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Friday, March 5, 2021


Photo 17690284 © Panpote | Dreamstime.com
According to Marcell KovacsEU: "Hydroponics should be labeled as organic"
Earlier this year, many vertical farms, especially hydroponic farms and their investors received a cold shower after an EU decision. Although hydroponic farming offers high-quality, pesticide-free, green, nutrition products it hasn’t been acknowledged by the European Parlament’s Committee on Agriculture…

TSRgrow introduces Lighting as a Platform
TSRgrow has announced Lighting as a Platform (LaaP), a technology that delivers results to indoor growers, while reducing up-front and long-term operating costs. "Lighting as a Platform (LaaP) brings together TSRgrow's solutions for commercial horticulture growing into one digital platform: Centralized…


Heliospectra partners with Carleton College
"LED lighting controls are a game changer for the next generation of growers"
Heliospectra has partnered with Carleton College, a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States, to upgrade the campus greenhouse facilities. Carleton College installed Heliospectra’s Elixia adjustable spectrum horticulture lighting and the helioCore light control system to…
Could bigger zinc absorbtion help the world's malnourished?
Study on how to control zinc in plants
Over 2 billion people worldwide are malnourished due to zinc deficiency. Led by the University of Copenhagen, an international team of researchers has discovered how plants…

Water treatment system eliminates excess sodium in irrigation water
Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in 2018 imposed limits to Dutch growers for discharging drain water into sewers and surface water. But, as the amount of sodium will build up, constant recirculation of irrigation water is simply not an option. An issue that is also increasingly occurring…

Netled and Vertigo Farms complete first entirely remote deal
"We want to open up new possibilities for cosmetic and pharma products"
Netled has completed its first entirely remote deal and delivery of Vera vertical farming technology to its Poland-based partner, Vertigo Farms. The deal with Vertigo is of particular significance for two key reasons. Firstly, the project has taken place entirely remotely from signing the deal, assessing…
March 8-12
Tomato Week covers e-commerce trends, COVID-19 and more
The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas has opened registration for Tomato Week 2021 which takes place March 8-12. The event is open to all who have an interest in…

Flushing hydroponic systems: nutrient imbalance, waste, and an alternative solution
The main reasons for flushing a hydroponic system is nutrient imbalance. Hydroponic fertilizers are specifically formulated for specific crops (you can buy nutrients for a type of crop, like greens or flowers), but each farmer grows a different combination of crops in different conditions, and the ratios…
Grower in the Spotlight more »

Regulatory changes expected to restrict smaller companies’ ability to provide beneficial microbes
While early 2020 cast a dismal outlook for Green Search Inc., the biotech company quickly bounced back amid the pandemic and finished the year with its high revenues yet. According to Remco Kostwinder, president of Green Search Inc., “The magic was in being flexible and seeing where we could fit in the…
Growing systems more »

France: Containers to grow fruit and vegetables in La Courneuve
In the French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, an urban production of fruit and vegetables is being grown in 12-meter long containers. The products grow inside, under a pink…
Hydroponics more »

BBC
How to grow food in a concrete jungle
Guillaume Fourdinier has lived in Paris for six years, but he still misses the taste of the fresh cereal grains, beets, carrots and more that grow on his family's farm in Verton. There, in northern France's countryside, eating locally is a way of life – not simply a trend or a sticker on an apple at the…
Aquaponics more »

Study on basil growth in aquaponics system with catfish
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) was cultivated in Rostock, Northern Germany, in a decoupled aquaponic system with African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) under intensive rearing…
Investments more »

Is there a future for vertical farming in New Zealand?
New Zealand has a large focus on outdoor, pastoral farming. Is there a need for Vertical Farming? Some say yes, others say no. NZ has some unique features to it, including high levels of sunshine hours and generally good growing conditions. On VerticalFarming.com, benefits of the system for the NZ…
Lighting more »

Photo by Sundayvision
What vertical grow light exist for indoor farming?
If the indoor place you want to grow your plants doesn’t have access to natural light, using vertical grow light is the solution. Suppose you require additional lighting for the growth of your plants. This usually happens during the winter seasons, where vertical grow lights can be used as another light…
Market information more »

Hyderabad's agri-startup using modern tech for pesticide-free vegetables
A Hyderabad-based techie who had returned from Australia after a span of 20 years, has recently set up an agri-startup that offers modern technology such as machine learning,…
Packaging more »

New compostable packaging can double shelf-life of fresh produce
Compostable packaging producer TIPA and shelf-life extension specialist PerfoTec have partnered to offer fully compostable packaging that extends the shelf-life of fresh produce. The resulting laser microperforated compostable film provides retailers and suppliers with the ideal packaging qualities to…
Substrates more »

Study on outdoor vertical farming on textile substrates
Vertical farming may solve the problem that in many regions of the world, more area would be necessary to produce food, than it is available. Especially in large cities and other densely crowded areas, vertical farming can provide an efficient and eco-friendly way to feed people. While indoor vertical…
Technique more »
The warehouse of the future
The future of warehouse logistics. These are the STO Express logistics robots in the sorting centre of Xuzhou, China.
Events more »

Webinar on shifting approaches to farming in Canada
Canada’s agriculture sector is in the midst of a number of changes, from automation to sustainability to shifting demographics. The Globe and Mail hosted the second event in its Future of Farming series on February 25 to provide a forum for discussion on what these changes mean. Missed the live event or…
Company news more »

Photo by Yanni Yacial
Israel-UAE agriculture and water conference: "Desert agriculture can be the answer to food security"
As climate change continues to impact agriculture worldwide, a conference aimed at advancing technological cooperation in agriculture and water was held in Tel Aviv this week with senior government representatives from Israel and Africa along with investors from the United Arab Emirates and Israeli…
Crop protection more »

© Puntasit Choksawatdikorn | Dreamstime.com
Study on bacillus as an aquaculture friendly microbe
Bacillus species are Gram-positive, endospore-forming bacteria having a vital role in the sustainable aquaculture production. Bacillus as gut probiotic significantly enhances growth, immune response, and disease resistance in several aquatic cultured organisms. The supplementation of Bacillus as pond…
Education and Research more »

"No green thumb is needed for this computer-led growth chamber'
When you think of agriculture, do you think of technology? If not, you should. Innovative agriculture techniques play a vital role in the next generation of food production—which explores how technology can address important issues related to food. One of those issues is disparities around access to…
Energy more »

Guide to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)
There are several different terms that are essential to understanding grow lighting and the optimisation of plant yields across multiple climates, grow spaces and plant types. One of the most important of these is photosynthetically active radiation, commonly referred to as PAR. In a recent blog post,…
Food Safety more »

"A childhood dream come true" with a vertical farm in Africa
At the age of nine, Josephine Favre uttered the words of her passionate dream: “When I grow up, I am going to feed Africa.” Interestingly, the little child was then thousands of miles away from her continent, Africa. Born in Tanzania, Josephine’s parents had moved to Geneva, when she was eight years old.…
Suppliers more »

Koat and Crux Agribotics invest in local sales and service organization in Ontario
"Ontario horticulture is at a forefront in automation and robotization"
Koat and Crux Agribotics are investing in a local sales and service organization in Canada to serve the horticulture and fresh produce market. For this expansion, the company is looking for a local Sales manager and multiple Service Engineers. Koat and Crux Agribotics are growing extensively, also in the…
Breeding more »

"What is the sweetest strawberry?"
Since March 2019 strawberry on iFarm vertical farms were cultivated using 4 ways: aeroponics (1), low-volume hydroponics with drip irrigation on coconut substrate (2) and on coconut mats (3) and low-volume hydroponics with watering using the method of periodic flooding (4). For the research we used…
Technology more »

MU celebrates Henry Kirklin with dedication of learning lab
State-of-the-art lab is MU effort to raise awareness of the university’s first Black teacher
The University of Missouri today honored Henry Kirklin, a celebrated Black farmer and educator who lived in and around Columbia from 1858 until his death in 1938, with the naming of the Henry Kirklin Plant Sciences Learning Laboratory in his honor. Nearly a dozen of Kirklin’s descendants were in virtual…
Product information more »

New LED solution launched
Hydrofarm Holdings Group, an independent wholesaler and manufacturer of hydroponics equipment and commercial horticultural products, unveiled Photobio TX and Photobio T linear top lights— the newest additions to the Phantom Photobio series of next generation LED tech solutions. The high-performance products, optimized for…
Cultivation more »

Study on mechanisms that protect plant fertility from heat stress
Plant fertility is dramatically affected by spikes in temperature, directly resulting in yield reduction and economic loss. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that…
Today on social media more »

Ready for some greens!
Container solutions more »

Couple goals: from smartphone to smart farm
Rob Flanders pulls out his smartphone and with a few taps, he turns off a hydroponic water system. “This,” he says, referring to the farmhand app on his phone, “is the brains of the farm.” Located in a shipping container in his backyard, the entire “smart farm” is less than .15% of an acre. Rob and his…