That the world population and the proportion of people living in cities are growing, is no news for insiders in the vertical farming industry - nor is the fact that, the demand for healthy, fresh, and locally produced food is rising at the same time. For exacly those reasons, many other players get interested in the industry.
Al Jazeera decided to have a look into vertical farm Swegreen, speaking with Leo Marcelis of Wageningen Universtiy on potential solutions to fulfill this need.
In Stockholm it's harvest time, but in a different way than you might expect. The plants are growing from the walls at Swegreen, a vertical farming company established in an old archive building. "We're building a food brain," Sepehr Mousavi with Swegreen says, explaining how AI plays a vital roll in their enterprise and controls everything.
Mint, basil, kale, rocket, light, water, humidity, temperature: all circumstances in the farm all tailored for the specific crops that are being grown. And according to the reporter, they taste better than other production sites, and they are supplied to local consumers, making vertical farming a solution for food deserts.
But does vertical farming have a future? That's where professor Leo Marcelis with Wageningen University comes in. He explains the potential of vertical farming and which hurdles have yet to be taken. "What we have to consider is that technically, we can grow any crop with vertical farming. Any crop will work very well." But can we also grow enough of it? "Yes we could," Leo says. "The question is if it's economic feasible for every crop. I think it's specifically feasible for fresh vegetables."
Leo explains that vertical farming makes it possible to control both the nutritional value of the crop and the quality. "We can choose to do it better," he adds, explaining how vertical farming gives more control over the cultivation results, affecting the quality, grow rate, nutritional value, and water use.
The electricity use is one of the major challenges," says Leo, adding that this is one of the topics that Wageningen UR wants to improve with their research. "We're looking to improve the efficiency of the plant growth: a higher growth rate with less light and less electricity."