future of agriculture: Vertical Farming
Vertical farming is an innovative agricultural practice. It involves growing plants in stacked layers indoors using LED lighting and controlled growing and nutrition systems. The practice is gaining popularity as a sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional agriculture, especially in urban areas where space is limited.
Vertical farming is highly efficient thanks to automation technology like software, robotics, and data science. This allows growers to control the growing conditions. Thus resulting in faster crop production with less resources, less waste, and lower energy costs. Nordic Harvest claims to use 250 times less water than traditional farming methods. Making it an efficient option for sustainable agriculture.
Efficiency of vertical farming
Another significant benefit of vertical farming is that it eliminates the need for pesticides. By growing plants indoors, growers can control the growing environment and prevent pests from infesting their crops. This reduces the use of harmful chemicals.
Vertical farming also allows for year-round production, regardless of weather conditions. This means fresh produce can be grown and harvested continuously. It is an ideal solution for areas with long or harsh winters. Furthermore, vertical farms can be located closer to urban centers, reducing the distance food needs to travel to reach consumers. At the same time, it can help cut transportation costs, reduce the carbon footprint associated with food transportation. Additionally, ensure that the produce is fresher when it reaches the consumer.
Drawback
Despite these advantages, vertical farming has not yet become a widespread global solution for food production. One of the biggest challenges is the high cost of technology and real estate. Vertical farms require significant investments in LED lighting, automation technology, and real estate space. In some cases, vertical farms are using fossil fuels, which can have a negative impact on the environment.
However, the vertical farming market is steadily growing, and it will be reaching $20bn by 2025, according to Statista. As the technology improves and the costs come down, vertical farming could become a more viable solution to traditional agriculture. With its potential to produce more food with fewer resources and less environmental impact. Vertical farming could be the future of agriculture.
