Vertical Farming - Enjoying a sustainable and smart future

"The topic of sustainability and intelligent use of resources is one of the greatest challenges we face, in the food industry in particular," says Claus Romanowsky, marketing manager future of automation with Siemens. In this video, he explains how Siemens uses autonomous robots for food production. 

“We’d like to develop our own ecosystem, because we measure a lot of different data”

Optimization, optimization, and optimization. Sometimes it feels as if there’s no end to optimizing your vertical farming operation. Now, imagine how difficult that would be if it weren’t for sensors. The company Leaf AI knows that quite well, and their understanding of the importance of sensors is…

Carl Van Loon looks back on 28 years of Australian horticulture

After 28 years in the Australian horticulture industry and as of today, Carl van Loon, founder of Powerplants, is taking a well-deserved moment of respite. He has been one of the main drivers behind the rise of high tech horticulture in Australia, and it all started when he was working with his parents…

Meet Berry, the award-winning picking robot

For the first time, Berry, Organifarm's harvesting robot for strawberries, was revealed to the public. After two years of development, the product was now market-ready. During the GreenTech fair in Amsterdam, visitors got a first glance at what Berry has to offer. The robot is able to autonomously…

"The most efficient way to automate is when you bring the product to the action"

Terms like 'booming' and 'the future' can be used to describe vertical farming. But also 'lack of standardization', says TTA, which has set up a separate division called 'Indoor Farming.' Renko Schuil started there in March as Business Developer in Indoor Farming. "The concept of indoor farming may go back…

Cracking the code for aeroponics in greenhouses

After years of R&D, the Swiss scale-up CleanGreens Solutions SA sees a strong commercial upswing with the unique positioning of its mobile aeroponic system designed for growing leafy greens in greenhouses. So far, hydroponics imposed itself commercially for CEA growing as aeroponic technologies were not…

Harvesting robot allows 24/7 harvesting and soon will monitor crops too

"We figured out the issues before coming up with the solution, which were labor shortage, cost problems, quality issues, food- loss, and waste. Then we created our harvesting robot for strawberries," says Hannah Brown, co-founder and CCO of Organifarms. The first demos of our robot are taking place at…

Canada: Combining vertical with hybrid solutions to 'serve the underserved'

“As an Indigenous-owned company in Canada, our social mission as a social enterprise Beneficial Corporation is to lower produce costs in Far North Indigenous communities by 25% and to get more than 600 of our rural and remote communities across Canada to establish or stabilize their food sovereignty,”…

Russia's Gazprom cuts off natural-gas supply to the Netherlands

Yesterday afternoon, May 30th, it was announced that the Dutch company GasTerra will not be supplied with natural gas by the Russian state gas company Gazprom with immediate effect. Gazprom said it has cut natural-gas supply to the Netherlands since GasTerra refused to pay in rubles. What's the effect on…

Large investment in automation allows to enable high production per m2 and reduce waste

For many years, Bowery Farming has positioned itself at the forefront of vertical farming in the U.S with farms in Kearny, NJ and Nottingham, Maryland. Now, the company is announcing the opening of its newest farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  “Our new farm is a marriage between the modern farmer and technology.…

“We can handle every product in any shape, size, and weight from automotive parts to salad and insects"

“We’re still in the learning phase to see how we can apply our material handling solutions into vertical farming. Then it’s a matter of finding the right processes of where it fits. I believe we can support far more applications than many may believe. Often an overhead solution is not even considered,…

Wageningen agro food robotics parcours is back

On June 7, 2022, the facilities of WUR's Agro Food Robotics team will open its doors again. During the free event at Agro Food Robotics Parcours, visitors can participate in a campus tour with various labs, vision, and robotics setups. “The previous event dates back to 2019, so we are really looking forward…

“Italy has been our test field, the rest of the planet is our playground”

One of the major pain points of vertical farming is the financial side. While it has been proven that produce grown in vertical farms can be environmentally sustainable and of exceptional quality, a lot of vertical farmers struggle to make ends meet. That’s why the Italian company ZERO Farms decided to…

Aquaponic Farm Management Plan for leafy greens & herbs

From the aquaponic consulting and design company Regen Aquaculture comes the first edition of The Aquaponic Farm Management Plan: Leafy Greens & Herbs Module. Aquaponic consulting…

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How to avoid calcium deficiency in controlled environment food crops

Tipburn and blossom end rot are symptoms of calcium (Ca) deficiency. Sometimes the first thought when a nutrient deficiency occurs is to add the nutrient that appears to be required to solve the issue. This isn’t always the best way to resolve the issue. Calcium has a very important role in the formation…

"Investment in autonomous drones contributes to the digitization of greenhouses"

Corvus Drones from Ede, the Netherlands, develops and produces drones that can fly fully autonomously in greenhouses. The drones collect valuable data for crop monitoring. With this information, growers can produce food more efficiently and sustainably. For the further development of the drone and…

"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…

"On-site testing and actionable insights disrupt the status quo in water quality analytics"

“The KETOS platform utilizes robotics with several advancements in cross-functional engineering disciplines to provide continuous real- water quality data at your fingertips. Users can access the system anytime and anywhere,” says Meena Sankaran, founder and chief executive officer at KETOS. The…

Overcoming the hurdles of switching to a vertical racking system

The rise of vertical farming has been partly spearheaded by cannabis growers, whose highly valuable crop has proved to be perfectly suitable for growing vertically. “With the…

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Automating movements of plants to maximize product volume density

“The benefit of using conveyors in vertical farming is to automate the movement of plants enabling us to maximize the volume density of the product being grown without requiring human assistance for movements,” says Kali Crescent, the e-commerce business unit manager at Ultimation Industries, LLC.…

“The people here are enthusiastic and motivated, that's a very inspiring mentality"

China is an interesting market for the greenhouse industry. Fulco Wijdooge, general manager at Ridder, has been living in the Asian country for 18 years now. During that time, he’s got acquainted with all the differences between the Chinese and Dutch markets and entrepreneurial mentalities.Vlnr.: Greg…

Presentation of new TraySpacer at the Fruit Logistica

Bosman Van Zaal's new TraySpacer is a patented reusable tray that can be extended in a checkerboard pattern, so that plant material can be spread out automatically and without damage. The system was first used on a large scale last year at Soli Organic, a company specializing in advanced herb cultivation…

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,…