Vegetable plant: No need for sun, 95% water saving, high productivity

Compared to farms that operate in the old way, which depends on the land and sunshine, high-tech farms produce 100 times more, using only 5% of normal water.

Cultivation, even in modern or super industrial form, is still relying on quite old technology: applying sunshine, soil, crops, and tractors.

With the standards of technology engineers, who are familiar with 24/7 computer data farms, the above farming is extremely messy and inefficient.

A wave of businesses are rushing to find ways to grow large quantities of food in giant warehouses.

It is also not surprising that these technology farms look more like an Amazon data center than an organic apple orchard. A wave of businesses is hurriedly trying to grow large quantities of food in giant warehouses, using LEDs instead of sunshine and stacking shelves containing nutrient solutions instead of soil .

This particular urban agricultural model focuses on computer systems to monitor thousands of data points and continuously adjust the conditions for plants to grow. Marc Oshima, co-founder of AeroFarms, one of the world's largest straight-forward farms , said the company uses "extensive development algorithms, in which we analyze every aspect from type and light intensity to nutrients, to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, and we create the perfect recipe for every vegetable ".

Setting up such a farm is not cheap.

Contrary to traditional agribusinesses that always design their crops to suit the farming environment - for example, to improve the plant's mold resistance - these companies adjust the environment accordingly. with plant varieties.

Setting up such a farm is not cheap. AeroFarms in New Jersey has earned more than $ 50 million and said it can produce 2 million pounds (more than 900 tons) of food per year in "development towers" at a 21,000-square-foot facility in Newark. Gotham Greens has invested $ 8 million to build a rooftop farm in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. In February, a startup named Bowery Farming in New Jersey attracted $ 7.5 million in investment, started selling "home grown" vegetables at Whole Foods supermarket and a few restaurants in the area.

A vegetable box of Bowery Farming.

High-tech farms are often developed by financially based entrepreneurs and other non-farm businesses, "certainly more costly, but the cost will be balanced by higher productivity." , said Irving Fain, CEO of Bowery. Bowery estimates that every 30cm square of his facility is 100 times more productive than a typical farm.

Fain said Bowery's operating system automatically monitors "hundreds of thousands of data points for health, quality, growth, productivity, taste and flavor of plants". Bowery is also designed to " automate hand-intensive processes" for "farms to run automatically". Also due to the tightly controlled environment and no crops, there are more harvest cycles - AeroFarms has 30 harvests per year.

So far, these capital-intensive indoor farms have focused on growing trendy vegetables.

So far, these capital-intensive indoor farms have focused on growing trendy vegetables that can be sold to those who prefer salads in the area - like kale kale, salads, rocket salads and basil. An AeroFarms box of vegetables costs $ 3.99, of Bowery Farming of $ 3.49, much more expensive than the regular. And that is the main challenge these startups face: there is no cheap product at the supermarket.

Although it is still a rather expensive product, companies are cherishing bigger plans."Once scaled up, we intend to continue to reduce costs and provide the highest quality product at a price that everyone can reach," Fain said.

Mr. Oshima said AeroFarms is considering other crops such as strawberries, peppers, and cucumbers."We focus on finding ways to transform agriculture around the world , " he said.