Benefits of Vertical Farming

 

Many have wondered for years if vertical farming is really the answer to the shortage of food in the world. However strange the concept of vertical farming might seem to many startups, it is an ingenious method to produce food in environments where arable land is unavailable or rare at the most.

This method is especially handy for challenging environments such as deserts, mountainside towns, and cities where many diverse types of vegetables and fruits are grown using precision agriculture methods and skyscraper-like designs.

Vertical farming is a revolutionary and more sustainable method of agriculture than its counterpart as it lowers the requirement of water to up to 70% and also saves considerable space and soil. This innovation in the field of agriculture with sustainability as its motto is making more and more heads turn today with its eco-friendly methods and making the possibility of farming real in difficult environs.

 

1. Hydroponics – Growing Plants Without Soil

Hydroponics is a predominant system of growing that is used in vertical farming, and it is slowly but steadily, gaining importance. It involves around the growth of plants in solutions of nutrients that are essentially free of soil.

In this vertical farming innovation, the roots of the plants are submerged in a solution of nutrients through spectravue. This is frequently circulated and monitored in order to ensure that there is the maintenance of the correct chemical composition in the nutrient solution.

 

2. Aeroponics – Growing Plants With No Soil and Very Little Water

The innovation of Aeroponics in the field of vertical farming was made by The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA). This sustainable growing technique was invented by NASA in the 1990s when it was looking for efficient techniques to grow plants in space.

This technique was then coined Aeroponics and was defined as "growing plants in an air/mist environment with no soil and very little water." However, these systems are yet to rise from an anomaly in the world of vertical farming even though they continue to create interest.

It is undoubtedly the most efficient way in vertical farming as it uses a staggering 90% less amount of water than the most efficient hydroponics systems too. It has also been observed that the plants that are grown with the aeroponics system uptake more vitamins and minerals, thus making the plants potentially healthier and more nutritious.