Vertical farming

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. This is necessary as a population expands and there is no room left on a planet's surface for growing enough food. It is controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth. Lots of water is lost from evaporation and transpiration in traditional farming and techniques are used to save water. Successful vertical farming should have at least 400 times more yield, use 95% less water and 99% less space; however consuming a lot more energy and creating more pollution.

Soilless farming techniques are employed:


 * Hydroponics - the technique of growing plants without soil, increasing yield per area and reducing water usage.
 * Aquaponics - combining fish farming and hydroponics
 * Aeroponics - a liquid solution where nutrients are misted in air chambers where plants are suspended, using up to 90% less water than hydroponic systems

Advantages

 * Vertical farming can be done in a city and therefore its produce only travels a short distance to reach stores compared to traditional farming method produce
 * Environmentally responsible by lowering emission and reducing needed water
 * Control of pests is more easily managed in vertical farms, so the ability to grow organic crops is easier than in traditional farming.


 * Resistance to weather, as vertical farms can be housed in buildings or “deep farms” built from refurbished underground tunnels or abandoned mine shafts.
 * Reduce the amount of farmland, thus saving many natural resources.
 * Deforestation and desertification caused by agricultural encroachment on natural biomes could be avoided
 * Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, protecting soil, and reducing emissions.

Disadvantages

 * Large startup costs, which should soon be recovered from demand.
 * Energy consumption - much less light is available to crops than when they are planted on flat land, and artificial supplemental light would be required. Heating and cooling is also a lot more expensive.
 * Pollution due to extra power needs and carbon emission