Urban Farming and Vertical Farming: The Future of Food?

Vertical Farming: Growing Upward

The problem statement has been well-defined and documented over the past years. It is widely recognized that, in the near future, we will face significant food security challenges, primarily due to the reduction in cultivable land [1]. At the same time, sustainability is a term that most of us are familiar with, and it is gaining traction across various fields, including agriculture. Another trend that most consumers have been nudged towards is local ingredients. The one-word solution to all the above-listed problems is vertical farming. Vertical farming helps us increase the per square meter yield, allows growth on non-arable land, optimizes land usage, and allows the growth of crops traditionally unknown to the local environment.

What is Vertical Farming?

The term vertical farming has grown to have multiple connotations depending on its usage. Very vaguely speaking, vertical farming is a technique wherein instead of growing crops outwardly, you grow them in an upward-layered format [2]. Vertical farming covers agricultural systems of varied magnitudes, applications, and technologies. A broad categorization of vertical farming will divide it into two categories: one where the traditional horizontal systems are layered on one another and the second where a vertical surface such as a green wall, cylindrical growth unit, and similar structures are used for the growth of the crops [1]. A key aspect of vertical farming that makes it so attractive to the modern-day farmer and explains why it is also rated highly on the sustainability analysts' future-proof lists is the amount of control over various contributing factors, including but not limited to temperature, light, water and nutrients added, and humidity [3]. An added layer of sophistication is the integration of machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and computer vision-like artificial intelligence tools, the integration of which into vertical farming has been extremely rapid in the last few years [4]. An interesting category of vertical farming set-ups is the hydroponics and aeroponics technologies that have recently surfaced and eliminated soil usage by replacing it with water and air as the media for growth, respectively.

vertical-farm

Figure 1: Different types of vertical farming set-ups a-d) depict the usage of traditional horizontal setups but stacked multiple times; e-f) depict vertical structures onto which the farming is conducted. Image source: [1]

What is Urban Farming?

The term urban farming is not very well defined and is often confused with terms like vertical farming. In reality, urban farming is a much larger group of agricultural activities performed in an urban setting, of which vertical farming is just one subset. A classic example of this is rooftop farming, which is a form of urban farming but cannot be categorized as vertical farming and is sometimes confused as such [1]. Any crop cultivation, animal rearing, or marine cultivation activity that takes place within the confines of urban or peri-urban regions can be defined as urban agriculture [5]. With a special emphasis on the developing world, the urban population is on a rapid rise; statistical data shows that the urban population exceeded the rural population already back in 2007, and rural-urban migration is still on the rise. However, urban farming would be a key aspect of the nutrition and food security of the urban population. Besides the ecological and sustainable benefits, urban farming will play a key role in cultural heritage preservation and restoration [6].

Benefits of Indoor Vertical Farms for Urban Agriculture

Vertical farming, with all its benefits, as listed above, will play a significant role in the urban farming setup in the coming years. Indoor vertical farming, a subset of vertical farming, presents an excellent opportunity to leverage urban farming grounds as future crop manufacturing units for both the retail and HORECA (Hotel/Restaurant/Café) sectors. This form of agriculture can be carried out in a variety of settings, including buildings, containers, or even compact structures similar to a refrigerator placed in modern living spaces.

urban farm in restaurant

Figure 2: An image depicting an indoor vertical farm inside a hospitality unit. Image source: https://farmvent.com/

In the past few years, the development of urban farming has garnered the most attention and success owing to its commercial viability due to benefits like maximum utilization of crop area, extended crop shelf-life, growth of non-indigenous crops, more control over external parameters like temperature, water, nutrient usage, humidity, etc., and reduced dependency on chemicals. Indoor vertical farms are an ingenious way to bridge the gap between the farm and the fork.

The Future of Urban Agriculture: Overcoming Challenges

The technology is still in its early stages, and there are quite a lot of restrictions that limit its expandability. One of the most notable limitations of vertical farming is the range of crops that can be effectively grown. While herbs like basil, microgreens, tomatoes, and high-value crops like saffron have been successfully cultivated in vertical farms, other crops have yet to fare as well. For instance, Infarm, a leading company in the vertical farming sector, made ambitious claims about growing strawberries in vertical farms. However, these claims have yet to be substantiated, highlighting the challenges in achieving similar success with certain crops. Another mounting concern for the vertical farming industry in an urban set-up is the rising operational costs. For example, the impact of rising electricity bills in the European market, which is a result of the socio-political turmoil in the region, was brutally born by many startups in the region, resulting in the likes of Infarm declaring insolvency in major markets [9]. The other challenge the industry is likely to face is providing substantial evidence of the sustainability and scalability of the technology to a wider market, which it hasn’t done since its inception [10].

The ray of hope

With the major economies concentrating on sourcing ample amounts of renewable energy, the overall sustainability performance of the vertical farming process is bound to increase. Integrating artificial intelligence into the vertical farming setup will also provide the necessary boost to its resource utilization optimization, which, in turn, will enhance its sustainability coefficient. In the field of plant science, extensive research is underway to broaden the range of crops that can be cultivated in vertical farming systems. Expanding the variety of crops would enhance the appeal of vertical farms to both retail and hospitality customers. Additionally, advancements in hydroponics and aeroponics contribute to a promising future for the vertical farming industry overall [4, 10].

In summary, the vertical farming industry has advanced and taken many positive steps towards success since its genesis. There have been major setbacks, but what remains to be seen is how much the industry has learned from them to cater to the urban farming community, which is waiting for it with open arms.

References

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SharathKumar, M., E. Heuvelink, and L.F.M. Marcelis, Vertical Farming: Moving from Genetic to Environmental Modification. Trends Plant Sci, 2020. 25(8): p. 724- 727.
Chowdhury, H., D.B.P. Argha, and M.A. Ahmed, Artificial intelligence in sustainable vertical farming. arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.00030, 2023.
Drescher, A. and D. Iaquinta, Urban and peri-urban Agriculture: A new challenge for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). FAO, Rome, 1999.
Orsini, F., et al.,Urban agriculture in the developing world: a review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2013. 33(4): p. 695-720.
Jeffay, J. Indoor Farming Revolution For World's Priciest Spice. 2022 [cited 2024 22.07.2024]; Available from: https://nocamels.com/2022/11/indoor-farming- revolution-for-worlds-priciest-spice/.
Mooren, J. 5 learnings for growing top-quality tomatoes in a vertical farm. [cited 2024 23.07.2024]; Available from: https://www.lighting.philips.com/application- areas/specialist-applications/horticulture/hortiblog/vertical-farming/growing- top-quality-tomatoes-in-a-vertical-farm.
Partington, M. This vertical farming company raised $500m, and then it all but disappeared. 2023 [cited 2024 22.07.2024]; Available from: https://sifted.eu/articles/infarm-raised-500m-and-disappeared.
Van Gerrewey, T., N. Boon, and D. Geelen, Vertical Farming: The Only Way Is Up?Agronomy, 2022. 12(1): p. 2.