AeroFarms’ vertical farms can grow crops year-round, more efficiently and with a less negative impact on the environment than traditional farming methods.
Vertical farming was once hailed as the future of food production, but many startups have failed to scale, turn a profit, or even survive. Fundamental inefficiencies in supply chain design and the burden of high operating costs are to blame. New research focuses on the economic viability of vertical farming and how strategic supply chain design can drive efficiency and profitability.
Vertical farming grows more food in less space - with no pesticides. As Dubai opens the 'world's biggest' vertical farm, is this the future of agriculture?
With a rapidly growing population, food production is a pressing challenge for India. Vertical farms can be sited in buildings or shipping containers, and offer an alternative to pesticide- and fertiliser-dependent farming. Vertical farms require a large initial investment, but the government is offering debt financing for growers.
Agriculture contributes to, and is affected by, increasing global water scarcity caused in part by climate change. China's population is hard hit by water scarcity – despite being home to 21% of the world’s population, it only has 6% of the world's freshwater. Vertical farming offers a sustainable solution that uses 98% less water than traditional agriculture and can help support food ...
Now, a third solution is emerging: vertical farming. Academic studies have found that locally-cultivated vertical farms – stacked greenhouses that use artificial light to grow crops – can provide considerable savings, which could then be passed along to consumers.
For example, Plenty, the indoor vertical farming company I run, yields up to 350 times more per acre than conventional farming, while using a fraction of the land and water. Vertical farming meets a need that greenhouses and field agriculture can’t: growing a steady supply of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, anywhere in the world.
The global vertical farming market was valued at $1.5 billion in 2016, and the hydroponics segment contributed nearly 42%. According to research firm Allied Market Research, the global vertical farming market is expected to reach $6.4 billion by 2023.
Vertical farming is impactful for many reasons. First, vertical farms have a much higher yield than traditional ones. A vertically farmed acre can produce the equivalent of four to six soil-based acres, depending on the crop. Second, vertical farms offer a year-round growing season, free from weather or pests.
Biologist and vertical farm advocate Despommier of Columbia has little patience with such thinking: “If people say the only way to grow naturally is to use dirt, you have to tell them farming is not natural, period. You have to destroy ecosystems in order to farm. And we can’t afford that because that’s our life support system.
