The Vertical Farm: A Review of Developments and Implications for the Vertical City

Al‐Kodmany, Kheir

doi:10.3390/buildings8020024

Cited by 350 publications

(243 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…A plant that resides in controlled environment space requires energy spent on illumination, as well as management of ambient temperature, usually meaning costs both in supplying photons, as well as the costs of managing the heat associated with supplying photons (Al‐Kodmany ). Whether done by circulating air, specialised air handlers or water cooling, there is an energy investment in producing light.…”

Section: Different Priorities: Energy Input Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding new varieties for controlled environments

Folta

2018

Plant Biol J

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Agricultural production in controlled environments is increasingly feasible, and may play an important role in providing nutrition and choice to growing urban centres. New technologies in lighting, ventilation, robotics and irrigation are just a few of the innovations that enable production of high-value specialty crops outside of a traditional field setting. However, despite all of the advances in the hardware within the plant factory operation, innovation of the most complex machine has been neglected - the plant itself. Indoor agricultural operations typically rely on legacy varieties, plants selected and bred for field conditions. In the field, phenotypic stability is paramount, as production must be consistent in an unpredictable and changing environment. However, the controlled environment affords focus on different breeding priorities as environmental flux, pests, pathogens and post-harvest quality are less formidable barriers to production. On the contrary, breeding for controlled environments shifts the focus to a completely different set of plant traits, such as rapid growth, performance in low light environments and active manipulation of plant stature. Instead of breeding for phenotypic stability, plants may be bred to maximise genetic plasticity, allowing specific traits to be presented as a function of the quality of the ambient light spectrum. In this scenario plant varieties may be grown with optimal size, supporting a focus on consumer traits like flavour or accumulation of health-related compounds. Gene editing may be a central technology in the production of designer plants for controlled environments. This review considers the opportunity for breeding for controlled environments, with a focus on a revision of priorities for controlled-environment breeders.

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Section: Different Priorities: Energy Input Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding new varieties for controlled environments

Folta

2018

Plant Biol J

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“…The greenhouse industry is continually developing new strategies and technologies to resolve specific limitations of the crops, reducing any related environmental impact and adapting to the new market requirements [35]. Therefore, soilless crops [36]; the comprehensive control of the factors that constitute the microclimate inside the greenhouse [47,48]; the creation of vertical agroecosystems that can be located in urban environments [49]; the development of specific environmentally sustainable solutions for supplying greenhouse production with renewable energy [50,51]; the development of new materials and structures capable of optimising production [52,53]; etc. are all now possible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

Aznar-Sánchez

Velasco-Muñoz

López-Felices

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Greenhouse farming is an agricultural management system that has demonstrated its efficiency in intensifying food production. These systems constitute a feasible alternative for ensuring food supply, which is one of the greatest challenges faced by humankind in the twenty-first century. Technology has been able to meet the challenges related to greenhouse farming in both contributing to overcoming its limitations, correcting adverse impacts and ensuring system sustainability. The objective of this article is to analyse the global research trends in greenhouse technology over the last two decades, in order to identify the main driving agents, the most outstanding research lines and possible gaps in the literature. Different methodologies have been used for the analysis; both quantitative and qualitative. The principal results show that there are different relevant lines of research related to different aspects of greenhouse farming: the use of water for irrigation, the design of the optimum structure of the greenhouse, conserving the soil in the best growing conditions, energy consumption of the system as a whole, climate control within the facility and pest control. The research is characterized by the being composed largely of ad hoc studies, which hinders the international collaboration between researchers and institutions. The research approach has shifted from being focused on increasing production and cost savings to aspects related to resource conservation and sustainability.

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“…Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License the reduction of the arable land while minimizing the distance from food production areas to consumers (Al-Kodmany, 2018;Molin and Martin, 2018;Birachi et al, 2011). Urban agriculture simply relates to the production of plants-and animal-related food within urban dwellings through home gardening or specifically designated zones for vegetable production (Tornaghi, 2014;Zezza and Tasciotti, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Testing vertical distance and growth medium for vertically farming bush beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in urban agriculture

Karemangingo¹,

Nkundiyera²,

Simbayobewe³

et al. 2019

Afr. J. Plant Sci.

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Vertical farming implies growing crops in superimposed growth beds. This study assessed the effects of vertical distance between growth beds and growth medium on beans and tomatoes. Three levels of vertical spacing and three levels of growth medium were studied in a split plot design and three replicates. The vertical distance was tested in main plots while the growth medium was tested in subplots. The main plot was a wood-made vertical structure with the ground growth bed and the top bed vertically separated by either 80, 120 or 160 cm. The subplot was a bottom-holed plastic bucket containing a thorough growth mix of loam soil and 0, 40, or 60% added manure (volume/volume). Three buckets were used per growth medium and growth bed, making 6 observations for each factorial combination. Tomato was cropped after bush bean harvest. Maximum bean grain yields were projected for 130 cm vertically spaced beds and for 30% added manure growth medium. Maximum tomato fruit yields should be expected for growth medium containing more than 60% manure and for spacing distance above 160 cm. Vertical farming appeared highly productive with 0.86 kg m -2 of total dry bean grain yield and 14.1 kg m -2 of total tomato fruits from the two beds.

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The Vertical Farm: A Review of Developments and Implications for the Vertical City

Cited by 350 publications

References 45 publications

Breeding new varieties for controlled environments

Breeding new varieties for controlled environments

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

Testing vertical distance and growth medium for vertically farming bush beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in urban agriculture

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