Aside from humanity, no other species has intentionally and radically altered the surface of the planet to produce food. Insects such as ants grow and harvest fungi, but most wild creatures rely on the established natural food chain. Agriculture has permitted people to inhabit nearly every livable spot on earth, but that mobility comes with a steep price tag for the environment. Indoor vertical farming systems provide an alternative to traditional food production.
As climate change makes marginal agricultural areas less productive, acreage and available water supplies are decreasing in some areas. The need for adopting revolutionary methods of food production has gained a greater sense of urgency. The idea of raising crops inside high rises has existed for several decades, but the conditions that humanity currently faces are making those concepts seem far more practical.
The idealized family farm of years past no longer exists on a practical level. A world population that exceeds several billion demands industrial-scale growing practices that rely on pesticides and genetically engineered super-plants to turn a profit. Although no one is actually suggesting agriculture be scaled back, current growing methods have resulted in fragmented ecosystems and widespread habitat destruction.
Back-yard or deck gardens often make use of multi-tiered pots having several growing levels, and large-scale vertical agriculture uses the same principles. Many plants that are traditionally raised on large outdoor plots actually thrive when planted in upright structures. When applied to high-rise agriculture, comparable harvests are produced using less soil and supplemental fertilizer, allowing farms to flourish in the shadow of skyscrapers.
Greenhouses have existed for centuries, and the new high-rise concepts expand on that success. Ideally, vertical agriculture could produce enough to sustain the inhabitants of a large city without relying on imported resources. While most methods currently being tested exclude animal husbandry, creatures such as pigs or chickens are already being grown in comparatively restricted spaces.
There are numerous advantages to high-rise agriculture. Crop failure due to storm damage is reduced or eliminated as long as electrical power is available. Toxic runoff from pesticides is a proven hazard in some regions, but would be far easier to control using vertical systems. Fossil fuels used to power farm machinery would not be needed, and there would be practically no water waste. Animal and plant diseases could be more easily controlled.
Many currently wasted field products could be used, or simply recycled. Big agriculture today is a major producer of methane, a gas that can be captured and cleaned for electrical generation inside a closed system. Excess power could be added to the existing grid. Able residents with few prospects for employment could find greater opportunities in urban farming, and could produce local products year-round.
The biggest winner would be the natural environment. When powerful civilizations in past centuries have collapsed due to war or famine, nature began to reclaim the cities immediately. Cutting back on destructive agricultural practices might help accomplish the same result minus the social upheaval. Traditional methods of farming will never disappear altogether, but vertical agriculture is an idea whose time has arrived.
As climate change makes marginal agricultural areas less productive, acreage and available water supplies are decreasing in some areas. The need for adopting revolutionary methods of food production has gained a greater sense of urgency. The idea of raising crops inside high rises has existed for several decades, but the conditions that humanity currently faces are making those concepts seem far more practical.
The idealized family farm of years past no longer exists on a practical level. A world population that exceeds several billion demands industrial-scale growing practices that rely on pesticides and genetically engineered super-plants to turn a profit. Although no one is actually suggesting agriculture be scaled back, current growing methods have resulted in fragmented ecosystems and widespread habitat destruction.
Back-yard or deck gardens often make use of multi-tiered pots having several growing levels, and large-scale vertical agriculture uses the same principles. Many plants that are traditionally raised on large outdoor plots actually thrive when planted in upright structures. When applied to high-rise agriculture, comparable harvests are produced using less soil and supplemental fertilizer, allowing farms to flourish in the shadow of skyscrapers.
Greenhouses have existed for centuries, and the new high-rise concepts expand on that success. Ideally, vertical agriculture could produce enough to sustain the inhabitants of a large city without relying on imported resources. While most methods currently being tested exclude animal husbandry, creatures such as pigs or chickens are already being grown in comparatively restricted spaces.
There are numerous advantages to high-rise agriculture. Crop failure due to storm damage is reduced or eliminated as long as electrical power is available. Toxic runoff from pesticides is a proven hazard in some regions, but would be far easier to control using vertical systems. Fossil fuels used to power farm machinery would not be needed, and there would be practically no water waste. Animal and plant diseases could be more easily controlled.
Many currently wasted field products could be used, or simply recycled. Big agriculture today is a major producer of methane, a gas that can be captured and cleaned for electrical generation inside a closed system. Excess power could be added to the existing grid. Able residents with few prospects for employment could find greater opportunities in urban farming, and could produce local products year-round.
The biggest winner would be the natural environment. When powerful civilizations in past centuries have collapsed due to war or famine, nature began to reclaim the cities immediately. Cutting back on destructive agricultural practices might help accomplish the same result minus the social upheaval. Traditional methods of farming will never disappear altogether, but vertical agriculture is an idea whose time has arrived.
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