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NFIB Posts Top Ten Things To Know About Vertical Farming
The National Federation of Independent Business has published an interesting report detailing what vertical farming is and why it could hold the key to supporting the world’s population in 2050.
It is estimated that in 2050 the Earth could have 9 Billion inhabitants. Most of these inhabitants are expected to live in or near urban centers.
The main idea of vertical farming says: “Instead of trying to increase the footprint needed to farm enough food and haul it to this growing population, why not grow the food in the urban centers in tall buildings with controlled access to lighting and water.”
This makes a lot of sense on the surface because of the significantly reduced need for pesticides and the significantly reduced transportation costs. Also, there is evidence that this type of farming would require significantly less water.
Read more below!
Vertical farming, or urban farming, is becoming more prevalent in the agribusiness sector. Experts predict that almost 80% of the earth’s population will live in urban areas by the year 2050, so developing and maintaining sustainable supplies of fresh food in large cities is increasingly important–and profitable.By cultivating plants inside a skyscraper greenhouse, utilizing natural sunlight and artificial lighting, vertical farmers are able to produce fresh food while minimizing land usage and transportation costs. Droughts, floods and other weather-related issues are a thing of the past, and a controlled indoor climate carefully regulates ideal growing conditions year-round.
Click to see the Top Ten List at NFIB.com
Also, thewere42.wordpress.com put together an informative piece as well about vertical farming:
Dickson Despommier, Professor of Microbiology and Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University, is a dedicated promoter of vertical farming……….
Vertical farming in practice
Technological advances have resulted in an ever-increasing and diverse range of vertical and indoor farming applications throughout the world.
“Japan has actually embraced this”, says Dr. Despommier. The Fukushima disaster means that Japan requires a reliable and uncontaminated food production chain, with much of their agricultural land and fisheries having been destroyed.
“They have a small indoor growing industry already, called Plant Factories“, Dr. Despommier continues, “A lot of examples involve grocery stores where the consumer can go into a store, put a plastic bag over a green item, cut it off, and take it home. It’s only occurred in the last five years.”
City dwellers benefit from fresh, organic produce grown nearby, putting them in close contact with the process of food production.
This excerpt is courtesy of thewere42.wordpress.com