Penang Island encompasses an area of 293km2, with a population density of 2,465.5/km2. Most of the land is allocated for infrastructure, urban and rural planning. According to research by Penang Institute (2018), agricultural land use in Penang for fruit production steadily decreased from 7,149.8 hectares in 2009 to 3,660.2 hectares in 2017. Meanwhile, land allocated by the Penang state for vegetable production increased only minimally from 489.4 to 688.5 hectares between the same years. In order to increase the state’s self-sufficiency level in agricultural products and to encourage sustainable forms of farming, vertical farming has been cited as a method that supports effective land management and crop productivity.
Penang already has ambitions to become the first Malaysian state to have 100% LED street lighting. Therefore, progression from traditional agriculture to adapting next-generation LED-fitted vertical farming is only logical as a cost-effective and sustainable solution, especially when the growing population necessitates more property development, and arable land becomes inevitably scarcer.
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