Chapter 4 Vertical farming
Week 4 on vertical farming and plant factories will continue the discussion on protected cultivation and greenhouse production systems in terms of higher specialization and automatisation. Vertical Farms gained more and more interest in recent years. At least Dickson Despommier’s book “The Vertical Farm. Feeding the World in the 21st Century” (2011) became a landmark for a controvers discussion. In the class we will try to separate facts from wishful thinking. This week we take a look at the presentation on vertical farms.
4.1 Materials
- You will find the materials in eCampus
4.2 Questions
- What plants can be grown in vertical farms and why?
- What are the reasons for choosing a specific crop / plant?
- What are the strengths of a vertical farm?
- What are the major disadvantages of a vertical farm
- How sustainable is crop production in vertical farms in comparison to field or greenhouse production?
4.3 Instructions
- Each student should find at least one video on vertical farming which is focusing on a specific aspect of vertical farming like
- which plant can be grown, what can be achieved with VF
- how are VF organized, what are limitations, are VF economic
- Select one or two of the above topics
- Find a video for this topic. From each video try to select a scenes or scenes which should not be longer than about 2 minutes.
- During class the groups will take a look at the videos and try to analyze them to come to a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges) evaluation of vertical farms on the topic they have chosen.
- In the following we will then focus on the outcome of the SWOT analysis and will discuss it
4.4 Literature for discussion
In the paper discussion we will discuss “On the verge of the market – Plant factories for the automated and standardized production of biopharmaceuticals” (you will find a copy in eCampus). This paper is on newest discussion on so-called plant factories and how they could be used to produce high-value compounds. With this last aspect we will finish the section of protected cultivation and end with future scenarios in horticultural production systems
4.5 Term paper topics
22. … up to the sky
Vertical farming has gained a lot of interest, often with high expectations concerning the goals on feeding the world population or being more sustainable. In a critical review the term paper should highlight what has been achived in the past, where we stand today, and which expectations were not met (yet). But it should also show future trends and what could be reached in the future. Could vertical farms supply the world with food? In a critical review the aims & wishes but also the reality and and future should be considered. Are we really going up to the sky or do we fall like Ikarus being over optimistic? (this term paper is somewhat related to urban horticulture topic “Back to the roots…”).
23. Plant Factories
Is it not consequent to produce crops in a complete closed environment (called plant factory) to be more efficient and sustainable? Is the future of horticulture the industrial production of crops as feedstocks in production plants? In this term paper the state of art of plant factories and future prospects should be reviewed. In a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis trends and challenges will be discussed.