Tomato plants to generate energy: Warm Earth uses green batteries

Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Ilja Schamle has replaced batteries with living plants in this self-built server system to explore how technology could enter into a symbiotic relationship with nature. Showcased as part of the Missed Your Call graduate exhibition at Milan design week, the project sees…

VerticalFarmDaily.com

Vertically cultivated mushrooms are blossoming in Brussels’ cellars

“Once the summer break is over, our 10 growing rooms, consisting of 1000m2 in total, will be fully occupied and deliver 1000kg of mushrooms a month in total for 4000kg coffee grounds recycled,” says Julie Jacqmain, Production- and communication manager at Permafungi. “About four rooms are in use now, as…

Brick Street Farms

Re-envisioning urban farming with direct to consumer urban hubs

Indoor Ag-Con welcomes Brick Street Farms CEO Shannon O’Malley to the speaker roster for the October 4-5, 2021 edition at the Hilton Orlando. Based in St. Petersburg, FL, O’Malley and her growing company are on a mission to “ignite a sustainable farm revolution by dramatically reshaping the global…

Urban Tiller

24-year-old built agtech startup delivering fresh produce to Singaporeans

At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the panic buying phenomenon had highlighted the need for long-term food security in Singapore. As such, the Singapore government aims to produce 30 percent of the country’s nutritional needs by 2030, as a buffer from supply disruptions. This resulted in the emergence…

Making local, fresh produce accessible in Vancouver

Forward Greens is an indoor farm located in Vancouver, WA providing fresh, local produce to the residences of Clark County. Forward Greens is a local cosmopolitan farm, focused on serving the environmen. "We believe in change, planting the seeds to create a cleaner future for generations to come. We now…

Newtimes.co.rw

22-year-old student pioneers hydroponic farming in Rwanda

Many students go to university but few think about creating businesses that can even help them afford some basic needs at school.   Marie Aline Iraguha, a 22-year-old young female student currently second year African Leadership University, has beaten the odds by founding AliFarms Group Ltd, an agribusiness that…

BBC.com/JonesFoodCompany

UK green jobs: The new generation of workers making it work for them

From running huge wind farms out at sea to making new devices to heat our homes, the UK is seeing a rise in interest in so-called green jobs. What counts as a green job? The simplest answer is that it directly contributes to tackling climate change, although many think it should also cover roles that…

Thailand: Pushing education on agtech through new farms

“We can offer very reasonably priced vegetables to consumers as we saved a lot on lighting,” says Krisana Tamvimol, founder and CEO of Wangree Fresh. “Now, we’re using different lights than in our previous farm which helps us to reduce operating costs. Therefore, our products can now be sold at a price…

Sweden: Instead of supplying microgreens, supplying self-made cultivation systems

“When looking for fresh herbs in the supermarket during the winter, I noticed they were imported from Kenya, so on my way home I decided I should try to start growing them myself at home,” says Michael Skaret, founder and CEO at Nordamark. During the learning process, he discovered a relative new niche,…

Four key learnings to understand what you need to succeed

“Vertical farming is a fairly new industry, so we all have to work together to find the solutions that will work for our customers, crops and business models”, says Luca Travaglini, co-CEO and co-founder of Planet Farms.  The only way to enter this business, according to Luca, is by doing research. It’s about…

The man with extensive agricultural experience from 'seed to ready-to-eat'

Bart Wehman is passionate about introducing products and technologies that can make a difference. He is a true business development manager. In a nutshell, his experience ranges from “seed, to ready-to-eat”. It includes all facets of the horticultural supply chain. For almost a decade Bart has resided…

GENTILEZA

Paraguay: Targeting a new generation of farmers

Many countries are venturing into urban agriculture. Therefore, a group of young entrepreneurs decided to produce microgreens. The superfood, which sets itself apart through intense flavors and their striking colors, contains 40 times more nutrients.  The young owners of High Farm noted that their microgreens…

Vivegreens

Spain: There’s lack of information on how nutritious microgreens really are

“Microgreens in Spain are still only used by restaurants, mostly as decoration,” says Francisco Quinzan, founder and CEO at Vivegreens. Vivegreens is located in the middle of Vigo, a city based in Galicia, in the Northwest of Spain. The products are supplied to local restaurants and local vegetable…

US (MI): "I don't think we ever thought there would be as much interest as there was"

In the world of microgreens, we’re realizing that petite radishes, itty-bitty broccoli and teensy amaranth are no small potatoes when it comes to nutrients. In fact, some of these greens are nutritional behemoths next to their full-sized relatives. Now, Ryan and Sam Archer, an ambitious husband-and-wife…

Daily Monitor

Uganda: Retired chef switched to urban farming

Spinach, sukuma wiki, onions, tomatoes, eggplants, basil, parsley, capsicum, herbs, chillies, mint, strawberries and indigenous vegetables are some of the crops that can be grown in the vertical garden, with a standard one having a capacity of up to 44 crops The moment you reach Muhammad Damba’s home in…

Heron Farms

US (SC): "Seawater doesn’t just have to be a problem; it can be a resource,”

Charleston-based Heron Farms, an indoor saltwater farm, is capitalizing on the cultivation of sea beans, while combating the environmental impacts of seawater rise.  Sea beans, a nutrient-packed succulent usually found in saltwater marshes, are seeing growing demand as they gain recognition, especially in…

South Korea: Growing greens in the subway

Situated in Sangdo Station on Line 7 of the Seoul Metro, South Korean tech startup Farm8 has its Metro Farm. It's a sleek, glass-encased plant nursery housing rows upon rows of hydroponic growing trays.   The farm occupies 394m2 of space and produces around 30 kilograms of fresh vegetables daily. Most of those go…

US (NY): The ability to pivot and keep supply helped us through the pandemic

Fluence recently hosted a webinar featuring two experts in the field to assist growers who are considering going vertical. Sharing his first-hand experience was Rob Laing, the CEO and founder of Farm.One–a successful Manhattan-based vertical farm, and joining him was Dr. Abhay Thosar, Fluence’s director…

YouTube: Eden Green Technology

Spill the greens: What kinds of careers exist in vertical farming?

In this video, Eden Green Technology, a Texas-based vertical farmer takes us with them to ask employees on their opinion. They'll talk a bit more on 'What kinds of careers exist in vertical farming', and 'what makes someone a perfect fit for the AgTech industry?' In this episode of Spill The Greens, Eden…

Fort Thomas Matters

US (KY): Turning hobby into a microgreens business

“Eat local. Live better” is the tag line for Fort Thomas Microgreens. And it’s the latest entry into the locally sourced food market.  Johnny Delegrange is the owner. His business has officially only been around for about a month, but like his product, it is growing. The editor of Fort Thomas Matters sat down…

Another major North American open field grower enters the CEA industry

One of the biggest open field growers in North America, Taylor Farms, enters the greenhouse growing market with an investment in greenhouse company Pure Green Farms. "This expansion into greenhouse grown fresh offerings will complement our existing 122,200 crop acre field grown program and 16 salad…

US (HI): Get a look inside Hawaii's vertical farm

As part of an Ulupono Initiative effort to highlight local agriculture, MetroGrow was included for an interview conducted by Tannya Joaquin from KHON2's Living808 show. The lifestyle show highlights food, family, fashion and fun topics related to Hawaiian inhabitants.  During the interview, Kerry Kakazu, founder…

Pioneering vertical farming in the Middle East through asset management expertise

“Many people are interested in indoor farming solutions because they recognize the need but don’t understand how to complete the whole project,” says Kenny McCrae, chairman of IREP (International Real Estate Partners) Farms globally and based in the UAE. IREP, or International Real Estate Partners, has…

YouTube: What To Do

US (KY): A peek into the aquaponic farm

Lexington (KY) is an indoor aquaponics farm. The farm is part of FoodChain: a nonprofit working in the heart of Lexington, KY to forge links between their community and fresh food through education and demonstration of sustainable food systems.   The fish and produce are sold to a next-door restaurant. Becca Self,…

Scotland: High hopes for aquaponic gardens investment

Roaming towards us is Paul Lister, Alladale’s owner. Rather than the tweedy get-up traditionally favored by Highland landowners, he is sporting cords, trainers and a slightly…

Jamaica Star

UK: Jamaican olympian wants to use ag for good

Following his successes as a 400m runner, representing Jamaica across the globe, Olympian Ricardo Chambers now has his eyes set on using agriculture for good through hydroponic farming. Chambers, the CEO and managing director of Chambers Hydrofarm located in Swabys Hope in Manchester, said he became…

Combining rainbow trout with water lentil production

“We’re building a commercial facility and a unique space to bring partners together and see the technology in motion,” says Steve McArthur, chief technology officer at Pontus Protein Ltd (i.e., Pontus). Pontus is a vertical aquaponic farm in British Columbia that combines the production of rainbow trout…

Growing through franchising throughout the US

“Microgreens are profitable at a small scale and we love to be a small business that can interact directly with our clients,” says Oliver Homberg, co-founder at Boston Microgreens. “We scale not by expanding one farm, but by franchising our growing system and setting up a network of decentralized urban…

Aquaponics greenhouse fueled by renewable energies

This is the Ekoponics system. The aquaponics greenhouse is built with an Ekodome Cosmos geodesic dome frame system, while the renewable energy station is made with an Ekodome Seed dome frame. Solar panels and vertical wind turbine-powered pumps provide energy to the system to recycle water and nutrients…

Farm.One

US (NY): New “Neighborhood Farm” concept launched

FarmOne recently opened its new 10.000 sq. ft. facility (~930m2) in Brooklyn. “We wanted to take a big step up,” says Rob Laing, CEO at Farm.One. “There aren’t many spaces available in Manhattan that have much space for a farm.” After looking at Brooklyn, they found an empty warehouse in the Prospect…

Spectrum News 1/Jonathon Gregg

US: Veteran finds peace and purpose in container farm

John Miller's routine may seem a bit "scaled-down" compared to his former life as a combat soldier. Miller spends much of his time in a 40-foot-long shipping container converted into a hydroponic farm field. “In essence we sell a lot of things what we would consider baby," Miller explained. Little white…

US: A visit to the Kennedy Space Center

In this Project Ianos episode, host Josh Bernstein visits the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to meet Space Perspective Co-CEO Jane Poynter to explore what plants need to survive and thrive in space. Josh then travels to Blue Origin to hear from Space Architect Brent Sherwood on what growing crops…

Iceland: Aquaponic farm established in old cow barn

Amber, the owner of Ísponica, a newly-established vertical farm in Hólar, Iceland introduces herself. "I‘m originally from the Savannah, Georgia area. I‘ve been living here in Iceland since 2018, which is when I started my MSc at Hólar University, where I studied lumpfish."  It‘s always been a dream of Amber…

“We can put 90 strawberry plants per m2 where a greenhouse would put only 10-12”

“I spent my first 25 years on a farm and the next 25 years in technology. Vertical farming is the bridge between those worlds,” says Yves Daoust, chief operating officer and founder of Ferme d’Hiver. The company was founded in 2018 and aims to develop a network of indoor farms and become a global hub for…

CAN: A fresh salad after a round of golf

In the green meadows of Alberta, a new farm was established: Springbank Vertical Farm. On this farm, food is cultivated for Windmill Golf Group. All produce at the Springbank farm is freshly served at the Windmill Golf clubhouses. Have a look at the video below to get to know more about it. 

"We’re hoping for a more domestic type of farming”

“Whilst living in a 9-square meter student residence, the idea of being able to use this really small space to sustain myself with well packed nutritious food was what sparked the idea of Vita” Walid Brahim, CEO with Élever Group explains. A small personal farm for everyone, a revolutionary product that…

Common Farms

“It's a marathon and not a sprint for us”

The product demand keeps growing. Inevitably, the pandemic has accelerated this demand for food quality and availability in Hong Kong. “I think it’s because of the following reasons. One being that Common Farms can deliver with consistency, speed, and quality. Secondly, as people aren’t traveling they…

Eden Towers

A vertical farm in every major city in Australia in the next 24 months and then expanding into Asia

“We have just successfully completed our initial capital raise to build the first commercial-scale vertical farm that runs solely on solar power,” says Christian Prokscha, co-founder and CEO at Eden Towers. “Within the next 24 months, we want to expand into every major city of Australia and capture the…

Creating a 7,000 m² greenhouse for salads and aeroponic herbs

At the Vivatech Fair 2021 held mid-June in Paris, the company Les Crudettes was present with its partner CleanGreens, in order to present its Cap Vert project. “It is an aeroponics production system, which consists of spraying a nutritive solution on the roots of our salads and aromatic herbs. It is a…

InvertiGro

A flexible vertical farming solution that is affordable and easy to scale

“The beta products were tested by several growers to gather feedback for more improvement, that really addresses the industry’s pain-points,” says Ben Lee, founder and CEO of InvertiGro. During COVID we’ve seen lots of opportunities come up both here in Australia and globally.  The Asia Pacific is especially…

VerticalFarmDaily.com

Belgium: Increasing demand for growing towers from catering industry and home growers

"Rather than chefs having to travel for hours to a wholesale market, we are growing on-demand to eliminate these actions,” says David van Steenkiste, founder and CEO of Plant-T. David says that he noticed a lot of shortages in resources, which resulted in experimenting with some farming methods during…

Infarm

CAN: "Farms are merging with food retail spaces"

Canadians have started to notice that grocers have begun to sell plants in miniature greenhouses. "We’ve seen gardens on rooftops, vertical farms close to stores, and even some selling gardening equipment to gardeners who are shopping for food. The farm is essentially merging with the food retail spaces…

Alexander Arnholm Dandora

Kenya: Introducing urban farming solutions to provide income and healthy produce

“Life is tough here, and there wasn’t much healthy food available, says Charles Lukania, Project Coordinator at Voices4Change in Kenya. “When Erik Lundgren from Ljusgårda came to visit in 2019, he provided farming materials so we could start the first hydroponics demo site in the informal community of…

Nufields

Keeping it local: Promoting microgreens in Dublin

In an episode of The Pat Kenny Show, an Irish podcast, Nufields shares its story. Nufields helps people grow food indoors all year round no matter where they live. Pat with Newstalk spoke to Denis Manzke from Nufields as part of their 'Keep It Local' campaign. Nufields sells organic seeds for microgreens…

Nirmalendu Majumdar / Ames Tribune

"Our vision is to remove seasonality in food from existence"

Forget Iowa's rich and abundant soil. If the future is growing lettuce vertically indoors, then the future is now. Tucked in a spacious room at the Iowa State University Research Park are walls upon walls of lettuce hugging shelves upon shelves of microgreens and tomato plants.  The indoor farm, called Nebullam,…

90% goes into our story and branding now”

"As Spain is suffering more drought problems, we have started to look into renewable energy and sustainable farming. It’s not that dry in the Barcelona area, where we’re based, but we will become a desert within 50 to 80 years from now on,” says Alessandro Calcagno, co-founder of Groots. Alessandro…

What is the secret weapon for genetics?

In this episode of PMA takes on tech, speaker Vonnie Estes discusses Kalera's works and 'their secret weapon for genetics'. Joining the podcast are Daniel Malechuck the CEO of…

YouTube: Nordamark

Sweden: A quick introduction to growing microgreens

Nordamark, a Swedish microgreens producer, gives a quick introduction to microgreens channels through this short video.  The video will highlight how microgreens are produced, using vertical farming methods. Next to that, the company is showcasing a new way to produce microgreens using channels and hemp fiber.…

Crowdfunding developers of herb tower succeed

In recent weeks, the entrepreneurs of Local Indoor Farming (LIF) ran a crowdfunding campaign to bring their innovative herb tower to the market. Successfully so, because thanks to the support of 88 investors, the herb tower can now be taken into production. The first specimens are expected in September. The…

Nebullam

US (IA): Removing seasonality by rolling out multiple farms throughout the state

“We want Nebullam Farms to be available in every city throughout the US, so we can fulfill our mission of creating access to reliable and local food for everyone, year-round,” says Clayton Mooney, founder of Nebullam. Over half of the Nebullam team is comprised of Iowa State University Alumni. Today,…

Wickes Farm Strawberries

UK strawberry producer uses hybrid solutions to maximize yields

British strawberries could be on supermarket shelves nine months of the year using a new vertical-growing technique that is also better for the environment. The system, which is being pioneered by a fruit-grower in Arundel, West Sussex, uses 50% less water and has a 90% lower carbon footprint but has…

Asia One

"We will continue to reach out to consumers to understand their needs"

Founded by 36-year-old Sven Yeo and 38-year-old Vincent Wei, Archisen (a portmanteau of words taken from the phrase "Architecture for Sensor Networks") operates one of the highest-yielding indoor farms in Singapore, with a projected yield of up to 100 tonnes of vegetables a year. "In 2011, we started to…

"Resilience is going to become a key element of food security"

When it comes to rethinking agriculture to create better products with much less impact 365 days a year on a large scale, Cristián Sjögren and Pablo Bunster, two professionals from the renewable energy sector, left their jobs behind to bring sustainable farming to cities. A little over two years ago they…

YouTube: The Square

Is the future of agriculture micro-farms?

Is the future of agriculture micro-farms? When the pandemic hit, the retail food landscape changed dramatically. With “big food” supplying most restaurants and grocery stores, they faced numerous challenges— from labor shortages, redistribution challenges to distribution sites with long travel times—…

UK: Growing hop hydroponically for local beer

An innovative businessman has converted a disused Lampeter warehouse into a hydroponic hop farm to help meet the demand of the recent boom in craft beer across the country. At one point, the average homebrewer was faced with a limited choice of hops as craft and commercial breweries were first in line to…