The construction of the World’s largest vertical farm, in Dubai, was recently announced. Effectively a high tech, multi-storied urban greenhouse, once built it will produce 2.5 tonnes of leafy greens a day, use no soil, and only 1% of the water and chemicals required if the crops were grown conventionally. It will use photovoltaics to power ultra-violet light which will hasten photosynthesis rates in the growing plants. At 130,000 square feet it is nearly double the size of the Aero Farm venture in Newark, New Jersey, the previous holder of the title, and four times larger than the biggest one in Europe, situated in a town called Dronten just south of Amsterdam. Using existing technology, the crop husbandry and its environment can be precisely controlled by remote sensors and controls. Even the flavours can be altered at the press of a button. There are many advantages of producing food in this way which ultimately answer the intensifying problem equation of feeding a growing population from environments of declining quality.
What Agriculture fits with future Environmental needs? Vertical farms and if a worthy use of public money
The Farmer
