© Paulius Beinaravicius | Dreamstime.com

US Sprouting industry recommend to improve safety practices to limit foodborne outbreaks

This guidance document is intended to inform the sprout seed industry (seed growers, conditioners, packers, holders, suppliers, and distributors) of the FDA’s serious concern with the continuing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of raw and lightly-cooked sprouts and to…

VerticalFarmDaily.com

Data collection needs to be improved to apply quick learning to the industry

“There is no standard platform yet into which we can dive to collect information. Sharing information is the only way to go forward sharing thoughts on issues, as done in the medicine world for instance. By merging various information sources together, we can address the right solution to an issue very…

Young Indian growers look forward to technical tools

Horticulture in India is at the beginning of a strong evolution from open to covered crops. In the short term, this mainly concerns the mid-tech segment, in which many existing growers are making great strides by investing in fairly simple net and foil greenhouses. Syngenta is stimulating this…

© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

South Korean agtech to push smart farming in the Philippines

The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently welcomed South Korean-based company Green Plus, which plans to promote smart farming technologies in the Philippines. Green Plus specializes in high-tech greenhouses with its vertically-integrated business structure covering the entire process from design and…

GLOBAL OVERVIEW STRAWBERRIES

The global strawberry market is currently going through some ups and downs, depending on where one looks. During the growing season in Northern Europe, the excellent weather has led to an abundant domestic supply in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The UK even expects to see a 50%…

Investigating high-tech horticulture in urban areas

A project was completed in 2021 that examined a range of high technology systems and assessed their applicability to urban Australia. The project team provided recommendations on how the Australian horticulture industry can realize opportunities surrounding high technology horticulture production in…

ONO Exponential Farming

What does the vertical farming industry need to be more successful?

“Today, there is one thing that we have not found off the shelves in the market yet is a farm management system. Meaning, a specific vertical farming software that helps growers and other employees to create specific tasks so the whole farm production becomes optimal. Thus, for instance, a system that…

Safguarding food safety of baby leaf vegetables at a vertical farm

Although it is home to 5.6 million people, the city-state of Singapore is located on a small island that covers merely 715 square kilometers (276 square miles). As a consequence of crowding, it has been necessary to expand upwards, accommodating residents and businesses in high-rise buildings. Land is in…

Mana Farms

"Growing lettuce directly in the restaurant itself is an absolute megatrend"

Peter Pane likes it crunchy: The popular burger grill chain is the first German system gastronomer to roll out its indoor farming concept. After a test phase in Lübeck, the Leipzig location is now enjoying freshly harvested greens. Together with start-up Mana Farms, Peter Pane is integrating its…

Fiji Times

Fiji: Hydroponic farmers told to grow vegetables year-round

Hydroponic farmers have been told to grow vegetables all year-round so that they can continuously supply to hotels and resorts. A total of 19 farmers in the Western Division received offer letters for the Ministry of Agriculture’s Hydroponics and Protected Agriculture program to start hydroponics farms.…

Real Assets

Indoor farming the ‘next generation' of infra investment

Christopher Walker speaks to Oliver Williams about why institutional investors should allocate capital to large-scale indoor farming.Manulife Investment Management has some $4.1bn (€3.88bn) in agricultural investments and oversees approximately 400,000 acres of prime farmland and agriculture investments…

Growing indoors: the future of CEA in Minnesota

AURI presents a webinar featuring a panel discussion with industry thought leaders highlighting scalable specialty indoor crops with an eye to the future of CEA applications in Minnesota.

Ready-to-eat bag salads expected to grow another 10% in the US creating opportunities

“We decided to build this large in the first facility to achieve scale efficiency, allowing us to achieve higher margins and mitigating the risk of scaling up production. When building smaller farms, you won’t benefit from scale under one roof. But we’ll get it across multiple large farms,” says George…

Instructional video program launches to help industry new hires

Blue Book recently launched New Hire Academy 2.0, a refreshed suite of online instructional videos to help industry new hires. “Sourcing, selling, and transporting fresh…

Japan: Seasonality gap of strawberries offers huge market potential for vertical farmers

“Although they say that many people will pay extra for high-quality strawberries, we don't see any price issues in the strawberry market in Japan. The prices of our products are reasonable and competitive,” Yuuki Matsuda, CEO of MD-Farm, a Japanese agtech company. MD-Farm offers vertical farming systems…

© Chamaiporn Kitina | Dreamstime.com

Vegetable planting on balconies goes mainstream amid recent COVID-19 flare-ups in China

"If you are a novice, we suggest you try leeks, lettuce, spinach, cherry radish, and other fast-growing species with short cycles. You can harvest in about half a month," a salesperson from the e-commerce platform Taobao told the Global Times when asked about vegetable planting methods for residential…

© Photomall | Dreamstime.com

Investors focus on indoor vertical farming to counter climate instability

The vertical farming industry has taken off with the dramatic drop in LED lighting prices over the last decade, and investors are taking note, just as an array of influences, including the climate crisis, drive up interest in locally-produced food delivered via shorter, more reliable supply chains.…

© Pressmaster | Dreamstime.com

High produce costs in grocery stores leading some to start home-gardening

According to the Consumer Price Index, the price for two heads of lettuce has gone up nearly 8% in a year, causing some in Siouxland to look into starting their own self-sustainable supply this spring. Shawn Emge has served Siouxland gardeners for nearly a decade now at Earl May Garden Center in…

© Tzidos | Dreamstime.com

“Cities should embrace vertical farming”

As global food insecurity worsens, the cost of living skyrockets, and urban areas continue to be overpopulated, city policymakers need to urgently find ways to make supplies sustainable, including by producing more of their own food, according to a new report released today by the Tony Blair Institute…

Yara

Yara: "Impact of the Ukranian war on global food security will be dramatic"

Yara delivers improved returns in a tight market situation, where higher prices more than offset higher feedstock costs and lower deliveries. First-quarter operating income1 was USD 1,039 million compared with USD 322 million a year earlier. “Yara’s business model is robust and performs well even in a…

© Alexander Raths | Dreamstime.com

"Agtech boom needed to secure global food supplies"

By the looks of it, the global food-supply chain hinges on just one country. Like other outdated systems of production currently breaking down as a result of years of pandemic and geopolitical recalibration, the way we produce and distribute food needs radical change. Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are…

© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

France: Vertical farms struggle to put down roots in agricultural sector

Michèle Lori, 86, never misses the weekly farmers market on Wednesdays in the Cité Maraîchère in Romainville outside Paris. "I've lived at the bottom of the street in the Marcel-Cachin housing estate for 60 years. I was really looking forward to the opening of this place. I even have a trowel with the…

VerticalFarmDaily.com

New farms and R&D trials set to launch in the coming five years

“We will bear the risk together as we’re both owners of the farm. By doing so, we want to emphasize that the relationship with retailers needs to be changed. Growy is not selling technology but running a farm for and with the customer. Therefore, as farmers, we are as responsible for the farm as…

"Wheat crisis opens door for huge indoor farming potential"

As wheat prices continue to surge amid a deepening conflict in Ukraine, lasting damage threatens an already weakened global food system. Governments must urgently prioritize food security through championing indoor vertical farming as a sustainable, long-term solution, urges AgTech company Light Science…

"Chinese horticulture much more than production only"

Horticulture in China is constantly evolving. Take the Pinduoduo competition for instance, which can be compared to the WUR’s Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. Ridder is involved in that project as a technology partner. “They’re trying to create an autonomous greenhouse, which offers opportunities to…

How are urban farmers changing the world?

Everyone feels that urban farming is good for society, yet for the outsider, there are still a lot of misconceptions and mysteries about this beautiful industry. That’s why, after 9 years in Urban Farming, Zjef Van Acker set out on a quest to get the facts straight and promote this movement in the…

Medium.com

Benefits of vertical hemp farming

Producing industrial hemp has two main benefits: It is very effective in sequestering carbon from our atmosphere and the plant itself can be used to make biodiesel/bioethanol. Imagine for a moment, if all the world's major cities had vertical hemp farms around them. These farms would be able to play a…

Hydroponic vertical farming company Edible Garden sets terms for IPO

Hydroponic and vertical farming company Edible Garden (EDBL) has set terms for its proposed $14.7M initial public offering. The company said in a filing that it plans to offer…

© Lovelyday12 | Dreamstime.com

Vegetable seed buyers on Taobao grow by over 100% annually since COVID-19 outbreak

Vegetable seed sales have seen a continuous increase ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, with the number of vegetable seed buyers on Taobao, a Chinese retail platform recording annual growth of more than 100 percent for three consecutive years.  In the first quarter of 2022, the sales of all kinds…

Photo: Gareth Jennings

"Why Dundee is at the heart of the UK’s food security plans"

Making sure the UK’s food industry is keeping up with the industry has never been more important – and in Dundee companies are going even further. But it’s an issue that will remain high on the UK Government’s agenda as we navigate turbulent times and work together to tackle these challenges head-on.…

© Photomall | Dreamstime.com

Report: ESG in indoor agriculture

Rapid industry growth, consumer demand for fresh local food, and supply chain challenges combined to make indoor agriculture extra appealing in 2021 and investors responded by more than doubling funding in the year. A further $450mn+ was invested in the first quarter. One example of a proactive approach…

BVEO / Hendrik Haase

Parsley is by far the favorite herb of the Germans

Kitchen herbs and microgreens are almost omnipresent. Even if they are rarely the main protagonists on the plate, the aromatic herbs play a very important role in the overall composition: Not least for this reason, they are equally popular with both amateur and professional chefs. Over the past 5 years,…

How are herbs faring on the Dutch market?

In the Dutch retail sector, the same five herbs have been best sellers for years (see table). The global pandemic increased the use of jarred and packaged herbs, and total supermarket sales of herbs, ginger, and sprouts remained level in 2021. That is according to data from GroentenFruit Huis. Notable is…

MD-Farm

Japan: Joint venture to expand vertical strawberry farms locally and globally

MD-Farm Co entered into a capital and business partnership with Farming. Through this partnership, the two companies will ramp up the production of strawberry vertical farming systems.  The plan is to expand in Japan and globally. The company has developed its own related equipment needed in vertical farms,…

Can vertical farming stop “shelflation”?

Shelflation is a growing challenge for grocery store shoppers. What is this phenomenon and why did it gain recent attention? “This is when the quality and freshness of food products, mostly perishables, are compromised by supply chain issues. Consumers are paying greater attention to their grocery…

Khaleej Times

"Turning the desert green"

The UAE relies heavily on food imports, with over 85 percent of its food imported every year. The nation has long vowed to reduce its reliance on food imports through a variety of initiatives introduced to encourage sustainability and to invest in technologies to find a solution to food security. Although the UAE has been…

© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

Challenges and issues of planning and operating a succesful vertical farm

Vertical farming (VF) is a newer crop production practice that is attracting attention from all around the world. VF is defined as growing indoor crops on multiple layers, either on the same floor or on multiple stories. Most VF operations are located in urban environments, substantially reducing the…

Ukraine and the indoor farmer

"We are living in interesting times. The tragic war in Ukraine raises the specter of physical shortages of fertilizer and staple crops, even as we empathize with the suffering of so many Ukrainians," writes Janesha Anthony with Contain ag.  War comes on the heels of rising oil prices and the most visible impact on US consumers has…

© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

Climate tech is the fastest growing vertical in Europe

Climate tech companies are transforming the worldʼs largest markets with innovative sustainable alternatives. Technological innovations in the form of AI, synthetic biology, advanced sensors, and more, aretransforming the unit economics of climate solutions. And political capital has never been more…

AppHarvest

What will the rise of giant indoor farms mean for Appalachian Kentucky??

Nancy Hatfield was working the night shift as an assistant manager at a 24-hour Shell gas station in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, when she learned that the new indoor farm—just 20 minutes away in Morehead—was hiring. Now, Hatfield spends evenings with her family and days helping take meticulous care of…

Indian traders hold fuel price hike responsible for fruit and vegetable price rises

Indian traders hold the recent fuel price hikes responsible for the sudden shoot in the prices of vegetables. It’s due to an increase in the freight rates, they say. The price…

Private equity is inextricably linked with Dutch greenhouse horticulture

Private equity is an integral part of the business world, and therefore also of greenhouse horticulture. In fact, private equity is the basic financing of every company. Private equity transactions have received a lot of attention in the media in recent years. A relatively large number of transactions…

The most remarkable product introductions of today!

The sweetness of tomatoes, the crunchiness of peppers and the tastiness of cucumbers combine to create the worlds first ‘Topember. Then there's a square tomato and a pink pepper. Here are today's most remarkable product introductions... TopemberThanet Earth has been keeping a little secret. We have been…

Gasoline costs the most in ...

Hong Kong. There, gasoline currently costs $2,879/liter - making it the most expensive in the world. The Netherlands, however, is a close second at $2,517 per liter. Monaco, Norway, and Finland complete the top five. You can see the complete list at https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/.   

New digital sorter for fresh hydroponic greens launched

Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, introduces its VERYX digital sorters for fresh cut, hydroponically-grown leafy greens. Combining Key’s expertise in sorting and conveying, VERYX sorters integrate with Iso-Flo vibratory conveyors to find and remove defective product,…

© Alexander Raths | Dreamstime.com

Canada looking into solving food waste and clean energy problem

Food waste is a growing problem in Canada and many other parts of the world — and it is only expected to get worse in the coming years. An estimated 60 per cent of food produced in Canada — over 35 million tons per year — ends up in landfills. However, Canadian cities have also run out of land to dispose…

India: Pact with Pusa institute for Delhi’s urban farming plan

The Delhi government will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) in Pusa to help train women across the city in urban farming over the next two years, an ambitious plan with which the state government expects to create 25,000 ‘green jobs’,…

© Sasinparaksa | Dreamstime.com

Agrifoodtech ventures raised record $52bn in 2021

Venture capital investors pumped $51.7 billion into agrifoodtech startups worldwide in 2021, according to the latest edition of the annual AgFunder Agrifoodtech Investment Report, released today. That represents an 85% increase over 2020’s $27.8 billion total, indicating the accelerating — and…

"The price we pay for our food is not always the price that is actually paid"

Eelco Ockers, CEO of PlantLab, talks about the scale-up's future steps. The price we pay for our food is not always the price that is actually paid. Our dinner does not simply end up on our plates. There is often a long - at the same time environmentally damaging - road that precedes it. PlantLab's…

Market insights, challenges, and opportunities: hydroponics

What are the developments in the cultivation of lettuce on water? And what developments are still to come? Various experts on the cultivation systems, growing and crop, highlight this topic and share their views. Speakers: Veronique Savelkoul, BASF Vegetable Seeds Under the brand Nunhems, BASF Vegetable…

Latest industry developments and practical industry overview

Association for Vertical Farming launched a White Paper on the vertical farming space of 2021. The paper highlights the latest developments of the vertical farming sector and…

JohnnyGreig/E+ via Getty Images

Malta: Vertical farming and robotics among Volt’s proposed new industries

Less than a week from the general elections, newbie political party Volt Malta has announced its proposed new industries which include vertical farming, agritech, and robotics. In a statement, the party said that it intends to diversify Malta’s economic and research sector by birthing and incentivizing…

Chinese cities intent on facilitating rural e-commerce

In recent years, flourishing e-commerce in vast rural areas across China has served as a new platform for the circulation of agricultural products, broadened the channels for…

Signify suspends exporting to Russia

Lighting company Signify suspends exporting to Russia. The company confirms this after reports in the Eindhovens Dagblad. Earlier Signify issued a statement about the war in Ukraine. A spokesperson says that the decision to suspend exporting to Russia has to do "with the logistical challenge due to the…

© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

Bermuda farmers dismayed about government's vertical farming plans

“Large-scale vertical farming will not revitalize growth, the economy or labur on the island because the set-up and operating costs of vertical farms for leafy greens are prohibitive in Bermuda,” the Bermuda Farmer’s Association (BFA) said. The BFA asserted that they were not fully consulted before the…

NASA BioNutrients for future Artemis missions

Dark leafy greens and vibrant-hued root vegetables, such as carrots and sweet potatoes, are rich in nutrients essential for health. But some vitamins, even those provided in the form of nutritional supplements, lack the shelf-life needed to span multi-year human missions to Mars, as envisioned by NASA's…

Cardiff's Salad Garden grows produce in city centre and delivers by bike

A scheme growing salad leaves and delivering them locally by bike is helping Cardiff in its bid to become one of the most sustainable food cities in the UK. Cardiff's Salad…

US: How can the land grant universities become more responsive to the CEA industry?

The USDA extension services, along with the various State Departments of Agriculture and Land Grant universities provide tremendous support to traditional farmers and ranchers. For decades these services have proven to be extremely valuable to agriculture production and play a critical role in helping…

© Pressmaster | Dreamstime.com

Study on the perception of CEA among local food consumers

In recent years, new forms of high-tech controlled environment agriculture (CEA) have received increased attention and investment. These systems integrate a suite of technologies – including automation, LED lighting, vertical plant stacking, and hydroponic fertilization – to allow for greater control of…

Looking back on the Indoor Ag-Con: rewriting the rules of agriculture

The return of Indoor Ag-Con in Las Vegas this week coincided with several major inflection points for the agtech sector and indoor growing industry, writes Arama Kukutai, CEO of Plenty. The indoor farming industry has pulled record fundraising numbers. In 2021, Pitchbook Data reported $1.6B invested, and…

Association signs onto court brief supporting soilless organic certification

The Aquaponics Association signed onto a “Friend of the Court” Amicus Brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold last year’s decision to allow for USDA Organic certification of soil-less crop production systems, including aquaponics. The Amicus Brief was spearheaded by the…

Young scientists share precision ag lessons from Pinduoduo greenhouse challenge in FAO China seminar

For Zheng Jianfeng, a 29-year-old researcher at China Agricultural University, participating in Pinduoduo’s inaugural Smart Agriculture Competition was a valuable experience as it provided him with a valuable opportunity to put theory to practice. Zheng was part of a team comprising researchers with different…

LettUs Grow

Report shows Australia high-tech city-based farms could work, with conditions

That abandoned parking lot just down the road has the potential to be pumping out hydroponic lettuce. It's not out of the realm of possibility according to a report into the potential for high-tech growing solutions in Australia. Commissioned by Hort Innovation, and developed by agricultural consultancy…

Rapidly growing CEA industry discusses strengths and challenges at Indoor Ag-Con

Over 800 visitors, approximately 100 exhibitors, hours and hours of conference and thousands of handshakes, boxes, elbows and contact details being exchanged. The last two days, the Indoor Ag-Con connected the Northern American CEA industry - and the industry itself proved to be open to learning from…

© Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

Will rising electricity prices kill off vertical farming?

"I have just had notification that my day rate electricity is rising from 23.23p/kwh to 31.24p/kwh a 31% increase, shared Peter Lane, Executive Chairman at the Vertical Farming Network.  "I know that is a domestic rate, but how many true enclosed vertical farms can afford that sort of increase in their most…