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(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Vertical Farming and Hydroponics: Future Urban Agriculture

(MARCH-2024)

Vertical Farming and Hydroponics: Future Urban Agriculture

Context:

Hydroponics and vertical farming offer efficient and sustainable solutions to urban agriculture challenges. Hydroponics maximises resource use, enables year-round crop production, and increases yields, potentially revolutionising food cultivation, especially leafy vegetables. It reduces waste by conserving water, nutrients, and space, promoting sustainability. The integration of smart technologies and automation enhances agricultural productivity in vertical farming.

Understanding Vertical farming and Hydroponics:

Hydroponics: This prevalent technique in vertical farming involves growing plants on soil-free substances continuously irrigated with nutrients. Plant roots are submerged in a nutrient solution, and the system uses 60-70% less water than traditional agriculture, making it widely utilised in numerous vertical farms worldwide.
Aeroponics: Developed by NASA in the 1990s for space plant growth, aeroponics cultivates plants in a soil-free mist environment with roots hanging down in a closed-air container. This method uses 90% less water than hydroponics, making it a highly efficient 3) system of food production. Plants grown aeroponically absorb more nutrients, resulting in healthier and more nutritious produce. Globally, the largest aeroponic vertical farm is currently situated in New Jersey.
Aquaponics: Going beyond hydroponics, aquaponics integrates fish production into plant cultivation. The system utilises fish-produced nutrient-rich waste as a feed resource for plants, and plants, in turn, purify and recycle wastewater for fishponds. While this system offers ecological benefits, its complexity and higher cost make it less common in vertical farming.

Different Hydroponic Systems

Deep Water Culture (DWC): Plant roots are submerged in a nutrient solution. It is straightforward and low-cost system suitable for beginners. This method involves suspending the plant roots in a solution of nutrient-rich oxygenated water that promotes nutrient absorption.
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT): NFT involves constant flow of nutrient solution over the roots providing them with a steady supply of nutrients and oxygen.
Ebb and Flow System: This method involves cyclic submersion of plants in the nutrient solution, providing nutrients and oxygen to the roots through periodic drainage back into a reservoir.
Drip System: Drip system directly deliver nutrient solutions to plant roots using tubes and drippers. The solution is dripped onto the growing medium, like perlite or coco coir, and can be drained back for potential reuse.
Aeroponics: In aeroponics, plant roots are suspended in the air and misted with a nutrient solution, promoting rapid growth.
Wicking System: Plants in an inert medium use a cotton rope wick to draw nutrient solution from a reservoir to the root zone.
Vertical Tower Systems: These systems allow plants to grow vertically, making the most of limited space.
Krakty Method: A cost-effective hydroponic system that doesn’t require electronic devices or electric current. It involves an initial administration of water and nutrients, proving efficient for plant production while minimising water wastage.

Advantages:

Hydroponics in conjunction with vertical farming utilises 99% less land compared to traditional farming due to the concentrated root system

Hydroponics require less water compared to conventional farming practices
Enables the creation of a controlled microclimate, allowing year-round indoor cultivation of regional or seasonal crops
Protects crops from soil-borne pests and diseases, and adverse weather conditions, thereby reducing the need for pesticides and fertilisers
Flexible to set up locations anywhere, to reduce transportation and warehouse costs, streamlining the supply chain
Facilitates access to fresh produce, ensuring reliable and sustainable food sources
Vertical farming enhances plant productivity per unit area compared to horizontal hydroponic methods
Automated monitoring and control systems enable growers to optimise growing schedules and provide optimal environmental conditions for crops

Disadvantages

High upfront infrastructure costs pose a significant hurdle to the widespread adaptation.
Shortage of expertise and the need for a controlled growing system necessitate a highly educated workforce, leading to elevated labour costs
It is energy-intensive and requires artificial lighting, temperature, and humidity requirements, which increases the cost of production
The absence of natural pollinators in controlled conditions can result in poor fruit sets and the production of small, misshapen fruits
The range of crops cultivated commercially is usually confined to leafy vegetables and microgreens
Require continuous attention and care, with components like pumps and nutrient delivery systems needing regular maintenance

Way Forward

Vertical farming, though expensive, is more affordable by utilising cheap and available shipping containers and abandoned warehouses. Collaborative research is important to bring together current technology practices for increased sustainability.
Hydroponics and vertical farming offer efficient and sustainable solutions to urban agriculture challenges. Hydroponics maximises resource use, enables year-round crop production, and increases yields, potentially revolutionising food cultivation, especially leafy vegetables. It reduces waste by conserving water, nutrients, and space, promoting sustainability.