Vertical farming > "the most technically advanced indoor farm in the world" unveiled

We have had vertical gardens:
Futures Forum: Vertical forests... vertical gardens...

Although it is not without controversy:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: greening the grey >>> "Is the trend for foliage on buildings a fig leaf for poor design?"

We now have vertical farms:
Futures Forum: Vertical farming

And that has a political dimension too - including the notion that land need not be 'limited':
Futures Forum: Sustainable development >>> land is not a limited resource >>> and there are no limits to growth

Particularly, it's about sustainability:
How sustainable is vertical farming? - phys.org
The Good, the Bad, and the New: Vertical Farms & Modern Agriculture by Lydia Scherr

The Welsh government is interested:

Vertical Farming: A new future for food production?

Take home messages:

• Vertical farming is a system of food production in controlled, indoor environments
• This allows factory style precision agriculture
• This approach can reduce the environmental impact and the influence of environmental variability associated with future climate change on food production.

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), more commonly known as Vertical Farming, is the process of growing food or other agricultural products within factory-style situations, without the typical natural resources associated with plant production, such as soil and sunlight. These resources are instead provided via the use of innovative lighting and nutrient delivery technologies.

Vertical farming is most commonly associated with urban farm production systems, as these can easily be integrated into urban landscapes, reducing the length of supply chains. However, this style of production may also have the potential to benefit general agricultural production outside of urban situations. Using controlled environments, crops can be cultivated which may otherwise be unsuited to UK climates, reducing reliance on overseas supply chains.

Food production systems also face numerous future challenges with regard to feeding growing populations. Vertical Farming allows for faster, more controlled production, irrespective of season. One acre of vertical farming can provide the produce equivalent to between 10-20 acres of conventional production. This system offers a model to enable greater future food security, as production through such controlled systems is not vulnerable to variability of factors such as climate or pests and pathogens. Furthermore, a vertical farm can take advantage of low value land otherwise unavailable for food production. Vertical Farming is thus regarded as a realistic future farming system, which may offer the stable model needed for future food production, to provide for the 3 billion increase in population predicted by 2050.

Vertical Farming: A new future for food production? | Farming Connect

As is the Scottish government:
Scotland champions hi-tech indoor farming | The Scottish Farmer
 Scotland's first vertical indoor farm unveiled at Hutton Dundee site | The James Hutton Institute 

Scotland’s first vertical farm ‘arguably world’s most advanced’

Rachel Martin
Aug 28, 2018



A Scottish agri-tech business has just unveiled its first indoor vertical farm demonstration facility in Perthshire.

The firm behind it, Intelligent Growth Solutions Ltd (IGS) says the facility at the James Hutton Institute is arguably the most technically advanced indoor farm in the world.

The unit uses patented power and communications technologies to address the key challenges facing the indoor farming industry.

The cost of power and labour, as well as the inability to produce consistent and quality produce at scale, have inhibited vertical farming’s expansion to-date. However, the Perthshire site has been designed to overcome these barriers while also significantly lowering the cost of production.

Potential

With global market growth predicted at 24% over the next three years, the opportunities for IGS are substantial, with over 95% of its technology solutions expected to be exported.

Vertical farming offers huge reductions in water wastage, the elimination of the use of pesticides and a huge reduction in food miles. It allows produce to be grown locally and on demand, which could reduce fresh food waste by up to 90%.

The unit uses artificial intelligence and other technical solutions to reduce energy usage by 50% and labour costs by 80% compared with other indoor growing environments. It also can produce yields of up to 200% more than that of a traditional greenhouse...

Scotland's first vertical farm 'arguably world's most advanced' - Agriland.co.uk
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