The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, home to the world’s two largest deserts, is the most water-scarce area on Earth. Yet during the past two years, new vertical farming projects on the Arabian Peninsula have proven so successful that the region appears poised for a revolutionary transformation in agricultural productivity. Vertical farming in the Middle East and Africa is forecasted [Ref. 1] to grow at a 21.7 percent CAGR, reaching US$6.2 billion by 2030. The planned widespread adoption of smart indoor farming technologies could shift the Middle East from sand to green.
The Arab Gulf States of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are the key players at the forefront of the Middle East’s vertical farming revolution. To secure its own food supplies, the UAE has become a global market player [Ref. 2] in the agrifood trade. Saudi Arabia has been successfully following a similar course. Experienced in the management of global flows of oil and natural gas, the UAE and Saudi Arabia now manage food production and distribution networks that span the globe in all phases of the supply chain from farm to fork. Emirati and Saudi efforts to create vertical farming ecosystems within their own national boundaries and across the MENA region are opening market opportunities for precision agritech, biopolymers, biostimulants and fertilizers.
UAE: The leading edge of MENA’s vertical farming revolution The UAE emerged as a global leader in vertical farming with the July 2022 opening its $40 million Bustanica vertical farming complex, then touted as the world largest vertical farm. Located outside Dubai’s Al Makhtoum International Airport and occupying 31,000 sq. meters, Bustanica has an annual
production capacity of over 1,000 tons of leafy green vegetables (primarily lettuce, spinach, parsley and kale). In 2021 before the advent of large scale vertical farming, the UAE consumed 22.9 thousand tons of greens worth an estimated $49.1 million [Ref. 3]. Demand is expected to rise further with the expansion of the hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) sector. The facility was opened by Emirates Flight Catering – the catering arm of Emirates Airlines, the Middle East’s largest airlines – in partnership with the U.S. vertical farming operator Crop One. In 2024, Emirates Flight Catering bought out [Ref. 4] Crop One’s interest in the venture, renaming the now wholly UAE-owned business Emirates Bustanica.
Emirates Bustanica has more than one million plants under cultivation at any given time.Photo: Bustanica
With no need for natural sunlight, soil or pesticides, the hydroponic facility grows plants in membranes in 27 modular growth units (MGU). Each MGU occupies 550 sq. metres and grows over 45,000 cultivars [Ref. 5], meaning Emirates Bustanica has more than one million plants under cultivation at any given time. The vertical farming complex produces 3 tons of leafy greens per day [Ref. 6], with Emirates Flight Catering taking 10-15 percent [Ref. 7] of Emirates Bustanica’s output for its catering supply chain. The remainder of the produce is sold to food services, hotels, restaurants and over 160 retail stores in the UAE. Production takes four weeks from seed to first harvest. The digitalized and semi-automated facility employs advanced technologies from Siemens [Ref. 8] that enables flexible hours for harvest and delivery – vegetables harvested in the early morning can be in an in-flight meal or on a restaurant plate by the afternoon. Emirates Bustanica’s hydroponic technology uses 95 percent less water [Ref. 9] than conventional outdoor farming. Sensors, machine learning and AI are employed to supply the optimal amounts of light, water and plant nutrients, uniquely formulated for each cultivar, for maximum output. Using a closed-loop system to circulate water through the plants for maximal water-use efficiency, vapourized water is recovered and recycled back into the system, saving 250 million litres of water [Ref. 10] over conventional outdoor farming for the same output.
On the heels of Emirates Bustanica’s success, the next phase of the UAE’s vertical farming revolution is being
led by the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), a rising leader in global agrifood trade. ADQ, through its agri-food subsidiary al-Dahra, has 300,000 acres [Ref. 11] of agricultural land in Europe, Africa and the U.S., with other agricultural assets in South Asia, China and Australia. In September 2021, ADQ acquired a 45 percent share in the food commodity trading giant Louis Dreyfus. In 2022, ADQ acquired a majority stake in Unifrutti, with production operations [Ref. 12] across the globe producing 560,000 tons of fresh fruit that are sold in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Following these acquisitions, ADQ launched the pilot phase of its vertical farming operations in March 2023 at its mega AgTech Park in partnership with the Italian firm ZERO. The pilot phase of the Zero project [Ref. 13] is a 1,000 sq. metres facility with annual production of 10 tons to be followed by the phase one development of a 40,000 sq. metres commercial vertical farm. The AgTech Park is slated to become a 200-hectare complex with annual production target of 40,000 tons of fruits and vegetables [Ref. 14], replacingabout 12 percent of the UAE’s imported produce.
Through its agritech subsidiary Silal, ADQ is involved with a vertical farming R&D centre that also opened in 2023. The U.S. firm AeroFarms opened its AgX R&D facility featuring a 6,000 sq. metre vertical farm in which Silal will test and evaluate [Ref. 15] large consumer demand produce such tomatoes and peppers. In a fully controlled environment that utilizes machine learning and the Internet of Things, AeroFarms aeroponic technology [Ref. 16] mists the roots of the cultivars with the optimal amounts of nutrients, water and
oxygen in a closed loop system using less water than hydroponic vertical farming technologies. Part of four agritech ventures being supported by a $150 million investment [Ref. 17] from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, AeroFarms AgX is intended to contribute to the creation of an agritech innovation hub in the Emirati capital, aspiring to bring together strategic partners [Ref. 18] such as Cargill and the Precision Indoor Plants consortium managed by the U.S.-funded Foundation for Food and Agriculture.
The UAE’s vertical farming ecosystem also rests on the foundation of Dubai’s Food Tech Valley [Ref. 19], inaugurated in 2021with the target to triple the country’s agri-food production. The complex’s precision agritech activities will be conducted in conjunction with operation of a food innovation centre and a state-of-the-art food logistic hub. In December 2023, the Food Tech Valley signed an agreement with the ReFarm consortium to construct a vertical ‘gigafarm’ [Ref. 20] capable of producing over 3,000 tons per year. ReFarm is anchored in the partnership between the UAE’s SSK enterprises and Christof Global Impact, the UK-registered waste-to-value arm of Austria’s Christof Family Group of companies. Slated to be operational in 2026, the 84,000 sq. metres farm, closed-loop gigafarm will feature infrastructure from the Edinburgh-based vertical farming technology provider Intelligent Growth Solutions [Ref. 21] to grow two billion cultivars per year [Ref. 22] using 25 times less water than greenhouse cultivation. The gigafarm’s technologies will recover upwards of 90 percent of the ammonium sulphate from wastewater for use in fertilizers and
produce biodegradable polymers [Ref. 23] intended for the gradual release of water and nutrients to facilitate arid region crop production.
Additionally in 2023, UAE vertical farm developer SpaceFarm opened the Green Farm [Ref. 24] in Dubai, a vertical farm using the Multigreens technology [Ref. 25] of Finland-based indoor farming provider iFarm that enables the cultivation of both microgreens and full-cycle greens in a shared growing space. Using a rockwool substrate, providing nearly 2.5 times the sowing density as peat farms, the 762 sq. metre growing area is slated to produce three tons of produce per month for the UAE’s HoReCa sector. The company also uses cellulose, coconut coir, jute and foam rubber as alternative materials. Employing the periodic flooding and draining of nutrient solution for optimized plant growth, iFarm’s hydroponic system prepares the nutrient solution in a mixing unit and then delivers the solution to the cultivars’ roots through a tube network in conjunction with microclimate control. Becauseof iFarm’s expanding footprint in the Arab Gulf States, the company relocated its headquarters to Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia: a rising vertical farming power in the MENA region Similar to the UAE, Saudi Arabia has been seeking ensure its food security by developing an outsized footprint in global agribusiness trade flows. The Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), through its subsidiary the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), has focused on investments in sustainable agriculture across the world. Through SALIC’s collection of foreign agrifood subsidiaries [Ref. 26] – some majority-owned, most with a minority stake – Saudi Arabia has secured its supply chains for 12 critical food commodities, including cereal grains and oilseeds from the U.S., Canada and eastern Europe, poultry and red meat from South America and Australia, and rice from India. The Kingdom has now turned to vertical farming on Saudi territory to boost its domestic produce production. According to an assessment from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the potential domestic consumption for vertical farm produce [Ref. 27] in Saudi Arabia is 9,000 tons per year.
Saudi Arabia receives over 100 million visitors per year and the Kingdom seeks to greatly expand its tourism industry through holiday tourism, making the HoReCa sector an anchor market for vertical farming output. Although Saudi Arabia’s first vertical farm was opened by the pioneering Saudi vertical farming developer Mowreq in the port city of Jeddah, Mowreq is now focused on creating the Kingdom’s flagship vertical farming complex in Riyadh, the country’s capital. Located about 1,000 km from the Kingdom’s agricultural areas, almost all the current efforts to establish a vertical farming ecosystem in Saudi Arabia are concentrated on the Saudi capital. The primary firms involved in the Kingdom’s drive to develop vertical farming are Mowreq, iFarms and AeroFarms. In December 2023, the Vertical Farms Company, a joint venture between Mowreq and the Taiwanese vertical farming developer and operator YesHealth Group, initiated construction on a 20,000 sq. metre growing area facility [Ref. 28] in Riyadh, intended to be the country’s largest. Expected to become operational in H2 2024, the vertical farm will produce about 803 tons of leafy greens per year, including full-size lettuces, cruciferous vegetables andbaby greens.
Already in 2022, the Bather Smart Farm [Ref. 29] began operations in Riyadh using iFarm’s semi-automated LeafyGreens vertical farming technology with a growing area of 1,360 sq. metres for leafy greens and 1,196 sq. metres for microgreens, with a combined capacity to yield 192 tons of produce [Ref. 30] per year. A second Bather Smart Farm [Ref. 31] with a 1,250 sq. metre growing is under development in Riyadh with iFarm Multigreens technology. Slated to be operational in 2024, the Bather 2 vertical farm will grow arugula, basil and spinach. Moving beyond hydroponic technology, PIF signed a 2023 joint venture agreement [Ref. 32] with AeroFarms to create a Riyadh-based company to build and operate aeroponic vertical farms in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa region. The first vertical farm will be built in the Kingdom with an anticipated annual output of upwards of 1,100 tonsof produce.
Other Arab Gulf States are also eyeing the development of their own vertical farming ecosystems. In August 2023, Oman’s Nailesh Kanaksi Khimji (NKK) Investments, which focuses on sustainability and green hydrogen announced a strategic partnership with Indian vertical farming start-up UrbanKisaan [Ref. 33], which operates several vertical farms in India’s Hyderbad region. The partnership seeks to develop and operate hydroponic vertical farms in Oman and then expand its operational presence to neighboring Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
A green future for vertical farming In February 2024, Saudi Arabia exported produce to Europe for the first time [Ref. 34], collaborating with the Dutch fruit and vegetable trader Lehmann & Troost to sell premium tomatoes grown in the Kingdom’s hydroponic greenhouses. The proof-of-concept exports demonstrate that surplus produce from the expansion of Gulf State vertical farming could be exported to European markets and perhaps Asian markets as well. Some of the vertical farms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are already integrating local renewable power from solar energy. Given the enormous solar energy resources in the Arabian Peninsula, the energy requirements of vertical farming pose less of a limiting factor than in other regions. In 2021, the UAE started the world’s first green aluminum production [Ref. 35], using power generated from the Emirate’s flagship solar power mega-complexes. Emirates Global Aluminum, a world leader in premium aluminum production, is supplying the green aluminum to European automakers who seek to lower their carbon footprint to comply with EU climate requirements. The lower carbon footprint of produce cultivated in vertical farms using solar power is likely to result in increased market share across Europe as carbon tax regimes and energy transition requirements come into stricter force.
Enabling sustainable and resilient agricultural production, vertical farming on the Arabian Peninsula is helping to ensure domestic food security while opening up lucrative export markets in Europe. With the UAE and Saudi Arabia playing central roles, the MENA vertical farming revolution holds opportunities for international companies whose technologies and products can enhance the sustainability and productivity of the region’s new wave of smart indoor farming.
Professor Michael is CEO of Nexus Foresight and teaches Universidad de Navarra. He is also non-resident fellow in the Economics and Energy Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. and a research fellow at the Centre for African Studies at the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. You can follow him on Twitter @michaeltanchum. The author would like to thank Vicky Andarcia for her research assistance. ●
Ref. 1: https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/dubai-opens-the-first-vertical-farm-with-ifarm-technologies-in-the-uae-ychyeau0
Ref. 2: https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/05/06/the-uaes-food-security-strategy-has-made-it-a-global-market-player/
Ref. 3: https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/dubai-opens-the-first-vertical-farm-with-ifarm-technologies-in-the-uae-ychyeau0
Ref. 4: https://www.agbi.com/aviation/2024/02/emirates-catering-arm-buys-out-bustanica-vertical-farm/
Ref. 5: https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/environment/2022/08/10/emirates-dubai-desert-farm-produces-more-than-1m-kilos-of-leafy-greens-a-year/
Ref. 6: https://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/bustanica-emirates-crop-one-vertical-farm
Ref 7: https://www.siemens.com/global/en/company/stories/industry/2023/bustanica-emirates-crop-one-vertical-farming-united-arab-emirates-uae.html
Ref. 8: https://www.siemens.com/global/en/products/drives/sinamics.html
Ref. 9: https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/download/1216756/bustanicafactsheet-2.pdf
Ref. 10: https://www.siemens.com/global/en/company/stories/industry/2023/bustanica-emirates-crop-one-vertical-farming-united-arab-emirates-uae.html
Ref. 11: https://www.aldahra.com/business-model/farming
Ref. 12: https://unifruttigroup.com/group/locations
Ref. 13: https://www.adq.ae/newsroom/adqs-agtech-park-begins-its-sustainable-agriculture-journey-with-vertical-farming-project/
Ref. 14: https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2023/03/22/adqs-agtech-park-begins-operations-with-opening-of-vertical-farm/
Ref. 15: https://www.aerofarms.com/aerofarms-agx-grand-opening-in-abu-dhabi-uae/
Ref. 16: https://www.aerofarms.com/about-us/
Ref. 17: https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/future/2023/02/15/worlds-biggest-rd-vertical-farm-opens-in-abu-dhabi-to-seed-the-future-of-food/
Ref. 18: https://www.aerofarms.com/aerofarms-agx-grand-opening-in-abu-dhabi-uae/
Ref. 19: https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/mohammed-bin-rashid-launches-food-tech-valley-qmf5jnsg
Ref. 20: https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2023/12/06/dubais-food-tech-valley-and-refarm-to-build-a-hi-tech-gigafarm/
Ref. 21: https://www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com/
Ref. 22: https://agfundernews.com/breaking-intelligent-growth-solutions-to-power-uae-gigafarm-capable-of-replacing-1-of-imports
Ref. 23: https://www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com/press-release/gigafarm-announcement-in-dubai
Ref. 24: https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/dubai-opens-the-first-vertical-farm-with-ifarm-technologies-in-the-uae-ychyeau0
Ref. 25: https://ifarm.fi/blog/multigreens-technology-for-vertical-farms
Ref. 26: https://salic.com/investments/#commodities
Ref. 27: https://ifarm.fi/bather_farm_2_saudi_arabia
Ref. 28: https://www.yeshealthgroup.com/news/mowreq-and-yeshealth-group-break-ground-on-riyadh-vertical-farm
Ref. 29: https://batherfarm.com/farm/our-farm/
Ref. 30: https://ifarm.fi/greens_vertical_farm_saudi_arabia
Ref. 31: https://ifarm.fi/bather_farm_2_saudi_arabia
Ref. 32: https://www.aerofarms.com/pif-and-aerofarms-sign-joint-venture-agreement-to-build-indoor-vertical-farms-in-saudi-arabia/
Ref. 33: https://timesofoman.com/article/135032-nkk-investments-and-urbankisaan-collaborate-to-transform-agriculture-in-oman
Ref. 34: https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9603150/how-saudi-arabia-exported-tomatoes-to-europe-for-the-first-time/
Ref. 35: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/01/18/uae-says-mohammed-bin-rashid-solar-park-is-powering-aluminum-production/
To secure its own food supplies, the UAEhas become a global market player in theagrifood trade.
The UAE’s vertical farming ecosystem restson the foundation of Dubai’s Food Tech Valley, inaugurated in 2021with the target to triple the country’s agri-food production.
GrowPura’s technologyuses a ‘Gondola’ that moves the growing trays under the light. This means fewer LEDs are required than static systems, saving on energy consumption. By moving the crop through lighted areas, a more uniform light distribution is achieved, says GrowPura.
What are the challenges in making a profitable vertical farm?Vertical farming has very different economics and profile to outdoor farming. The major cost areas are energy (replacing natural light which is free with LEDs and the cost of controlling the environment). Outdoor agriculture has a more expensive harvesting and subsequent processing activities incurring product losses for many reasons, and costly transportation, whereas vertical farming incurs high capital cost for growing.
However, focusing on maximizing tray area per footprint is the way to turn these economics in the favour of vertical farming.
How have companies normally gone about designing a vertical farm and how is your technology different? In the early days of vertical farming, there were many companies that developed their own technology and many that selected a range of elements from partial solution providers. GrowPura took the view that a holistic approach was required with intensive automation. The company started by using personnel with extensive horticultural experience – including some early vertical farming experience – before adding a variety of automation technologies and AI to the business. To achieve this, we collaborate with worldwide partners including, for example, Siemens.
What are the agronomic benefits of taking the GrowPura approach? Are there benefits too when considering contamination considerationsGrowPura has a number of special differences. Continuous movement of the crop including vibration to improve product uniformity. This can be demonstrated to show increased plant stem, making the plants more robust; and secondly on harvest, the plants lose less moisture, aiding shelf life and eating experience.
The second element was to develop a clean room environment for growing, thus avoiding all contamination. The decision to do this happened early in the company life after noticing the level of contamination in greenhouse operations.
What is in the pipeline for GrowPura? What crop areas are you focusing on? The company has a range of solutions, but the premier turnkey solution is a large-scale farm. The company was formed in 2012 and has now had three development sites in order to continuously improve. By making facilities scalable and operating a cost efficient process, it is possible to deliver a wide range of products and make money from lettuces – through baby leaf and microgreens, to fruits, niche food products; and plants which have a range of benefits – from consumer and healthcare products to saplings. The challenge for indoor farming in contributing to solving the adverse impacts of population growth, urbanization and climate change is to develop wider product ranges. The opportunities are immense – the challenge is to grasp the nettle and show how indoor farming can succeed and make that essential contribution.
More generally, what do you think is the trajectory for the vertical farming industry, both in short term and longer term? As a supplementary question, do more companies need to fail for the industry to find the best business model? The interest in vertical farming will grow because of the impacts in different parts of the world of climate change, soil erosion and migration, and not least the workforce moving away from certain activities – harvesting and trucking to name a few. In our business we need to sell the message more strongly, but I suspect there are more companies to fail. And whilst we would like to retrofit technology, this is often a challenge for a company that has invested a lot of money and failed to make the investor returns. ●
Nick Bateman, CEO, GrowPura
Approximately 250 attendees, mainly researchers, from 31 countries participated in the 3rd International Symposium on Vertical Farming (VF) in Bologna, Italy, 16-19 January, 2024. It was hosted by Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, under the auspice of ISHS. The previous symposiums took place in Chengdu, China (2023), and Angers, France (2022). This event frequency is a clear indication of the intensive development of this rather young and promising horticultural practice. No less than 93 oral presentations were delivered during this meeting. Dr. Oded Achilea reported from Bologna.
Principles governing the mineral nutrition of VF-grown crops The first thing to consider when considering mineral nutrition for vertical farming is that it is a closed growth system. Bruce Bugbee, a professor at Utah State University and president of Apogee Instruments, presented a concept regarding mineral nutrition of VF-grown crops that drew on the fact that this is a closed growth system, in which neither water or nutrients are lost from the system. Therefore, knowing a crop's optimal nutrients concentrations and simple technical tools, like chemical analyses of the growing plants, and pH, and EC sensors and chemical analyses of the nutrient solution, are sufficient tools to optimize plants' performance under a VF system.
Hence, mass balance principles dictate the management of the recirculating nutrient solution. Water removed by transpiration is completely collected by dehumidifier, and recycled into the nutrient solution that is taken up by the plants. The concentration of nutrients in this solution is determined by multiplying the optimal concentrations of each nutrient in plant tissue, by the water use efficiency (WUE), i.e., the ratio of plants' dry mass to water transpired.
While optimal leaf nutrient concentrations are well established, WUE in controlled environments is affected by ambient CO2 level. Elevated CO2 increases photosynthesis intensity, hence also the demand for nutrients, but it also partially closes the stomata. I.e., stomatal conductance can decrease by over 30 percent when air CO2 concentration increases from ~400 to ~1200 ppm, thus reducing transpiration rate, and dramatically increases WUE. The concentration of the refill/irrigation solution must be adjusted to account for a two-fold range of WUE, from 3g L-1 in ambient CO2 and lower humidity, to 6g L-1 in elevated CO2 and higher humidity. WUE and nutrient requirements vary during the vegetative and reproductive stages of growth, commanding relevant adjustment of the solution composition over the lifecycle. Low solution EC indicates that the plants perform well and active nutrient uptake takes place. The ammonium to nitrate ratio is a useful tool for pH regulation of the nutrient solution.
Dimitrios Savvas, a full professor in the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), director of the Laboratory of Vegetable Production, and dean of the Faculty of Plant Sciences, has presented an original Nutrisense Decision Support System (DSS) for optimization of nutrient supply for leafy and fruiting vegetables, grown in soilless cropping systems, with recirculated nutrient solution. The use of this DSS in combination with frequent control of the nutrient concentrations in the root zone can minimize, or even eliminate the need to flush out the nutrient solution. Nutrisense was tested in recent years, in hydroponically grown lettuce crops in both horizontal and vertical systems, while ion selective electrodes monitored the composition of the nutrient solution in the plants' root zone. It has been proved that this DSS could readjust continuously nutrients supply, and maintained an optimal, rather stable nutrient status in the plants' root zone throughout the growth cycle, producing markedly enhanced produce masses and quality.
Investment costs Some red flags are still involved in applying vertical farming. For instance, high upfront capital expenditure for building the installation and equipping it with costly automated technical facilities. Also, high operational costs, focused primarily on extreme expenses on energy (lighting, cooling and air filtration). It is assumed that 40-50 percent of the total production costs are related to energy consumption, whereby lighting alone can account for 25-30 percent of the operational costs.
Other reasons to approach vertical farming carefully include high wages on professional workforce, and crops variability is limited to vegetative produce, and in case of fruity produce, the flowers must be self-pollinated ones. Finally, as VF
technology is just 10-15 years young, lack of know-how still lingers in the industry.
Lighting is indispensable While three to four stacked shelves can partially rely on sunlight that enters the greenhouse from the roof, higher installations must be lit artificially, in order to supply an optimal amount of this important input. Incandescent and high-pressure sodium lamps must be avoided in higher growth installations that include multiple stacked shelves, due to their high heat output. So, the current VF lighting rely on LED devices, that are seven- to eight-fold more economic energy-wise than incandescent lamps, have much less heat output, and can be adapted to emit mainly the wavelengths that are optimal for producing the specific crop product. Figure 1 shows a typical commercial LED lighting panel.
Fig 1: A typical LED lighting panel that includes all principal wavebands.
A large variety of LED light wavebands can be used in order to positively affect plants' physiological processes (see Table 1).
Why do vertical farms have a reddish-purplish glow? Vertical farms optimize energy use efficiency by applying only wavelengths that have a positive effect on plants' performance. This is done by using LED light bulbs that emit only the beneficial rays. As yellow-to-green wavelengths have the least contribution to plants' physiology, their application is minimized. So, we are left mainly with various red light hues, plus blue light, that are visible to the human eye.
Table 1: The effects of specific light wavebands on plant physiology. Ref.: A. Ferrante and others.
Crop types The high VF production costs, mentioned earlier, provoked massive economic failure of numerous vertical farms that focused on mass production of low- to medium-valued
crops, such as lettuce and micro-greens. This is where Dr. G. Samouliene presented the very wide spectrum of real cash-crops that can be grown under VF optimal conditions, and produce dividends to the grower. Some such crops are high-value off-season vegetables, such as strawberry, tomatoes and peppers. Others are edible flowers (e.g., nasturtium, viola and marigold) and lucrative mushrooms. Herb spices have always been attractive crops, so now VF-grown rocket, Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum) and saffron (Crocus sativus) can supply these requirements efficiently. Another group of high-value, underutilized crops feature high concentrations of phytochemicals and nutraceuticals, such as cannabis, antioxidant-rich plants, like amaranth, perilla, salad burnet, basella and ice-plant. Salad burnet is also extremely rich in nutritious minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium and manganese. Another group of high potential plants are essential amino-acids rich crops, like quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), cañahua (Chenopodium pallidicaule) and amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus). Dr. Samouliene's presentation also included practical growth details for the abovementioned crops, regarding optimal lighting photoperiods and spectra. ●
Vertical farming, sometimes called "plant factory", is currently the state-of-the-art method of soilless plant production at indoor installations. Its main advantages:
1) Complete control over growth conditions, including temperature, nutrient composition, air relative humidity and lighting (intensity, photoperiod and wavelengths). These optimal production conditions provide realization of the plants' genetic potential, and shortening growth cycle duration, which markedly increases the number of annual growth cycles, hence- biomass/surface unit. These conditions also enable year-round production, regardless of season.
2) Location, it can be installed where no agricultural soil is available, moreover, it can be located within the city (51 percent of global population), thus decimating the distance between the production and consumption sites. These, in turn, minimize carbon footprint on transportation and avail highly fresh produce.
3) Minimization of surface occupation, because production is done on stacked shelves, to a high altitude that can reach tens of metres.
4) Being carried out in closed environment enables high cleanliness of the final food product, to a degree that washing the produce before selling or consuming it is not necessary.
5) Close to 100 percent use efficiencies of water and nutrients, which imply avoiding the notorious wastage of potable water, and of groundwater contamination, and of GHG emission from disintegrating fertilizers.
6) Concurrent production of different crops, because lighting management can be specifically tailored for each shelf. ●
Square Roots, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup, has introduced a program that could change the way plants are grown indoors.
The program aims to prove thatlight can be removed from a commercial indoor vertical farming system, ultimately bringing the advantages of indoor vertical farming to a much broader range of crops and global markets.
The company states that all the benefits of indoor farming remain, such as year-round ability to grow food, zero use of pesticides, and efficient use of water and land compared to outdoor field farming. But, the system can now operate with radically reduced energy needs, which translates to significantly lower production costs and associated CO2e.
This breakthrough would make indoor farming considerably more viable and sustainable for low- and middle-income countries, the company maintains. The results could change the underlying economics for indoor farming globally — where energy needs today, primarily driven by the requirement for LED grow lights, can typically contribute 20 to 40 percent of total costs.
“Indoor farms’ ability to grow fresh, nutritious food, all year round, in any location, irrespective of outdoor climate, has obvious appeal,” said Tobias Peggs, Square Roots’ CEO. “But to date the solution has been energy intensive. By removing light from an indoor farming system — reducing both costs and CO2e — this program could unlock an enormous benefit for the future of food security around the world.”
To enable this new approach, Square Roots is working with gene-edited (CRISPR) plants that grow heterotrophically. More specifically, they can add biomass by uptaking carbon from acetate (a vinegar-like substance added to irrigation water) rather than relying on photosynthesis under LED lights. Effectively, these plants can grow “in the dark” in an indoor vertical farm.
The underlying science was initially developed by Dr. Robert Jinkerson, a specialist in artificial photosynthesis at the University of California (UC), Riverside, in conjunction with Dr. Feng Jiao, a chemist at the University of Delaware. Their lab-scale trials in sustainable acetate production and heterotrophic plant growth will now be tested at production-scale using the Square Roots indoor vertical farming platform.
“Square Roots has got the right technology platform and the operational know-how to grow plants in lab-like conditions but at commercial-scale,” said Jinkerson. “They are an ideal partner for all the stakeholders in this program as we work together on novel approaches to mitigate future food security issues caused by climate change, especially in low- and middle-income countries.”
Initial growing trials are focused on lettuces and so-called SPACE Tomatoes — which have been additionally edited to grow more fruit and less vine. In future phases, the company hopes to tackle higher-calorie crops such as sweet potatoes and cassava — staple crops in many low- and middle-income countries.
“Our expertise in indoor farming operations and plant science, along with our flexible, modular infrastructure and smart software, makes Square Roots the ideal growing partner for accelerating agricultural research,” says Peggs. “It’s also really motivating to be applying our platform to tackle important and potentially transformative work such as this.”
Square Roots was founded by serial technology and impact entrepreneurs Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs. This initiative is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ●
The Square Roots program aims to prove that light can be removed from a commercial indoor vertical farming system.
China’s first homegrown unmanned vertical ‘plants factory’ was recently unveiled in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the first of its kind globally, China Media Group (CMG) reported.
The plants factory was developed by the Institute of Urban Agriculture (IUA) under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The 20-storey vertical unmanned plant factory is the world’s first of its kind, according to the report.
Currently, the entire automated production system in Chengdu is at the forefront of plant growing technology, and the number of layers in a single facility is also the highest in the world, Gan Bingcheng, deputy head of the IUA, said in the CMG report.
The 20-story system could achieve year-round stable green food production by utilizing independently bred crop varieties, a vertical three-dimensional irrigation and cultivation system, an automatic nutrients-supplying system, and an AI-based intelligent control system, the report said.
Since the system is not affected by climate or geographical constraints, it can achieve a harvest of lettuce approximately every 35 days under controlled light, temperature and other conditions. With the capability to produce more than 10 harvests of green vegetables a year, it is equal to an estimated annual output of over 50 tons, equivalent to the yield of about 60 mu (4 hectares) of farmland, the report said. ●
Seasony, a frontrunner in mobile robotics for vertical farming, announced the successful closing of its latest funding round, securing €1.5 million in investment.
The funds allow Seasony to accelerate its product development and expand towards key markets in the Middle East and North America.
With the autonomous mobile robot ‘Watney’, Seasony automates core processes in vertical farms and provide growers with data insights – offered in a ‘Robotics-as-a-service’ model.
“We aspire for Watney to be the John Deere of indoor farming. Watney handles both heavy and dangerous lifting while analyzing each plant down to the smallest detail – with a memory that enables vertical farms to significantly streamline operations and get more output from every square metre,” says Christopher Weis Thomasen, co-founder and CEO of Seasony.
Watney can work around the clock, from the moment the seeds are sown to when the plants are harvested. When Watney moves around in a vertical farm, it takes care of tasks such as moving plant trays up and down from 10-metre-high shelves and transporting them to different stations.All while constantly analyzing, reporting and storing data about the characteristics of each individual plant and the environment in which they grow.
A combination of advanced sensors, robotics, and algorithms from Seasony allows for intervention at a much earlier stage in the vertical farming process. If a plant needs more water, nutrients, light or CO2 then the systems will be able to provide this critical information.
The round was led by North Ventures and EFIO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark). Alongside them several prominent and experienced business angels invested including Vagn Ove Soerensen, Torben Wind, Klaus Holse, Barbara Taudorf Andersen, Nicolaj Reffstrup (Look Up Ventures) and many more. ●
Jones Food Company (JFC), a British vertical farming (VF) business, has opened its second vertical farm, JFC2, near Lydney in Gloucestershire.
The company opened JFC1 in Lincolnshire in 2018 and a dedicated VF-Innovation Centrein Bristol in 2022.
JFC2 says it utilizes 100 percent renewably-sourced energy to grow crops vertically, including basil, coriander, flat-leaf parsley, dill, green lettuce, red lettuce, Baby Leaf Pak Choi, Bulls Blood, Mizuna, Komatsuna (commonly known as Japanese Spinach), and Baby Leaf Cress (a variety of watercress).
“JFC2 leverages the UK’s world-renowned tech know-how, passion for plants and desire to reduce import dependence to radically evolve how we grow consistently high-quality, well-priced food at scale,” said James Lloyd-Jones, founder and chief executive officer, Jones Food Company. “By balancing automation and smart investments, we are ideally suited to work with the distribution networks of the large retailers, ensuring product is available for all.”
According to Glyn Stephens, head of growing with Jones Food Company, a lot of vertical farmers have focused on lights, but temperature and humidity control “are where the real energy guzzle has traditionally been. This is why it's been a core focus for us opening this new site, its small changes and learnings from JFC1 that mean this system now accounts for a much smaller proportion of our energy usage.”
Stephens added that irrigation “is another massive innovation in this farm and the system in JFC2 is boundary-pushing, ground-breaking, utterly unique and another key brick in how we deliver premium product, at a great price, at scale.”
JFC2’s output now includes supplying own-label herbs as well as the company’s own Homegrown range of mixed salad bags and Lēaf, its range of sauces and salad bags. ●
