Indoor Farming: The Modern Era of Farming Industry

As the population is increasing, the supply of vegetables and food is falling. Meeting such high demand for food with the help of traditional farming methods is not possible because of growing problems such as land scarcity, water shortages, and reducing the interest of the upcoming newer generations in farming. In the last few years, farming in the controlled environment has been experiencing a wave of popularity, as it can solve the present problems of the agriculture sector such as limited land area.

What is Vertical Indoor Farming?

The vertical indoor farming method can be referred to as the practice of growing vegetables and fruits in controlled environments by stacking one plant over another. Using the vertically mounted shelf for growing plants helps reduce the land requirements for growing plants compared to the traditional method. Indoor farming is highly practiced in the urban and city areas because of the limited space availability. Vertical farms setup is unique from other farming methods in that plants are not grown on soil.

There are different techniques in which plants are grown, such as hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics. In all these methods, artificial lights are used in place of natural sunlight. Following are some of the different indoor farming techniques.

• Hydroponics:

It is the technique of growing plants in a water, that is filled with minerals and nutrition. The main benefits of the technique are that it decreases the soil requirement and protects the plants from soil problems such as insects, pests, disease, and soil-borne diseases.

• Aeroponics:

In this technique, there is no medium for growing, and no containers are used for crop growing. In place of water, nutrients and mist solutions are used in aeroponics. To support the plants, they are tied for a support, and the roots are sprayed with constant nutrient solutions and require less space, water, and no soil.

The technique of aeroponics was initiated by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) for finding an effective method of growing plants in space in the year 1990.

• Aquaponics:

The word aquaponics is the combination of the two words, aquaculture means fish farming, and hydroponics means a method of growing plants without the use of soil. It was done to develop a symbiotic relationship between the fishes and the plants.

The symbiosis can be achieved from the water of fish tanks high in nutrients and act as “fertigate” to hydroponic production of the beds. In turn, these beds also work as biofilters and remove acids, chemicals, and gasses such as nitrates, phosphates, and ammonia from the water.

How Indoor Farming getting developed using technology??

Today the use of technology such as artificial intelligence is helping farmers in growing healthier crops, controlling pests, monitoring temperature and soil conditions through agriculture sensors, collecting information for the farmers, and many other activities related to farming.

Artificial intelligence can have a huge impact on the indoor farming method for getting better efficiency and higher yields. Meanwhile, indoor farming is also using LED panels for light instead of natural sunlight, which means the process of growing vegetables and food is done 24/7 inside the indoor farming.

Artificial intelligence can also help regulate the combination of red, white, and blue lights for proper plant growth.

Market Insight of Indoor Farming Technology:

Recent studies of BIS Research on the indoor farming technology market suggest that the market is expected to touch $12,767.3 million by 2026 with a CAGR of 14.80% during the forecasted period (2021–2026).

The reason behind the growing market is the rising demand for organic and fresh food products and the need for different methods for growing crops.

Hardware systems are the dominating technologies in the indoor farming technology market. These are the complete replacement for the natural conditions used in the traditional farming method. Hence, controllers, sensors, lighting systems, climate control devices, and irrigation systems play a major role in the development of indoor farming.

The region generating the highest revenue is North America with $1,877.1 million in 2020.

Conclusion:

Vertical farming is a sustainable alternative to reduce the demand pressure of food from traditional agriculture. Although agriculture technologies are still in the developing stage, but they can be a solution to various issues affecting the agriculture sector.