COMPLANT

Vertical Farming

Paradigm Shift To Sustainable Urban Ecosystems

Vertical Farming defined

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers utilizing modular, high-rise or retrofitted buildings. The system integrates indoor farming methods and advanced Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) technologies, which allow intelligent monitoring and robust control of the growing environment. Therefore, maintaining favourable climate conditions (humidity, temperature, airquality and composition, airflow, light spectrum and etc.) foroptimal growth and development of cultivated life forms.

Farming the urban landscape

In 2021, the global population surpassed 7.8 billion people. The expected human population of 9.7 billion by 2050 will demand a 70% increase in food production. Meeting global food security demands on finite global land would require an exponential increase in land-use efficiency. With 55% of the world's population living in urban areas, there is a need for sustainable urban food production. In fact, within the next 20 years, as many as 80 % of us will live in or very near a city, making urban agriculture even more relevant a practice.

Vertical Farming Advantages

Animal feed from postharvest plant material

Year-round crop production

No weather related crop failures

More control of food quality and safety

New employment opportunities

Up to 99% less water and 60-85% less fertilizer use

Greatly reduced food miles

Energy production from vertical farming waste

Food security under rapidly changing climate

Tomorrow's agriculture could be significantly impacted by fast-paced climate change over the next five decades. It is estimated for every 1 degree of increase in atmospheric temperature, 10 % of the land where we now grow food crops will be lost. Ensuring stable food supplies during an era of rapid population growth and climate change is a challenge that will require multiple solutions.

Vertical Farming Environmental Benefits

Facilitates to restoration of natural ecosystems

Limited or no use of fungicides, herbicides or insecticides

Reduced carbon footprint of food production

No agricultural runoff

Purification of grey water to drinking water

Greater land use efficiency

Remodeling Nature

Vertical farming is one of the robust solutions to global food security challenges. Controlled Environment Agriculture technologies are well-established and guarantee a safer, more reliable food supply that can be produced year-round, located close to urban centers. Vertical farming systems allow production schedules to synchronize to the timing of typical consumer demand patterns rather than to favorable weather patterns, which may also reduce waste through closer alignment of the timing of the demand and supply of perishable produce.

Vertical Farming Priorities

Direct natural light for growth

Capture sunlight and disperse it among crops

Energy neutral production

Harnessing passive energy

Proactive facility design

Employ good barrier design for crop protection

Efficient use of space

Maximize amount of space allocated to growing

The new balance

Creating sustainable food-generating systems within urban landscape would be of paramount importance to alleviate major environmental damages caused by anthropogenic activities. Integrating highly technological food production systems into urban landscape may reduce the disturbance of energy flows within natural ecosystems enabling them to renew themselves. The newbalance between Nature and Intelligent life on Earth.

Attributes Of Vertical Farming

Inside or very near dense urban centers

Creative and efficient use of land and buildings

Predominantly based on soilless growing methods

Stacked or vertically-oriented growing

Recycle their own inputs (water, nutrients)

Preferentially serve local communities

Employ advanced systems to control growing conditions

Optimized resource use and plant productivity