Vertical Farming
Vertical farming could be the future of food in dense cities like Singapore. (Epoch Images)
On the main island of Singapore, which is 26 miles wide and 14 miles long, a four-story rotating greenhouse produces one ton of food a day. Incorporating this unique method of farming helped Singapore cut down on 93% of imported food. Vertical farming is the future. It’s better for Earth, better for you, and better for the plants. Today, let’s explore what vertical farming is, how it stacks up to conventional farms and the future of agriculture.
We often think of farming as a thing that happens on the ground. Vertical farming is changing that. Farmers first insert seeds into coconut husks, which act as a natural fertilizer. Crops are then stacked high in cylindrical tubes, which provide them with water, nutrients, and sunlight above. In less than a month, most of the plants are fully grown and ready to be consumed. The system is incredibly efficient.
Infographic of vertical farming.
The benefits of vertical farmings versus traditional methods are excellent for the environment. Farmers precisely control CO2 levels, humidity, and sunlight in vertical farms. These farms produce crops with 70-95 percent less water than required for standard cultivation. Every square meter of floor space for vertical agriculture provides approximately the same amount of vegetable crops as 50 square meters of conventionally worked farmland. They use no soil and thus remove the need for pesticides and wasted water. Because vertical farming is indoors, unfavorable weather conditions do not affect crops. In Kyoto, Japan, a vertical farm is soilless and sunless. It relays on advanced robots, LEDs, and hydroponics to grow 21,000 heads of lettuce per day. Labor costs were even cut by 50%, with more humane practices.
There is still a lot to improve with vertical farms. For instance, these facilities cannot grow potatoes, wheat, or rice due to the high costs and extensive roots. Unfortunately, these crops are a staple in the worldwide diet. Also, as vertical farms are all indoors, there is no way to pollinate plants naturally. Instead, workers must manually pollinate crops. Last, it is an entity dependent on technology. A one-day power-outage would be devastating to the facility. On the horizon, renewable energy can help solve this problem.
As a form of permaculture, vertical farming is much better for everyone. Feeding another 2 billion people by 2050 will be an enormous challenge. Vertical farming is one step of many that we must accept into our new lifestyle. Everything has an impact on the environment, and vertical farming can help ensure your food doesn’t destroy your home.
