Vertical farming
New agriculture is a technological solution to meet the nutritional needs of an ever-increasing population.
New methods and technologies are being added to agriculture every day to increase the rate of nutrition/food production required by the new population.
There are many problems and challenges facing the ever-increasing complexity of the agricultural sector. Soil erosion, climate change, forest destruction, soil pollution are some of these.
Vertical farming can be introduced as a method that can be used to double the amount of production in arable plots.
A very sustainable solution to all the challenges in this vertical farming system.
What is vertical farming?
- Vertical farming is the cultivation of crops in vertically stacked layers.
- The amount of space used for this is very minimal.
- Varieties can be used to carry out this cultivation. On building walls, in greenhouses, in small buildings and in small gardens, more productivity can be obtained through this method.
- New technology is used for this and light, water, heat, and nutrition can be made efficient by using artificial systems.
- Currently, artificial intelligence is widely used in these vertical farming systems.
- And new experiments are also done through this.
Advantages of vertical farming
- The advantage here is that in a small amount of space, a higher yield can be obtained compared to the traditional cultivation method.
- Reduced transportation costs.
- And it is easy to manage because it is in a small space.
- Low water consumption
- The cost of manpower and machinery to be deployed is minimal.
- Zero use of agrochemicals.
Efficient use of fertilizers
- One of the main advantages of this cultivation is that the wastage of fertilizers is reduced. Through this, higher production efficiency and higher profit can be obtained.
Crop cultivation under controlled conditions
- Cultivation on greenhouses or buildings minimizes land shortage for agriculture.
- The possibility of protecting the crop is more with indoor cultivation like greenhouses.
- Through this vertical cultivation, it is possible to get crops grown to the same size.
- Disease control is very easy in indoor vertical cultivation.
Factors affecting vertical farming
- Layout
- Light
- Sustainability
- Growing medium
Techniques of vertical farming
- Hydroponics - Soil is not used in this method. Water is used for this cultivation method. For this, the floating raft method can be used. Here the necessary nutrients are added to the water.
- Aquaponics - This cultivation is done with aquaculture. For this, fish excrement acts as a fertilizer. Water efficiency is very high in this system.
- Aeroponics - There is no growing medium for this. Here, pressurized water is sprayed on the crops. This method is a very efficient method. The foundation for this method was the experiment of crop cultivation in space by NASA. The water efficiency is very high.
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