Vertical Farming

As the India’s population grows in a rapid manner, the land required to produce the food required also increases. The concept of a vertical farm was introduced to remedy this crisis. In vertical farming, farms are stacked on top of one another, instead of branching out horizontally. Many countries round the globe are encroaching forests, natural habitats and farmlands for building houses, Industries, factories etc. Farming horizontally keeps on diminishing expeditiously every single day.

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. This modern concept of vertical farming was proposed in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University. Despommier and his students came up with a design of a skyscraper farm that could feed 50,000 people.

ICAR (The Indian Council of Agricultural Research) experts are working on the concept of ‘vertical farming’ in soil-less conditions, in which food crops can be grown even on multi-storeyed buildings in metros like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai without using soil or pesticides.The Asia Pacific Vertical Farming Produce Market is expected to witness market growth of 24% CAGR compound annual growth rate during the forecast period (2020-2026). The modern ideas of vertical farming use indoor farming techniques and controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) technology, where all environmental factors can be controlled. These facilities utilize artificial control of light, environmental control (humidity, temperature, gases…) and fertigation.

Dubai-based CropOne signed a $40m deal with Emirates Airlines in 2018 to build the largest vertical farming plant in the world. The company, which was founded in 2011, claims to use just 1% of the water used for arable farming, through its hydroponic system.

It’s a profitable business that promotes sustainable development as a win-win situation for all.

VERTICAL FARMING in soil less conditions. It’s done in Hydrophonic method using Rockwool (Safe to use as rooting medium and substrate material and acts as an excellent moisture retention) and Vermiculite(a common name for hydrated laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate.

List of crops can be grown organically and with healthy nutrients are as below.

Tomatoes
Peas
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Melons
Squash
Brussel sprouts
Green Beans, etc.

Aquaponics

Aquaponics refers to a food production system that couples aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, snails or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) whereby the nutrient rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponic grown plant, involving nitrifying bacteria for converting ammonia into nitrates. Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, which is growing fish and other aquatic animals, and hydroponics which is growing plants without soil. Aquaponics uses these two in a symbiotic combination in which plants are fed the aquatic animals’ discharge or waste.

Vertical Farming

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