Study on how to control zinc in plants

Over 2 billion people worldwide are malnourished due to zinc deficiency. Led by the University of Copenhagen, an international team of researchers has discovered how plants…

Study on mechanisms that protect plant fertility from heat stress

Plant fertility is dramatically affected by spikes in temperature, directly resulting in yield reduction and economic loss. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that…

Madar Farms

Student creates indoor garden in UAE

Maha Gargash, an IB student at Universal American School (UAS), Dubai, took one of her school’s indoor gardens home to conduct research into food and water security as her Internal Assessment (IA) for Science. Maha followed our ‘Growing Our Garden’ instructional module and shared her perspectives with…

"Lower chemical use and higher productivity and Brix with vermicompost"

Soil is essential for soil-bound horticulture. It's not only the place where the plant roots develop and which contains the nutrients; it also hosts many microorganisms on which plant health depends. The soil itself forms an entire ecosystem with a great biodiversity, which is why the use of chemical…

Photo by Arab News

Saudi farmer builds region's first vertical farm

The Saudi farmer Omar Al-Jundi even he is not related to farming by degree. But that is exactly where the industrial engineer found his calling, when he built the region’s first vertical farm in the heart of Dubai. Born in Egypt to Saudi parents, Al-Jundi spent his early years in Alkhobar due to his…

124144279 © Photomall | Dreamstime.com

What is DLI and why is it essential?

Growers need to balance multiple factors to ensure that their plants receive optimum lighting to achieve optimum growth and quality. One of these factors is the Daily Light Integral (DLI), a concept that has been used for several years now, but is becoming increasingly relevant in helping growers to…

Photo by Ériver Hijano

Vertical farms nailed tiny salads, but can it feed the world?

Spandau was once the bellows of Germany’s industrial revolution. It hosted Europe’s first high-rise factory and, until World War II, helped make Berlin, behind London and New York, the third-largest city on Earth. Today’s Berlin is still a shell of its former self (there are over a hundred cities more…

Mothership

SG: HDB carpark rooftop sites offered for rental for urban farming

Part of Singapore's efforts to strengthen its food security is increasing its capability to produce food locally. To do this, more sites for urban rooftop farms atop multi-storey Housing Development Board (HDB) carparks are being offered for rental, via a public tender process that was launched today…

Data-driven cultivation accelerates development of variety-specific cultivation formulas

The demand for healthy, attractive, and sustainably produced food such as fresh vegetables is growing worldwide. Growers align the growth factors as closely as possible to the needs of the crop and the cultivation objective they have in mind. As conditions outside and inside the greenhouse vary and…

"In our vertical farm, we grow 80,000 pounds per week"

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the…

Josh Siteman / handout via Reuters

Investors seed indoor farms as pandemic disrupts food supplies

Investors used to brush off Amin Jadavji’s pitch to buy Elevate Farms’ vertical growing technology and produce stacks of leafy greens indoors with artificial light. “They would say, ‘This is great, but it sounds like a science experiment,’” said Jadavji, CEO of Toronto-based Elevate. Now, indoor farms…

CA: Fresno farmer grows variety of mushrooms inside 900 square-foot building

Donald Harris showed his growing room inside Central Valley Mushrooms' Fresno headquarters, where fungi is cultivated. "Right here, we have a wall of mushrooms. This is how they grow. These are lion's manes, Italian oysters, blue oysters and the interesting part is that they all start at this size,"…

Singapore: researchers identify micro-organisms for better vegetable growth

For vegetables to grow well, it is not enough to just give them sunlight and water. They need a whole community of micro-organisms to help them grow healthily. Now, a team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), led by Associate Professor Sanjay Swarup from the NUS Department of…

Study on how light quality affects water use of sweet basil

Different light qualities affect plant growth and physiological responses, including stomatal openings. However, most researchers have focused on stomatal responses to red and…

New Jersey warehouse becomes vertical farm

New Jersey's vertical farms are transforming agriculture by helping farmers meet growing food demand. New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher said that while conventional farming in outdoor fields remains critical, vertical farming has its advantages because of its efficiency and resistance to pests…

Ugandan company develops solution for urban agriculture

Lilian Nakigozi is the founder of Women Smiles Uganda, a company that manufactures and sells vertical farms used to grow crops in areas where there is limited space. "I grew up in Katanga, one of the biggest slums in Kampala, Uganda. I experienced hunger and poverty where we lived. There was no land for…

Delphy

"The plant's influence is undeniable"

A plant influences its own environment. That's not news. But this cannot be seen as much in a 'traditional' greenhouse environment as in a vertical farm.  Lisanne Meulendijks of Delphy researches vertical farming test setups on a daily basis. "A plant in a climate cell has less room because of the more compact…

Denver high schools grow their own vegetables

Access to healthy, fresh produce, is a big issue in some underserved communities. One Denver public school is about to change that. Denver City Council unanimously approved…

Growing cucumbers in a vertical farm

In greenhouse horticulture, a uniform climate is crucial to grow a uniform crop. Especially in propagation of young plants, there is a need for year-round uniform growing conditions (light intensity and quality, temperature, humidity, etc.). In some cases, this requirements go beyond the control options…

Pinghu, Zhejiang: A modern "plant factory" is full of spring

The core area of ​​Pinghu Agricultural Economic Development Zone, covering an area of ​​3 square kilometers, has introduced more than 30 new agricultural projects. On January 12, at the Lancheng Modern Plant Factory in Pinghu Agricultural Economic Development Zone, Zhejiang, workers checked the growth of…

Could controlled environment agriculture change the face of American farming?

Ramel Bradley thinks so. The community director at AppHarvest is talking to students and communities across the country about the benefits of locally-grown food and the agtech used to produce it. “One of the things that drives me is the health and nutritional well-being of our urban community members,…

Leo Marcelis talks at Al Jazeera on vertical farming

The world population and the number of people living in cities are growing. At the same time, the demand for healthy, fresh and locally produced food is increasing. Vertical farming has the potential to meet this demand: by cultivating in multilayer systems which literally go up into the air,…

"Food is best understood as an industrial process"

Green Tech South West are delighted to welcome Lilly Manzoni, Head of Research & Development at LettUs Grow to explain all about aeroponic technology. LettUs Grow are a Bristol based vertical farming startup developing sustainable farming technologies. Lilly: "Sustainable food production is huge! The…

Photo by Jules Quartly

Vertical farming takes root in Taiwan

Taiwan is uniquely placed to benefit from the application of information technology to agriculture, enabling it to help provide food for an expanding global population.After becoming a world leader in semiconductors and other electronic products, Taiwan is now looking to smart agriculture as its next…

Philippines: Government intensifies soil rejuvenation program

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will intensify its soil rejuvenation program nationwide to sustain the increased productivity of rice, corn, vegetables, coconut, fruits, and other major crops. “One of our continuing major challenges is how to increase productivity and reduce the cost of production.…

Seeds cleaned by activated air

Ralph Weir, Zayndu's CEO says: “The Aurora Z10 is the first in a series of products and is aimed at high-value seeds for which there is no treatment at present. The seeds are contained in a sealed rotating drum and we introduce a current, which splits oxygen and nitrogen molecules into individual atoms creating a plasma. This…

US (AL): Studying poultry wastewater as way to irrigate crops

As fresh water supplies become increasingly limited and the world's population continues to grow, Auburn University College of Agriculture researchers are working on ways to find and utilize alternative water resources for irrigating crops. "One proven source that can meet this demand is wastewater,"…

Lucas van der Zee

Lab-grown fruits

Currently, one of the greatest barriers faced by vertical farmers is the huge electricity demand, to which the artificial lighting requirements are a major contributing factor. Innovators are working hard to solve this problem and exploring possible solutions that implement scientific and technical knowledge from a range of…

Indoor saffron farming with special reference to hydroponic system

Indoor farming is a method of cultivating crops or plants normally on a large scale entirely indoors. But, we must make sure that our indoor room’s insulation has enough R-value to support farming 24×7. The R-value is the measure of resistance to heat flow which is thermal resistance indicating the…

New in-line fertilizer injection and irrigation unit showcased

GHBD Holland B.V., manufacturer and supplier of water treatment equipment for the horticultural and agricultural industry, introduces the new In-line fertilizer injection and irrigation unit. Jan Wijgerse of GHBD Holland has years of experience in exporting this equipment to many countries and knows the…

Wikipedia

New York mayoral candidate talks healthy eating, urban farming, and food deserts

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, one of the leading candidates in the race right now, believes food is a key component in any future recovery. Passionate about urban farming, he wants to set up a citywide network of vertical and rooftop farms that feed hospitals, schools, prisons, and beyond while…

Redefining locally-grown produce with urban farming

Urban farms check a variety of boxes for today’s consumers: locally grown, sustainable, low carbon footprint — not to mention fresh, healthy and tasty. And the COVID pandemic…

Surna

Grow room HVACD maintenance plans: getting the most out of your investment

Too often, indoor agriculture facility operators fail to consider the maintenance of their climate system in their overall staffing and business plans. In these cases, systems maintenance is treated as an afterthought, or not addressed at all during planning stages, leading to the onus being on the…

"The demand for horticultural solutions changes"

Investing, experimenting and collaborating in a changing market for horticultural solutions. How do you respond to the increasing demand for complete cultivation systems with knowledge and technology and contribute to efficient ornamental, food and herb cultivation? Roeland van Dijk, Codema's logistics…

Fluence Bioengineering

"The vertical farm industry can learn a lot from cannabis growers"

Vertical farming has seen a growing trend in the last few years, as it enables growers to combine environmental and financial sustainability. At the same time, designing the facilities is still a rather new endeavor. Growers need to rely on the right consultant and supplier if they want to kick off their…

"Horticulture can cover the growing demands for local produce in urban areas"

Urban horticulture is not expected to replace traditional dominant food systems in feeding the world. But it can cover the growing demands of locally available, nutritious, sustainable and fresh produce in urban areas. The Greenhouse Horticulture and Flower Bulbs Business Unit of Wageningen University &…

Year-round under-glass herb cultivation in the heart of Berlin

ECF Farmsystems uses innovative LED lighting solutions from Fluence for todays herb cultivation in the heart of Berlin. An innovative urban farm, ECF Farm Berlin (ECF Farmsystems) uses techniques for greenhouse and vertical cultivation of basil. The farm also uses aquaponics to naturally fertilize the…

Vertical agriculture finds a thriving urban home

Over the past several years, society has seen a new farming revolution raise out of the cement jungles of modern cities. Urban agriculture, with its innovative methods of growing produce in limited space, has grown in popularity so much that it has even been called the second agricultural revolution. As…

Improving the profitability and economic sustainability of vertical farms

“According to our research, most vertical farms are focused on lighting as a means of improving yield and growth speed,” says Rob Agterberg, Partner at Back of the Yard Algae Sciences (BYAS). “However, not enough vertical farms are looking at innovative ways of growing faster and better. Through our…

Certhon's first results of indoor strawberries trial

Martin Veenstra, Indoor Farming specialist at Certhon: “This way of growing strawberries is unique because all grow parameters can be precisely controlled during the entire growth cycle. From start to finish. This ensures optimum quality, yield, and fruit sizes, independent of the growing season. All…

Is a rainwater harvesting system suitable for hydroponic lettuce cultivation?

The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of a rainwater harvesting system to cover the water demand for indoor hydroponic lettuce cultivation located in Wrocław, Poland. The analysis was performed on the basis of the recorded rainfall in Wrocław in 2000–2019. The analyzed cultivation is…