Growing up - is vertical farming the future?

Are high rise farms, vertical farming, and urban farming the solution to feeding our growing population? More and more architects, politicians and urban planners are latching on to the idea that something radical has to be done to feed the world’s rapidly growing cities in the coming decades. And not just cities, what about the world’s increasing arid zones, and areas of depleted farming land? What about the pressures to control carbon emissions and reduce food miles?

These questions have led us at Valcent Products in Cornwall to design VertiCrop – a vertical growing system which is now selling worldwide. With it, you can produce over 500,000 lettuces per annum in a 250m2 greenhouse, using much less water, much less energy, and no pesticides in the growing process.

Because VertiCrop is designed for controlled environment growing, plant growth can be fully optimised, meaning good quality produce, and more crop cycles per annum. It works using moving hangers, which circulate to give the plants air flow and exposure to light. It can be any height from 3m to 6m or more, giving 8 to 16 growing levels on each hanger, and using the full height of the building for growing. It is a hydroponic system, and water and nutrients are applied through an advanced irrigation system, which recirculates run-off without wasting a drop.

So, if it is as good as it sounds, will VertiCrop become the standard means of production?  In some places, maybe, but VertiCrop requires capital investment, and is not suitable for tall crops.  The best fit will be where leaf crops, lettuce, or herbs are required and the market wholesale prices are at a level which will offer a good return on investment.

It’s predicted that there will be 9bn of us on the planet by 2050, and the majority of those in cities. If you want to grow where the big populations are (and where land values are high), there is no other way to grow but up. But where those criteria fit – and that is in a lot, and an increasing number, of situations – there are good profits to be made.  So forget the skyscraper farms, this is a serious solution for  growers who want to address the growing challenges we face, and make good profits by doing so.

What do you think about vertical growing and food security? Is it a system you could use in your business?

You can find out Cornwall based Valcent Products (eu) by clicking here.

• Find out more about horticulture and climate change by reading our factsheet here
• Watch our film about what tomato grower Philip Pearson is doing to reduce his carbon footprint here