include Toyoki Kozai, professor emeritus and former president of Chiba University, who is known as the father of plant factories, and Chieri Kubota, professor at the Ohio State University.
Along with lectures, the training course, run on a specified platform, encourages participants to interact each other and gives them a chance to join an online live question-and-answer session.
The course is available for anybody interested in PFALs--not only JPFA members but nonmembers as well. If you are curious, check here and apply now.
Apply Now
For more information
Japan Plant Factory Association
https://npoplantfactory.org/en/
https://npoplantfactory.org/information/news/2120/
https://npoplantfactory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Renewed-Information-for-JPFA-2021-Online-Training-Course-on-Plant-Factories-with-Artificial-Lighting-PFALs-2021.1.20.pdf
Japan Plant Factory Association
The Japan Plant Factory Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 2010, is devoted to advancing the plant factory industry and controlled-environment agriculture in and outside Japan through academia-industry collaborations.
Its mission is to develop and disseminate sustainable plant factory systems in a bid to address issues concerning food, the environment, energy and natural resources.
The JPFA oversees plant factories on the Chiba University Kashiwanoha campus in Kashiwa, northeast of Tokyo. Also, it works on about 20 R&D projects and runs workshops and training courses.
How to Become a JPFA Member
Apply for JPFA membership here. For more information, visit the JPFA website or email us at training@npoplantfactory.org. We welcome your inquiries.
Price List for JPFA 2021 Online Training Course on PFALs
Want more online educational options?
USA - ARIZONA: UA-CEAC 2021 Online Short Course
Only a few weeks away from the 2021 Online Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course put on by the University of Arizona's Controlled Environment Agriculture Center
Only a few weeks away from the 2021 Online Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course put on by the University of Arizona's Controlled Environment Agriculture Center. This virtual program will be hosted through Zoom on Wednesdays- March 3rd, 10th, & 17th from 10 am-3 pm (MST). Come expand your knowledge, sharpen your skills, and hear innovative presentations given by industry leaders and academia experts in Controlled Environment Agriculture. Click here to register. Registration will close on February 26th.
For more information, visit ceac.arizona.edu/events/cea-short-course or email ellenworth@email.arizona.edu
US - NEW MEXICO: ‘Farm in a Box’ Coming To Grants
The Farm in a Box operates inside a 40-foot shipping container, shown here in Moffat County, Colo. A similar one will be set up at New Mexico State University branch campus in Grants. (Courtesy of Tri-State Generation and Transmission)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fresh, locally produced vegetables will soon sprout from hydroponic beds in an enclosed, converted shipping container parked at New Mexico State University’s branch campus in Grants.
The 40-foot “Farm in a Box” will provide hands-on education and workforce training for local students and others interested in studying the emerging science of “indoor agriculture” as a new, potentially sustainable, enterprise that could offer fresh economic development opportunities and job creation in an area hard hit by the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
NMSU, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, and the National Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are collaborating on the project.
It’s one of several initiatives under development with local, state, and federal backing to diversify economic activity in Cibola, McKinley, and San Juan counties, where coal-fired power plants and associated mining have provided a financial mainstay for workers and communities for decades.
Both Cibola and McKinley counties are reeling from last year’s shutdown of the coal-fired Escalante Generating Station near Grants, plus the closure of Marathon Petroleum’s oil refinery in Gallup, which together eliminated hundreds of stable, high-paying jobs in those northwestern communities.
Unemployment hit 10.8% in Cibola County in December and 10.2% in McKinley County, according to the state Department of Workforce Solutions. That compares to an 8.2% average statewide unemployment rate.
To ease the impact of Escalante’s closure and assist in transitioning local communities, Tri-State provided $5 million in grants in January to four local economic development organizations. It is also now sponsoring the Farm in a Box initiative, providing $250,000 to set up and equip the high-tech container unit that houses the indoor agricultural operation, with forthcoming grants for NMSU faculty and student assistants to work on the project.
“We realize that closing such coal facilities as the Escalante plant that have traditionally employed significant workforces creates very difficult challenges for local communities to replace those jobs,” Tri-State spokesman Mark Stutz said. “Our goal is to find opportunities in support of economic development with new technologies when we can.”
Tri-State permanently closed the 253-megawatt Escalante power plant in Pruitt last summer as part of the association’s long-term plan to completely withdraw from coal generation over the next decade. It laid off about two-thirds of the plant’s 107 employees, Stutz said.
TriState also plans to close a much larger, 1.3-gigawatt coal facility in Craig, a municipality in Moffat County, Colorado, where the company sponsored another Farm in a Box project that EPRI set up last November.
“We don’t want to just walk away from these communities that we’ve been a part of for decades,” Stutz said.
High tech
EPRI has set up similar Farm in a Box projects in 13 states, said its principal technical leader Frank Sharp, project manager for the institute’s indoor agriculture-and-lighting research efforts.
It’s part of an emerging concept of indoor farming for urban areas and isolated rural communities where food could be grown year-round right where it’s consumed. It could lead to huge energy and water savings through efficient, high-tech growing processes, contributing to carbon reduction by using electricity rather than fossil fuels in agricultural operations and by eliminating long-haul transport of produce to market.
For economically stressed communities such as Cibola and McKinley counties, it could be scaled beyond shipping containers to retrofit under-used or abandoned buildings and to construct new facilities, such as greenhouses, on empty plots, Sharp said.
“It all translates into community impact, job creation, and beneficial use of electricity,” Sharp told the Journal. “Vacated buildings with the infrastructure already in place can be retrofitted, with opportunities to also build new facilities.”
Electric Power Research Institute principal technical leader Frank Sharp, left, with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association CEO Duane Highley, inside the Farm in a Box agricultural container that was set up in Moffat County, Colo., last November. (Courtesy of Tri-State Generation and Transmission)
Research needed
Research is still needed to maximize efficiency and production, measure benefits, make contained farming systems profitable, and train the workforce. That’s where NMSU comes in, said Jay Lillywhite, agricultural economics professor and co-director of NMSU’s center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems.
NMSU faculty and students will study the entire container system, which includes vertical, hanging plastic enclosures to grow crops connected to a closed-loop plumbing system to recycle all water. Researchers will monitor all energy and water use, plant productivity, the impact of red and blue LED lighting spectrums on plant growth, and the economics of the whole operation, Lillywhite said.
“We’ll record everything and transmit all the data wirelessly to EPRI,” Lillywhite said. “It needs to be profitable. Indoor agriculture has had mixed reviews in terms of profitability, so we’ll look at a model that makes sense for New Mexico and the Southwest.”
Other applications
Opportunities extend into many disciplines beyond agriculture, including electrical engineering focused on energy efficiency and renewable generation as alternative systems, such as solar panels, are added to indoor operations, said Rolando A. Flores, dean of NMSU’s College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences.
“The project has excellent potential to address social, environmental, and economic facets of sustainability, and become a resource-efficiency model for urban agriculture, provided that renewable energy can be incorporated from the beginning,” he said.
State Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Grants, said indoor agriculture can offer significant opportunities alongside other initiatives to diversify the local economy.
Lundstrom sponsored legislation last year that now allows counties with coal plants that are closing to set up special economic districts with bonding and taxing authorities to invest in infrastructure, business recruitment, and retention to create jobs and promote economic development.
That led to the launch in December of the McKinley County Electric Generating Facility Economic District, which is focused on converting the Escalante site in Pruitt into a new industrial zone to recruit more businesses to the area.
“Value-added agriculture is one of the opportunities we can work to develop there with help from the partners on this project,” Lundstrom said. “It can have a significant impact as we work to recruit new, sustainable industry to the local community.”
(Assistant) Professor Crop Modelling In Greenhouses And Vertical Farms (Tenure Track)
Are you keen to contribute to the sustainable production of healthy fresh vegetables? We have a vacancy for an Assistant professor of Crop modelling in Greenhouses and vertical farms. Do you like to supervise students? Do you want to combine modelling and data analytics with plant experimentations? Then this position could be a perfect fit for you!
The chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is keen to hire an Assistant Professor (0.7-1.0 ft). As an Assistant Professor, you will take a leading role in developing research and education and the opportunity to establish your own research and education in crop modeling in greenhouses and vertical farms.
This position also involves experimental physiological work at the plant organ, whole plant or whole crop level, which is necessary to build, calibrate and validate models.
In this challenging career trajectory:
You will perform research on modeling, combined with experimentation, of growth, development, and quality of horticultural crops and products (vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and/or pot plants).
You acquire, lead and implement together with the chair holder and other staff members innovative and creative (inter-)national research projects for our group. Once acquired you also implement and lead these projects.
You supervise Ph.D., MSc, and BSc students, and you will develop and teach courses (lectures, practicals) on the modeling of key plant processes in greenhouses and vertical farms.
Your work will focus on the development of models, which are a combination of multiscale Spatio-temporal data-driven, as well as knowledge-based models. Model applications may include predictions of yield, plant development and growth, quality, post-harvest behavior, resource use and running costs for crops grown in greenhouses and vertical farms
You collaborate with colleagues and establish a personal research portfolio that is embedded in the Horticulture and Product Physiology group
You undertake research on modeling and data analytics, combined with experimentation, that leads to high-quality research output.
You will perform research on modeling, combined with experimentation, of growth, development, and quality of horticultural crops and products (vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and/or pot plants).
Tenure Track is a career path for scientists who pursue to excel in education and research. We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.
Requirements:
You hold a Ph.D. degree in plant science, mathematical science, biological science, data science, or similar.
You have experience in modeling and data analytics, as well as a keen interest in combining these activities with experimentation with plants.
You have published research in high-quality journals and are willing to develop your skills in teaching and grant proposal acquisition.
You are strong in stakeholder management because you need to communicate the importance and significance of your research.
This position requires excellent English language proficiency (a minimum of CEFR C2 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page.
The chair group Horticulture & Product Physiology
The chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology conduct high impact research and educate students providing the scientific basis required to answer questions that are of utmost importance for sustainable crop production and product quality in horticulture.
The research focus is on how physiological processes in crops, plants, and plant organs interact with the abiotic environment and how this affects crop production and product quality. Questions arising from horticultural practice are translated into fundamental research topics, aiming to explain mechanisms. The research and education contribute to sustainably feeding the World with healthy high-quality products.
The chair group is an international team consisting of 15 permanent staff members, about 25 Ph.D. candidates and postdocs, and a number of guest researchers. Each year about 40 MSc students conduct their thesis study (6-month research) at our group. We organize and participate in a variety of courses for BSc and MSc students to transfer knowledge on horticulture (pre-and post-harvest), environmental physiology, and product quality.
More info about the chair group can be found at www.hpp.wur.nl or see the video below:
Salary Benefits:
Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement:
sabbatical leave, study leave, and paid parental leave;
working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
the option to accrue additional flexible hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
excellent ABP pension regulations.
In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will be offered a fixed-term, 7-year contract which, upon positive evaluation based on criteria elaborated in the University's Tenure Track policy, can lead to a permanent employment contract as a professor. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive salary of between € 3.746,- and € 5.127,- (assistant professor position) for a full-time working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 11). The position can be part-time or full-time (0.7-1.0 ft).
Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the "Best University" in the Netherlands for the 16th consecutive time.
Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research center for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.
Work Hours: 38 hours per week
Address: Droevendaalsesteeg
University of Arizona Announces Greenhouse Engineering Course
Join the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center for their 20th Annual CEAC Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course on March 3rd, 10th, and 17th via Zoom
Join the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center for their 20th Annual CEAC Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course on March 3rd, 10th, and 17th via Zoom. This virtual conference will increase your knowledge in Controlled Environment Agriculture and hydroponic growing and will allow you to network with industry leaders.
Each day will be jam-packed with incredible presentations given by experts in academia and the CEA industry. Topics will include Greenhouse Structures and Environments, Managing Plant Nutrition, Lighting, Fertigation Systems, Pest Identification, and Control Strategies, Hemp and Mushrooms in CEA, Organic Hydroponic Food Production, and much more! Registration is open until February 26th, 2021.
Click here for the 2021 Online Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course Schedule
For more information, visit ceac.arizona.edu.
AppHarvest, USDA Partner To Expand Educational Container Farm Program
Located at Breathitt High School in Jackson, Ky., the retrofitted shipping container allows students to grow and provide fresh leafy greens to their classmates and those in need in their community
In partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we’ve opened a new high-tech educational container farm in Eastern Kentucky to offer students a hands-on AgTech experience.
Located at Breathitt High School in Jackson, Ky., the retrofitted shipping container allows students to grow and provide fresh leafy greens to their classmates and those in need in their community. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided a majority of funding for the container farm through its Community Facilities grants program.
The Breathitt County container farm is the third in our program, which started in 2018 in Eastern Kentucky to excite students about growing their own food.
“This amazing project will not only put fresh vegetables on the table but, more importantly, it will teach tomorrow’s agribusiness leaders — and do all of that right here in Eastern Kentucky,” said U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development State Director Hilda Legg.
Click here to learn more and here for coverage of the container farm’s opening.
Commercial Urban Farming Course
Agritecture is bringing our knowledge from advising clients on the key best practices for CEA online!
Our online Commercial Urban Farming Course includes more than 2.5 hours of video learning - broken down into 6 comprehensive lessons - each lesson made up of digestible 5-10 minute modules.
Additional resources will help you translate insights into actions.
And finally, after completing 4 lessons, you’ll unlock a free webinar with one of our expert consultants.
The Mexican Tec Graduates Who Are Using Vertical Farming To Eradicate Hunger
Vertical farms use 90% less water than traditional agriculture and can meet the challenge of feeding more than 9 billion people
Vertical farms use 90% less water than traditional agriculture and can meet the challenge of feeding more than 9 billion people
Por Susan Irais
January 11, 2021
Not all fruit and vegetables can be grown using this technique, but a great variety can. (Photo: Courtesy of Verde Karma Fresh)
Every night, seven million people go to bed hungry in Mexico. It is estimated that the coronavirus pandemic will cause that figure to increase. According to the latest report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 130 million people will be affected by chronic hunger worldwide by the end of 2020.
Unfortunately for Mexico, the traditional agricultural industry uses a lot of resources and wastes a large amount of what it takes from the land.
For example, 34% of total production ends up in landfills due to inefficiencies during processing, storage, and transportation. What’s more, 40 billion liters of water are wasted annually due to poor irrigation.
“Fresh” products travel 300 to 1,000 kilometers and have already lost 45% of their nutritional value by the time they hit the shelves. But there is a complementary option for agriculture: vertical gardens.
Vertical Farming
“Vertical farming –in controlled environments– is a method of growing in vertically stacked layers, optimizing growing conditions and soil-less cultivation techniques, such as hydroponics,” says Leo Lobato Kelly, CEO of Verde Karma Fresh, a vertical farming company from Monterrey, Nuevo León.
The modern concept of vertical farming was proposed in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, Professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University in the United States.
Due to climate change, this method has become a real alternative for countries like Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and now, Mexico.
Karma Verde Fresh (KVF) has spent the last five years developing farming systems and growing a variety of vegetables, sprouts, and seedlings in Monterrey, Nuevo León. “This has been achieved through an association with two universities and Tec graduate agronomists, using natural substrates, in this case: tezontle (volcanic rock). This substrate can be washed without contaminating the soil. By substituting mineral products, you allow fields to regenerate themselves, which is highly beneficial to the soil,” says the CEO of Karma Verde Fresh.
Not all fruit and vegetables can be grown using this technique, but a great variety can be (Photo: courtesy of Karma Verde Fresh).
Vertical farming systems use 90% less water and 95% less space than traditional farming and are 100% herbicide and pesticide-free. “Our crops can be adapted to any space, which allows us to be closer to the consumer, reduce our carbon footprint, and promote local purchases that are fresher,” says Leo Lobato.
Vertical farms keep crops fresh for longer, so they don’t lose any nutrients, using state-of-the-art LEDs that are extremely energy efficient. Energy can also be generated from renewable sources and this creates job opportunities.
Traditional Agriculture Plus Vertical Farming
“Vertical farming is another option within the agricultural industry, though it is intended as a way of complementing rather than replacing traditional agriculture,” adds Tagino Lobato from KVF.
Not all fruit and vegetables can be grown using this technique, but a great variety can be, “enough to have a balanced diet,” according to Leo Lobato.
For example, KVF produces lettuce, microgreens (mustard), Ballerina lettuce, Alexandria lettuce, peas, beetroot, large-eared lettuce, radish, Italian lettuce, and sunflowers, as well as others such as astro arugula, rocket arugula, spinach, coriander, chard, strawberries, and tomato seedlings.
Vertical farms are very beneficial. For example, they use 90% less water than traditional agriculture and they can be built anywhere, which means many spaces could be repurposed. (Infographic: Karma Verde Fresh)
This type of initiative hopes to feed the 150 million people who will be living in Mexico by 2050, of whom approximately will be in 80% urban areas, according to FAO estimates.
Karma Verde Fresh saw a great entrepreneurial opportunity in vertical technology. “We need this in all communities because we all need to eat better without damaging the planet. Vertical farming in a controlled environment has many possibilities. We can take it to schools or food bank centers,” says the co-founder of Verde Karma Fresh.
The company wants to make this innovation in agriculture available to everyone, so they are looking to make the technology accessible. For example, “we already have one of these vertical farms in Dr. Adriana Elizondo’s house in the Linda Vista neighborhood of Guadalupe in Monterrey. She’s farming with this prototype from her bedroom,” says Leo.
Karma Verde Fresh has two versions of the growing system: one for crops (KVF-AG6) and one for seedlings (KVF-AG10). (Photo: Karma Verde Fresh)
Mexico, The Land of Opportunity
The Lobato technology has already made deals with 20 international universities to take their equipment and establish laboratories. “By involving universities, we are hoping to find Mexican ingenuity that will produce better technology and create more employment opportunities in all Spanish-speaking countries,” he says.
KVF doesn’t just want to sell the technology but also to lower the costs by using Mexican technology. Sources of financing are being set up for all of the entrepreneurs who wish to take vertical farms to different levels.
The end product from vertical farms promotes local purchases that are more nutritious (Photo: Courtesy)
How Vertical Farms Could Be Ready To Take-Off
Carried out by the John Innes Centre, the University of Bristol, and the aeroponic technology provider LettUs Grow, the study identifies future research areas needed to accelerate the sustainable growth of vertical farming using aeroponic systems
12-01-2021 | LettUsGROW
Vertical farms with their soil-free, computer-controlled environments may sound like sci-fi, but there is a growing environmental and economic case for them, according to new research laying out radical ways of putting food on our plates.
The interdisciplinary study combining biology and engineering sets down steps towards accelerating the growth of this branch of precision agriculture, including the use of aeroponics which uses nutrient-enriched aerosols in place of soil.
Carried out by the John Innes Centre, the University of Bristol, and the aeroponic technology provider LettUs Grow, the study identifies future research areas needed to accelerate the sustainable growth of vertical farming using aeroponic systems.
Dr. Antony Dodd, a Group Leader at the John Innes Centre and senior author of the study, says: “By bringing fundamental biological insights into the context of the physics of growing plants in an aerosol, we can help the vertical farming business become more productive more quickly while producing healthier food with less environmental impact.”
Jack Farmer, Chief Scientific Officer at LettUs Grow and one of the authors of the study, adds: “Climate change is only going to increase the demand for this technology. Projected changes in regional weather patterns and water availability are likely to impact agricultural productivity soon. Vertical farming offers the ability to grow high-value nutritious crops in a climate-resilient manner all year round, proving a reliable income stream for growers.”
Vertical farming is a type of indoor agriculture where crops are cultivated in stacked systems with water, lighting and nutrient sources carefully controlled.
It is part of a rapidly growing sector supported by artificial intelligence in which machines are taught to manage day to day horticultural tasks. The industry is set to grow annually by 21% by 2025 according to one commercial forecast (Grand View Research, 2019).
Green benefits include better use of space because vertical farms can be sited in urban locations, fewer food miles, isolation from pathogens, reduction in soil degradation and nutrient and water recapturing and recycling.
Vertical farms also allow product consistency, price stabilization, and cultivation at latitudes incompatible with certain crops such as the desert or arctic.
“Vertical systems allow us to extend the latitude range on which crops can be grown on the planet, from the deserts of Dubai to the 4-hour winter days of Iceland. In fact, if you were growing crops on Mars you would need to use this kind of technology because there is no soil,” says Dr Dodd.
The study, which appears in the journal New Phytologist, lays out seven steps – strategic areas of future research needed to underpin increased productivity and sustainability of aeroponic vertical farms.
These seek to understand:
Why aeroponic cultivation can be more productive than hydroponic or soil cultivation
The relationship between aeroponic cultivation and 24-hour circadian rhythms of plants
Root development of a range of crops in aeroponic conditions
The relationship between aerosol droplet size and deposition and plant performance
How we can establish frameworks for comparing vertical farming technologies for a range of crops
How aeroponic methods affect microbial interactions with plant roots
The nature of recycling of root exudates (fluids secreted by the roots of plants) within the nutrient solutions of closed aeroponic systems
The report argues that a driver of technological innovation in vertical farms is minimising operation costs whilst maximising productivity – and that investment in fundamental biological research has a significant role.
Dr. Dodd’s research area covers circadian rhythms – biological clocks that align plant physiology and molecular processes to the day to day cycle of light and dark. He recently completed a year-long Royal Society Industry Fellowship with LettUs Grow.
This involved combining Dr Dodd’s expertise in circadian rhythms and plant physiology with the work of LettUs Grow’s team of biologists and engineers to design optimal aeroponic cultivation regimens. This is a key area of investigation as these molecular internal timers will perform differently in vertical farms.
Aeroponic platforms are often used to grow high-value crops such as salads, pak choi, herbs, small brassica crops, pea shoots, and bean shoots. LettUs Grow are also working on growth regimens for fruiting and rooting crops such as strawberries and carrots, as well as aeroponic propagation of trees for both fruit and forestry.
John Innes Centre researchers have bred a line of broccoli adapted to grow indoors for a major supermarket and one of the aims of research will be to test how we can genetically tune more crops to grow in the controlled space of vertical farms.
Bethany Eldridge, a researcher at the University of Bristol studying root-environment interactions and first author of the study adds: “Given that 80% of agricultural land worldwide is reported to have moderate or severe erosion, the ability to grow crops in a soilless system with minimal fertilizers and pesticides is advantageous because it provides an opportunity to grow crops in areas facing soil erosion or other environmental issues such as algal blooms in local water bodies that may have been driven by traditional, soil-based, agriculture.”
Lilly Manzoni, Head of Research and Development at LettUs Grow and one of the authors of the study says, “This paper is unique because it is broader than a typical plant research paper, it combines the expertise of engineers, aerosol scientists, plant biologists, and horticulturalists. The wonderful thing about controlled environment agriculture and aeroponics is that it is truly interdisciplinary”
The study ‘Getting to the Roots of Aeroponic Indoor Farming‘ appears in the New Phytologist journal.
Source and Photo Courtesy of LettUsGROW
JPFA Offering Online Training Course On Plant Factories
The Japan Plant Factory Association is starting a new online English-language training course on Plant Factories with Artificial Lighting (PFAL) in February and is receiving applications now
English Training Course on Artificial Lighting In February
The Japan Plant Factory Association is starting a new online English-language training course on Plant Factories with Artificial Lighting (PFAL) in February and is receiving applications now.
The JPFA 2021 online training course on PFALs scheduled for February 18 – March 11 comprises introductory classes and special content designed for participants to acquire practical knowledge and expertise. The learning event follows its first online English-language training course that was offered last year.
Click here to view the course brochure.
All interested parties in plant factories or vertical farms can seize this opportunity as the course is not only available for JPFA members but also for non-JPFA members. The JPFA is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing controlled-environment agriculture.
The lecturers include Toyoki Kozai, honorary president of the JPFA and former president and professor emeritus of Chiba University, who is known as the father of plant factories. Introductory classes will cover such topics as current PFALs and forthcoming technologies as well as environmental effects on plants. Special content will allow participants to learn practical methods.
The course will also provide participants with a virtual tour to a commercial, large-scale PFAL and exhibitions by companies in the PFAL and related businesses. Although participants cannot get together as in on-site courses, the course’s platform allows them to enjoy interacting with other attendees and representatives of exhibitors. Also, a live question-and-answer session is planned for participants to deepen their understanding.
“Thank you so much for the opportunity to look deeper into this ‘industry,’ which is likely to reshape our future soon,” a Romanian participant of the 2020 course said.
Because the course is online, it may be easier to attend it than an on-site one, especially for those who live outside Japan.