DOCSLIB.ORG

Vertical Farming: Why We Think It Might Just Work

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Vertical Farming: Why We Think It Might Just Work September 2014 CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE Vertical Farming: Why We Think it Might Just Work Partners and investors Mark Thomann (front) and Mark Weglarz check out the current crop of USDA-certified organic basil at FarmedHere, just outside of Chicago. Page 10 PAGE 14 PAGE 18 PAGE 28 THE LOCAL GROWING USING FOOD HYDROPONICALLY BANKER PLANTS MOVEMENT AND ORGANICALLY Fighting aphids with When did it Can it be done? aphids really begin? 1 Reader Service Number 200 Reader Service Number 201 From Your Editor vertical farming as the way of the fu - ture, but critics argue that the technol - ogy is too expensive for it to be a sustainable means of farming. Read how FarmedHere responds to being in Chris’ hot seat on page 10. Over the past several years, I’ve en - countered the full spectrum of opin - ions on organic hydroponics. I’ve heard that it can, can’t or shouldn’t be certifiable under the USDA’s organic guidelines. (It can and I’ll leave it up to you to decide if it should.) Regardless of politics and semantics, the fact is, or - ganic hydroponic systems are rare compared to traditional organic or hy - droponic systems on their own. The reasons for the rarity are complex and involve discussions of nutrient man - agement, pest control, productivity, marketing, semantics and politics. I touch on it all on page 18. We don’t often offer history lessons We’ve done it again. here in Inside Grower , but the evolu - tion of the local food movement in the For the second time this year, Inside Grower U.S. is a fascinating topic worth dis - has burst out of the seams of its bi-weekly cussing, with deeper roots in American culture than you might expect. Turn to email format, filling a magazine edition to the page 14 for Rich Pirog’s account of how the local food movement has brim with more in-depth coverage of moved from the margins to the main - stream. greenhouse vegetable growing. These special And Eliot Coleman is one well- known American Farmer who grows editions allow us to dig even deeper into the local food for the good folks in Maine topics that matter most in our industry. year-round. Anne-Marie Hardie profiles Eliot’s Farm on page 26. In this issue, you’ll also find valu - able information on growing methods, Since the last print edition of Inside Grower found your including complying with the new Food Safety mailboxes in January 2014, I’ve fine-tuned my skills as Modernization Act (page 24), using banker plants your editor. It took becoming a mother for the first time to fight aphids (page 28), understanding blossom to become painfully aware of the importance of end rot (page 30) and starting a strong lettuce strengthening efficiencies in all aspects of my life. Since crop using a new hydroponic fertilizer (page 32). my daughter was born in January, I’ve learned to better We hope you enjoy this publication of Inside identify and prioritize what’s worthy of my attention and Grower . As always, we welcome your questions filter out everything that’s not. Knowing that your time is and feedback. just as valuable—whether you’re a parent, up to your eyeballs in the business of growing or both—you’ll find this issue of Inside Grower delivers the most pertinent, interesting and useful news in our industry. In our cover story on vertical farming, Chris Beytes wastes no time, cutting right to the chase and asking Annie White some tough questions about an agricultural practice MANAGING EDITOR even he admits he’s skeptical of. Some advocates tout feedback: [email protected] 4 September 2014 EDITORIAL CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE EDITOR Chris Beytes MANAGING EDITOR Annie White CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ellen C. Wells Jennifer Duffield White Jennifer Zurko Jennifer Polanz INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Ron Van der Ploeg DEPARTMENTS 4 | From Your Editor CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Anne-Marie Hardie David Kuack 6 | Insider Dr. Vijay Rapaka 31 | New Products ON THE COVER Is vertical farming a viable part of agriculture or an unrealistic pipe dream? Chris Beytes stops PRODUCTION MANAGER Kathy Wootton by FarmedHere right outside of Chicago to find CREATIVE DIRECTOR Chris Truesdale out. Turn to page 10 to read more. PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Widhalm FEATURES COPY EDITOR Sue Olsen 10 | Vertical Farming: A Critic Asks Some Hard Questions Story & photos by Chris Beytes SALES 866.888.4237 “Vertical farming”—multiple layers of plants grown under lights in abandoned urban warehouses—is still in its infancy, but it’s already a media darling. Advocates call it the PUBLISHER | Paul Black future of agriculture. Critics say it’s too expensive to be viable. What’s the truth? SALES MANAGER [email protected] ACCOUNT MANAGER Kim Brown 14 | The Local Food Movement’s Evolution in the United States [email protected] by Rich Pirog SALES ASSISTANT Adriana Heikkila Consumers wondering about the origin of their food didn’t just happen overnight; the [email protected] seeds of the local food movement have been growing since the Great Depression. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING [email protected] 18 | Double Trouble or Twice as Nice? | by Annie S. White The challenges encountered in organic hydroponic vegetable production are complex A Friend Remembered and run the gamut from nutrient management, pest control and productivity to G. Victor Ball, Editor from 194 9–1997 marketing, semantics and politics. GrowerTalks general offices are located at: PO BOX 1660, West Chicago, Illinois 60186 U.S.A. 22 | Greenhouse Edibles Taking Center Stage | by David Kuack ph: 630.231.3675 | fax: 630.231.5254 | Toll-Free: 1-888-888-0 013 www.growertalks.com University of Arkansas researchers are getting serious about greenhouse edibles, as an increasing number of growers look to expand their offerings of locally grown products. 24 | Protecting Greenhouse Edibles | by Rob Larose GrowerTalks (ISSN 0276-9433) is published monthly by In order to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act, you’ll need to follow these Ball Publishing, PO Box 1660, West Chicago, Illinois 60186, best practices. United States. Subscriptions are free to qualified readers in the US. Subscription price for non-qualified readers is $35 per year US and Canada. All other foreign subscriptions must pay 26 | Increasing the Availability of Local Produce $99/year to receive/continue to receive GrowerTalks and Green Profit . GrowerTalks is a registered trademark of Ball Horticultural Story by Anne-Marie Hardie, Photos by Barbara Damrosch Company in the U.S. Periodicals postage paid at West Chicago, One grower shows that four-season farming is possible—even during those New IL and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send address changes to GrowerTalks Magazine, PO Box 1660, West Chicago, England winters. Illinois 60186, United States. ©2010 GrowerTalks Magazine. All rights reserved. Posted under Canada publications mail agreement #40612608. Canada returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, 28 | Fight Aphids With Aphids | by Steven Frank P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 Printed in the U.S.A. Using banker plants for greenhouse vegetable crops can be a key tool to fighting your GreenProfit Supplement Enclosed aphid issues. 30 | Blossom End Rot: Understanding a Perennial Problem by Ron Goldy Blossom end rot is a perennial problem on tomatoes, peppers and other crops. Understanding the causes can help reduce symptoms, but it’s rare to be able to eliminate it completely. 32 | Growing Lettuce? A Beginner’s Guide to a Strong Start by Dr. Vijay Rapaka & Dr. Cari Peters The key for successful hydroponic production is starting with strong young plants. 5 Insider Nexus Donates Growing Vaccines in Genetically Free High Tunnel Greenhouse to Modified Lettuce Hoop House Dr. Henry Daniell’s $2 mil - netically modified plant Construction Denver Hunger lion greenhouse at the produces the proteins for Relief Center University of Pennsylvania the vaccines. The lettuce Guide has all the high-tech bells and leaves are dried and made High tunnel hoop houses are rel - whistles of a new controlled into capsules that can be atively easy to construct and have environment greenhouse. But taken orally, don’t require re - become a very popular addition Dr. Daniell isn’t growing toma - frigeration and can be to many small-scale veggie-grow - toes or lettuce for the local stored for years. ing operations. While there are market; he’s growing vaccines. Dr. Daniell’s research has numerous extension publications A professor in the depart - demonstrated the effective - on hoop house crop culture, very ments of biochemistry and ness of plant-based vaccines few focus on construction. pathology and director of and therapeutics in treating Steve Upson took his 17 years translational research in the nearly 30 conditions, from of experience in high tunnel School of Dental Medicine, Dr. infectious diseases such as hoop house design, construction, Daniell’s doing ground-break - cholera, malaria and an - utilization and education to cre - ing research that could thrax to autoimmune dis - ate a “how to” resource on hoop change the way drugs and eases like diabetes and house construction. vaccinations are delivered. hemophilia. Steve says it’s not the intent of Traditional vaccines con - “This will be a paradigm his publication to offer a com - tain inactivated versions of the shift in delivery of drugs,” Dr. plete set of construction plans for bacteria, viruses or other microor - Daniell says. “This will change any particular type or size of Thanks to a donation from Nexus ganisms that cause the illness. the landscape and save lives.” hoop house, but rather to intro - Corporation, a new hunger relief These costly vaccines require re - Perhaps it will also change duce the novice grower and center in Denver, Colorado, will frigeration during storage and de - how large-scale controlled-en - hoop house builder to the vari - feature a south-facing green - livery, making them unavailable in vironment greenhouses are em - ous tools and techniques used in house for growing fresh veggies.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ferguson Diss
    PERMACULTURE AS FARMING PRACTICE AND INTERNATIONAL GRASSROOTS NETWORK: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDY BY JEFFREY FERGUSON DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Crop Sciences in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Sarah Taylor Lovell, Chair Professor Michelle M. Wander Associate Professor Ashwini Chhatre Professor Thomas J. Bassett ABSTRACT Agroecology is a promising alternative to industrial agriculture, with the potential to avoid the negative social and ecological consequences of input-intensive production. Transitioning to agroecological production is, however, a complex project that requires action from all sectors of society – from producers and consumers, and from scientists and grassroots networks. Grassroots networks and movements are increasingly regarded as agents of change, with a critical role to play in agroecological transition as well as broader socio-environmental transformation. Permaculture is one such movement, with a provocative perspective on agriculture and human-environment relationships more broadly. Despite its relatively broad international distribution and high public profile, permaculture has remained relatively isolated from scientific research. This investigation helps to remedy that gap by assessing permaculture through three distinct projects. A systematic review offers a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the permaculture literature,
    [Show full text]
  • English Agricultural Output 1550–1750
    BRITISH ECONOMIC GROWTH, 1270-1870 Stephen Broadberry, University of Warwick, [email protected] Bruce Campbell, Queen‟s University Belfast, [email protected] Alexander Klein, University of Warwick, [email protected] Mark Overton, University of Exeter, [email protected] Bas van Leeuwen, University of Warwick, [email protected] 14 July 2010 File: BritishGDPLongRun8.doc Abstract: We provide annual estimates of GDP for England between 1270 and 1700 and for Great Britain between 1700 and 1870, constructed from the output side. The GDP data are combined with population estimates to calculate GDP per capita. We find English per capita income growth of 0.20 per cent per annum between 1270 and 1700, although growth was episodic, with the strongest growth during the Black Death crisis of the fourteenth century and in the second half of the seventeenth century. For the period 1700-1870, we find British per capita income growth of 0.48 per cent, broadly in line with the widely accepted Crafts/Harley estimates. This modest trend growth in per capita income since 1270 suggests that, working back from the present, living standards in the late medieval period were well above “bare bones subsistence”. This can be reconciled with modest levels of kilocalorie consumption per head because of the very large share of pastoral production in agriculture. Acknowledgements: This paper forms part of the project “Reconstructing the National Income of Britain and Holland, c.1270/1500 to 1850”, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, Reference Number F/00215AR. It is also part of the Collaborative Project HI-POD supported by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme for Research, Contract Number SSH7-CT-2008-225342.
    [Show full text]
  • Linda Sierra
    Jason D. Licamele, Ph.D. P.O. Box 25035 / Scottsdale, AZ 85255 [email protected] Agriculture & Biological Systems Engineer Keywords: biotechnology, agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, plant production, natural products, bioenergy, bioprocessing, ecosystems, food science, greenhouse engineering, horticulture, hydroponics, fisheries, algae, environment, natural resources, water resources, bioprospecting, sustainability - Biological systems engineer, marine biologist, ecologist, environmental scientist, and biotechnologist with commercial operations and research experience leading, designing, developing, executing, and managing projects. - Innovative applied scientist and engineer with a multitude of skills, a patent portfolio, over 20 years of commercial experience in the aquaculture, agriculture, food, and bioenergy industries with a focus on environmental sustainability and resource management. - Experienced entrepreneur and consultant effectively developing global relationships with business, legal, non- governmental organizations, academic, and government organizations via strong communication, interpersonal skills, leadership qualities, and dedication to mission. - Skilled in project design, project management, experimental design, data management, and data translation with a unique ability to critically analyze and effectively communicate information to all levels of audiences. - Professional scientist and engineer with experience in business, production, research and development, intellectual property development, technology
    [Show full text]
  • Trends in Aquaponics
    Trends in Aquaponics Chris Hartleb University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility Aquaponics Innovation Center Aquaponics • Integrated & soilless • Continuous year-round • Free of biocides production • Conservative use of water, space & • Meets socio-economic challenges labor – Urban, peri-urban, rural • Produces both vegetable & protein crop – Locavore movement Aquaponic Systems UVI Design Fish tanks Raft tank Water pump Clarifier (solids filter) Degassing tank Mineralization tanks & biofilter Air pump Plant Production Systems • Raft (Revised agriculture float technology) – Deep water culture • Large volume water • Root aeration • Nutrient uptake: High • Media based – Biofiltration in media – Clogging & cleaning present – Nutrient uptake: High • Nutrient film technique – Low volume water – Less system stability – Nutrient uptake: Low Modified Designs • Vertical farming – Living walls – Vertical • Robotics • Complete artificial light Who’s Growing using Aquaponics? Love, Fry, Li, Hill, Genello, Simmons & Thompson. 2015. Commercial aquaponics production and profitability: Findings from an international survey. Aquaculture 435:67-74. How Many is That? • Limited survey response • Most likely underestimated number and location Types of Aquaponics • Scalable: – Hobby and Home food production – Farmers market food production – Social & Community systems – Commercial food production – Education – Research Aquaculture North America January/February 2018 • Trends driving the seafood sector – Climate change impact
    [Show full text]
  • Urban and Agricultural Communities: Opportunities for Common Ground
    Urban and Agricultural Communities: Opportunities for Common Ground Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Printed in the United States of America Cover design by Lynn Ekblad, Different Angles, Ames, Iowa Graphics by Richard Beachler, Instructional Technology Center, Iowa State University, Ames ISBN 1-887383-20-4 ISSN 0194-4088 05 04 03 02 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Urban and Agricultural Communities: Opportunities for Common Ground p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 1-887383-20-4 (alk. paper) 1. Urban agriculture. 2. Land use, Urban. 3. Agriculture--Economic aspects. I. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. S494.5.U72 U74 2002 630'.91732-dc21 2002005851 CIP Task Force Report No. 138 May 2002 Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Ames, Iowa Task Force Members Lorna Michael Butler (Cochair and Lead Coauthor), College of Agriculture, Departments of Sociology and Anthropology, Iowa State University, Ames Dale M. Maronek (Cochair and Lead Coauthor), Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater Contributing Authors Nelson Bills, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York Tim D. Davis, Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center, Dallas Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust, Northampton, Massachusetts Frank M. Howell, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State John Kelly, Public Service and Agriculture, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina Lawrence W. Libby, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus Kameshwari Pothukuchi, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan Diane Relf, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg John K.
    [Show full text]
  • A Conceptual Framework for Incorporation of Composting in Closed-Loop Urban Controlled Environment Agriculture
    sustainability Review A Conceptual Framework for Incorporation of Composting in Closed-Loop Urban Controlled Environment Agriculture Ajwal Dsouza 1,* , Gordon W. Price 2, Mike Dixon 1 and Thomas Graham 1,* 1 Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada; [email protected] 2 Department of Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, PO Box 550, Truro, NS B2N 5E3, Canada; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (A.D.); [email protected] (T.G.) Abstract: Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), specifically advanced greenhouses, plant factories, and vertical farms, has a significant role to play in the urban agri-food landscape through provision of fresh and nutritious food for urban populations. With the push towards improving sustainability of these systems, a circular or closed-loop approach for managing resources is desirable. These crop production systems generate biowaste in the form of crop and growing substrate residues, the disposal of which not only impacts the immediate environment, but also represents a loss of valuable resources. Closing the resource loop through composting of crop residues and urban biowaste is presented. Composting allows for the recovery of carbon dioxide and plant nutrients that can be reused as inputs for crop production, while also providing a mechanism for managing and valorizing biowastes. A conceptual framework for integrating carbon dioxide and nutrient recovery through composting in a CEA system is described along with potential environmental benefits over conventional inputs. Challenges involved in the recovery and reuse of each component, as well Citation: Dsouza, A.; Price, G.W.; as possible solutions, are discussed.
    [Show full text]
  • Review Article Suitable Substrate for Optimal Crop Growth Under
    Journal of Scientific Agriculture 2018,2: 62-65 doi: 10.25081/jsa.2018.v2.860 http://updatepublishing.com/journals/index.php/jsa ISSN: 2184-0261 R E VIEW A RTICLE SUITABLE SUBSTRATE FOR OPTIMAL CROP GROWTH UNDER PROTECTED FARMS–AN ASSESSMENT AMARESH SARKAR*, MRINMOY MAJUMDER Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Agartala, PIN-799046, Tripura, India ABSTRACT An attempt has been made in this paper, to review crop growing substrates for protected farms. Optimal substrate type and volume for different crops cultivar is different. Substrate selection is a critical factor for optimal production of high-quality vegetables. Crop root orientation and depth determine the type and volume of substrate required which is very important for optimal crop growth and maximum profit. Growing crops on substrates in protected skyscrapers would not only mitigate the need for more land, it produces growing space vertically. Keywords: Substrate, Nutrient solution, Controlled environment agriculture INTRODUCTION structure can also be constructed on non-cultivable soil and urban roof-tops [21]. The amount of solar radiation, Food need is increasing globally as the inhabitants are which provides the energy to evaporate moisture from the increasing. Protected farming is a popular technique for substrate and the plant, is the major factor. Other growing vegetables all seasons regardless of location and important factors include air temperature, wind speed, and climate. The most innovative technology for plants humidity level [11]. The plant canopy size and shape growing in greenhouses is growing plants in mineral influences light absorption, reflection, and the rate at substrates such as rock wool, vermiculite, perlite, zeolite, which water evaporates from the soil.
    [Show full text]
  • Urban Agriculture NO
    Urban agriculture NO. 155 // THEME 01 // WEEK 29 // JULY 20, 2018 THEME 01 Urban agriculture FOOD AGRICULTURE CITY We are moving to cities in a fast pace. Rapid urbanization is taking us farther away from the countryside and the sources of our food production. This leads to costly problems such as food waste and health issues. Urban agriculture can address these problems by creating integral solutions. Our observations • In 30 years’ time, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in urban areas, according to a United Nations report. Today, already more than half of the world’s population live in an urban area. Rapid urbanization into cities puts serious strains on the food chain (with increasing meat consumption as the most important example of this) and municipal water supplies. • Urban health problems are growing. High intake of energy-dense food that is cheap and available anywhere and anytime, coupled with limited physical activity, leads to rising health problems, especially obesity. Citizens of lower economic classes particularly struggle to reliably access nutritious, healthy food. • Around the world, we waste approximately a third of the food produced. Although food is lost along the chain, most is lost towards the end of it: at restaurants or households. • Research shows that urban agriculture, defined as the growing of crops in cities, could produce 10% of the global output of legumes, roots and tubers, and vegetable crops or 180 million metric tons of food a year. Furthermore, this study has quantified that the benefits of urban agriculture (energy savings, climate regulation, biological control of pests, etc.) could amount to $80-160 billion annually.
    [Show full text]
  • Capitalist Dynamics from Above and Below in China
    Forthcoming July 2015 with the special issue "AGRARIAN CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA" of Journal of Agrarian Change Agrarian Capitalization without Capitalism?: Capitalist Dynamics from Above and Below in China Hairong Yan and Yiyuan Chen Abstract: Cooperatives, family farms, and dragon-head enterprises are emerging as new subjects of agriculture in China and are being promoted by the Chinese government as engines of agricultural development. The current dynamics of increasing capitalization of agriculture in China has been characterized by scholar Philip Huang as ‘capitalization without proletarianization’. Through case studies, we examine the dynamics of accumulation in Chinese agriculture, as well as the government's agriculture policy shift. We argue that capitalist dynamics exist in Chinese agricultural production and they come from above and below. We also argue that Chinese government’s policy shift toward de-peasantization began in the early years of the rural reform. Keywords: capital accumulation, agrarian capitalism, agrarian populism, Chayanov, China INTRODUCTION: CONTEXT AND DEBATES Thirty some years of market reform has significantly transformed China’s agrarian society and agricultural production. The official political discourse in China disavows Chinese capitalism in general. The Chinese government avows upholding socialism and making markets play ‘a decisive role’ at the same breath (China Daily 2013). It is reported that the private sector already employs 85 per cent of the national labour force, owns 60 per cent of the enterprise capital (Lu 2013) and produced more than 60 per cent GDP in 2013 (Xinhuawang 2014). Reform is underway to open the remaining public sector for private investors. With regard to agricultural sector, the latest national policy asserts ‘socialist market economy’, but strengthens a market-determined pricing system and promotes new subjects (agents) of agriculture that include agribusiness, cooperatives and family farms.
    [Show full text]
  • LED Lighting Systems for Horticulture: Business Growth and Global Distribution
    sustainability Review LED Lighting Systems for Horticulture: Business Growth and Global Distribution Ivan Paucek 1, Elisa Appolloni 1, Giuseppina Pennisi 1,* , Stefania Quaini 2, Giorgio Gianquinto 1 and Francesco Orsini 1 1 DISTAL—Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Technologies, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy; [email protected] (I.P.); [email protected] (E.A.); [email protected] (G.G.); [email protected] (F.O.) 2 FEEM—Foundation Eni Enrico Mattei, 20123 Milano, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 4 August 2020; Accepted: 5 September 2020; Published: 11 September 2020 Abstract: In recent years, research on light emitting diodes (LEDs) has highlighted their great potential as a lighting system for plant growth, development and metabolism control. The suitability of LED devices for plant cultivation has turned the technology into a main component in controlled or closed plant-growing environments, experiencing an extremely fast development of horticulture LED metrics. In this context, the present study aims to provide an insight into the current global horticulture LED industry and the present features and potentialities for LEDs’ applications. An updated review of this industry has been integrated through a database compilation of 301 manufacturers and 1473 LED lighting systems for plant growth. The research identifies Europe (40%) and North America (29%) as the main regions for production. Additionally, the current LED luminaires’ lifespans show 10 and 30% losses of light output after 45,000 and 60,000 working hours on average, respectively, while the 1 vast majority of worldwide LED lighting systems present efficacy values ranging from 2 to 3 µmol J− (70%).
    [Show full text]
  • Vertical Farming Sustainability and Urban Implications
    Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2018/32 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Vertical Farming Sustainability and Urban Implications Daniela Garcia-Caro Briceño DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES INSTITUTIONEN FÖR GEOVETENSKAPER Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2018/32 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Vertical Farming Sustainability and Urban Implications Daniela Garcia-Caro Briceño Supervisor: Cecilia Mark-Herbert Evaluator: Daniel Bergquist Copyright © Daniela Garcia-Caro Briceño, Published at Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University (www.geo.uu.se), Uppsala, 2018 Content 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PROBLEM FORMULATION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 AIM ................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 OUTLINE ......................................................................................................................................... 3 2. METHODS ......................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN ............................................................................................... 4 2.2 RESEARCH DELIMITATIONS ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Aquaponic Growers
    TOP TEN MISTAKES MADE BY aquaponic growers BRIGHT Copyright © 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS IS THIS E-BOOK RIGHT FOR ME? ....................................3 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ......................................................4 ABOUT BRIGHT AGROTECH ..........................................5 THE TOP 10 MISTAKES: 1) UNUSABLE OR HARD-TO-USE FARMS ..........................................6 2) INADEQUATE CIRCULATION/SOLIDS REMOVAL/OR BSA .........7 3) POOR QUALITY WATER ................................................................9 4) UNDERESTIMATING PRODUCTION AND SYSTEM COSTS .........10 5) BIOLOGICAL VIABILITY VS. ECONOMIC VIABILITY....................11 6) CHOOSING THE WRONG CROPS..............................................12 7) SYSTEMS THAT HAVE POOR TRACK RECORDS..........................14 8) LACK OF PEST CONTROL STRATEGY..........................................16 9) GROWERS GET GREEDY .............................................................18 10) FAILURE TO APPROACH MARKETS CREATIVELY......................19 CONCLUSION.................................................................21 2 Back to Top IS THIS EBOOK RIGHT FOR ME? The learning curve of aquaponics is littered with the remains of failed aquaponic ventures and millions of dollars in lost investments. This e-book acts as a guide for beginning aquaponic growers who are interested in operating successful aquaponic systems- whether commercial or hobby systems. This guide will detail 10 of the obstacles which I have encountered again and again on this learning curve
    [Show full text]