Vertical farm benefits mostly use LED lighting to reduce the cost of light

Urban warehouses, abandoned buildings and tall buildings are the places where you can't find the green seeds. However, the history of the United States Clanton from Singapore to Pennsylvania City, "the vertical farm" showing a thriving development momentum, it is expected to provide a new and environmentally friendly way to provide safer food for the rapidly growing population of global city. British New Scientist website recently reported on this.

The world's largest vertical farm is opening up

In March this year, the world's largest vertical farm is expected to open in the history of Clanton. The farm is headquartered in the United States, Michigan, New Buffalo "green spirit farm (GSF)" to build the company, the farm has a floor, covering 3.25 hectares, with a total of 6 stents, can be stationed in a total of 17 million plants. Moreover, this is only a typical representative of the growing vertical farm.

The concept of "vertical farm" was first put forward by Dickson Despomil, an ecologist at Columbia University in 1998. His idea was to produce food (including farmed fish and poultry) in 30 - storey buildings in the city to provide nearby residents. The idea of a 30 story "vertical farm", powered by solar energy, wind power, and inedible plant waste, is used for irrigation. He envisions the vertical farm to grow more than 100 different kinds of fruits and vegetables, including strawberries, blueberries and even small bananas, to provide enough food and water for 50 thousand people a year. People can also recycle water in a closed irrigation system to reduce water use and avoid runoff caused by soil erosion, transportation costs will be close to zero, more importantly, can reduce fruit and vegetables from the distance far away from the city sent the carbon dioxide produced.

In this vertical farm in the city of Clanton, the plant eats an oil free nutrient solution; the sun's LED (light emitting diode) provides illumination. Moreover, to the management of these plants is not difficult: control software can let the plant spin like dancing, in order to get the same amount of light; the software can also guide the pump, to ensure that all nutrient liquid can be sprayed evenly.

Daniel Kreuk, a research manager at GSF, said farm managers would be able to monitor farms on a full scale through smartphones. He said the new farm in Clanton will grow 14 kinds of lettuce a year, plus spinach, tomatoes, peppers, basil and strawberries. Its output will be 10 times the yield of the company's first vertical farm, which began in 2011 in Buffalo, Michigan.

The concept of vertical farming has sailed to Japan in Tokyo. There, a company called Nuvege (new vegetables), is running a 4 story vertical farm, the main product for lettuce. Lettuce is a good choice for indoor agriculture, because the whole surface of photosynthesis can be eaten, making the operation more effective. Nuvege company said that they did not use the soil when planting lettuce, so the lettuce will neither suffer pests, no other harmful substances in soil, can be eaten directly without washing.

Vertical farm benefits

One of the tasks of the vertical farm is to avoid the problems inherent in the planting of crops in fields that are prone to drought and disease, and to ease the growing tension in agricultural land. Supporters also see vertical agriculture as an important means of feeding the world's rapidly growing urban population. According to the United Nations, by 2050, 86% of the population in developed countries will live in cities. As the global population continues to surge, the earth mother is almost impossible to feed so many children, the food problem become suspended in the world on the head of the "Damour Damocles", vertical farming may be out of a force in the process of solving the problem of.

Vertical agriculture is also expected to make food supplies more secure, because even when extreme weather comes, production can continue. And, as long as the careful protection of their "indoor farm" away from the invasion of pests, vertical farms do not need herbicides or pesticides. What's more, they can also store water better than traditional farms.

GSF was originally built vertical farm is also subject to long-term drought in the u.s.. Kreuk said: water is a big problem, compared with traditional farming methods, vertical farms can save water 98%. "A lot of factors to achieve the effect of saving water, including the use of a dehumidifier from the air in the room to grab water plant. As a result, dehumidifier can also let the room humidity is not too high, because the humidity is too high may cause problems such as leaf mildew.

The cost of light is also expected to significantly lower

Most vertical farms use natural light as much as possible. In the sunny, near the equator Singapore entrepreneur Huang Heshun founded "the day fresh (SkyGreens)" vertical farm is known as the first commercial global vertical farm, the vertical farm don't need artificial light to promote the growth of crops.

On the farm, a 9 meter tall, triangular, lightweight aluminum structure supports a layer of tray to produce different kinds of vegetables, including Chinese cabbage and lettuce. The outer layer is enclosed by light organic glass to form a greenhouse environment. The ladder like arrangement ensures that all kinds of plants receive sufficient light. Nutrients from the bottom of the tower