Vertical Farming
Vertical farming will provide a greater abundance of food at much lower prices.
According to Archaeologists, it’s estimated that man began planting and hoeing crops about 12,000 years ago during the Neolithic Revolution, also known as the First Agricultural Revolution.
Since then, the agricultural systems have undergone several transformative shifts, with the most significant occurring during what’s called the Green Revolution, which began in the 1940s and peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. It marked a massive shift and drastically increased food production worldwide and helped feed billions of people, preventing starvation in 3rd world countries in Asia and Latin America.
While the Green Revolution is credited with helping feed the world, there’s been a downside as well, such as environmental degradation, soil depletion, and issues regarding long-term sustainability due to chemical-intensive farming practices, like the bombardment of pesticides.
The good news… we’re about to enter another monumental agriculture revolution: Vertical farming.
It’s going to change our world in so many ways, including drastically decreasing food costs and increasing availability.
What is Vertical Farming?
Vertical farming is the method of growing crops in vertically stacked layers, usually in controlled environments, such as warehouses, greenhouses and skyscrapers. The controlled environment allows for precise control and management of light, water, temperature, and nutrients, as well as the ability to grow crops 24/7 year-round — plus the ability to grow crops anywhere in the world, regardless of the regional climate.
Technology is playing a big part in this revolution. Companies are using advanced technologies, such as hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics.
In hydroponics systems, rather than growing crops in soil, they’re grown in trays of nutrient-rich water. Plants are loaded in trays and stacked many stories high. The excess water from one level trickles down to the plants below instead of being lost as runoff.
Aeroponics takes this a step further by misting the roots of plants with nutrient solution, which also reduces water usage by up to 90% compared to traditional farming methods.
Aquaponics combines fish farming with hydroponics, creating a symbiotic system where fish waste provides nutrients for plants, and the plants, in turn, help clean the water for the fish.
Currently, a company that is an industry leader, Gotham Greens, has ten large facilities in the US. Last year they raised $440 million in venture funding, meaning there are a lot of smart people who see potential in this futuristic method of farming.
As Ray Kurzweil says in his book, The Singularity is Nearer When We Merge with AI, “Its technology enables it to use 95% less water and 97% less land than a traditional dirt farm for a given crop yield. Such efficiencies will both free up water and land for other uses and provide a much greater abundance of affordable food.”
Advantages of Vertical Farming
There are so many advantages to this new way of farming.
For example, most farms utilize LED lighting to mimic sunlight, allowing crops to grow 24/7. AI enables real-time monitoring and control of the environment optimizing growth and reducing waste.
The ability to farm anywhere, including cities will be available. As farming is brought closer to consumers, the need for long-distance transportation is minimized, reducing emissions and increasing freshness. This gives a new meaning to the Farmers Market located in Downtown Dallas.
So, no more harvesting tomatoes in South America long before they’re ripe so that they won’t be rotten when they arrive in the US. I don’t know about you, but it’s extremely rare to get “just right” ripe fruits and vegetables at the grocery store. It’s usually only small windows of time in the summer when I can get decently ripened food.
Supposedly, vertical farming will eliminate that. As someone who lives in Dallas, I’ll be able to get fresh fruits and vegetables grown within an hour’s distance. I love that idea! And… it’ll be organic!
Traditional farming is highly dependent on large masses of land and water. Lots of water that is used only once. By contrast, the new system uses up to 95% less water and requires no soil. It’s hard to imagine we’ll be farming without soil. But, I guess that’s in our future.
Also, farming won’t be subject to the fluctuation of weather, climate, and extreme conditions, so crop production will be more consistent and reliable. No more worries of floods and droughts.
And probably my second favorite benefit of vertical farming: No pesticides! Since farms will be in enclosed and controllable environments, those tiny little critters that like to nibble on our food as it’s growing will be no more. For the most part, anyway. Also, crops will tend to be less susceptible to diseases.
And, don’t forget, AI will continue to evolve and monitor our processes as this method progresses. Those tiny little critters may be smart, but they won’t have AI like we will.
As Ray Kurzweil says in his book, The Singularity is Nearer When We Merge with AI, “In the coming years, converting innovations in photovoltaic electricity, materials science, robotics, and AI will make vertical farming much less expensive than current agriculture. Many facilities will be powered by efficient solar cells, produce new fertilizers on-site, collect their water from the air, and harvest the crops with automated machines. Future vertical farms will eventually be able to produce crops so cheaply that consumers may be able to get food products almost for free.”
I can’t imagine food will almost be free. But you get the point. But I do want to point out a feature that was skimmed over: Collect water from the air. Or harvesting fresh water from air-borne humidity. With concerns about depleting water sources, that idea is huge!
An atmospheric water generator (AWG) is a technology designed to extract water from the humidity in the air. This process harnesses moisture naturally present in the atmosphere and converts it into drinkable water, which is especially valuable in areas with limited access to freshwater or drought-prone regions. There are a few key methods by which this is achieved.
Gotta love this AWG thing!
Obstacles and Limitations
Like with anything, there are challenges and limitations. The main obstacle is the high cost of the initial setup. As you can imagine, the infrastructure, technology, and energy required is enormous.
The second major obstacle is the limitation of the type of crops. Staple crops such as wheat, corn, and rice require large amounts of space and are not yet suitable for vertical farming. Currently, the smaller, fast-growing crops like leafy greens, herbs and strawberries work very well.
Despite the challenges, the future of vertical farming is promising, and as technology continues to evolve, so will opportunities for cost reduction and feasibility. I think the location flexibility and environmental control and management outweigh the obstacles, especially as organic foods become more important to consumers.
Thank you for reading this issue of Think on This.
Additional resources: The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century
Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Nearer When We Merge with AI
Wow, this is really cool. I love that fresh produce will be more available and not be full of chemicals