CANADA - VIDEO: Agritech Startup Reimagines Hydroponic Farming

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BY: OBJ staff

Dec 2, 2020

A team of entrepreneurs incubating their early-stage company in Kingston is hoping its modular hydroponic farming solution will help reduce food insecurity around the world – particularly in places acutely affected by climate change and shortages of arable land.

Dunya Habitats is developing modular “tiny farms” that stand about two metres high that can be combined in clusters. They allow farmers to grow produce year-round in any climate, ranging from freezing locales in the Canadian Arctic to drought-prone regions of sub-Saharan Africa, and are currently being tested in Kingston, Atlantic Canada, and Alberta.

“Hydroponics is a proven method. We’ve helped to optimize it,” says Sumi Shanmuganathan, chief strategy officer at Dunya Habitats.

Hear more of Shanmuganathan’s conversation with OBJ’s Mark Van Dusen by watching the video above

TAGS: Hydroponics.

CANADA: CEA Supplier Sustainitech Finds Capital Partner

FullCycle Climate Partners just announced their investment in Sustainitech, a controlled environment agriculture company based in Toronto.  Sustainitech's energy-efficient indoor farming system uses HIFI (High Intensity Farming Indoor) containers that realize increased crop density over industry-standard greenhouses and hydroponic vertical farms. "Their technology consumes less electricity per unit of agricultural produce to achieve high crop yields at industry leading prices," they say. 

"Sustainitech is an indoor farming technology developer focused on growing environments that are competitive to modern greenhouse farming. Their horizontal farming complex is designed to enable flexible and crop agnostic farming, creating the ability to grow high value produce up to 6ft tall, not possible in vertical farming," they say. 

"With climate change's long-term impact on crop yield, this investment is particularly well-timed, given the new US administration's focus on infrastructure solutions to address climate change. Secular growth and political priorities are expected to have valuable implications for low-carbon technologies like Sustainitech and others in the FullCycle portfolio," they explain. 

In a move expected to spur further development into the carbon-neutral economy, President-Elect Biden appointed John Kerry to lead the Presidential Envoy for Climate, and his $2 trillion clean energy investment package totals 20x the clean-energy spending in Mr. Obama's 2009 economic-recovery package.

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"Climate change is a threat to global food security. The innovations pioneered at Sustainitech will allow communities to count on access to a wide variety of fresh, low-cost, and nutritious produce while reducing the climate impact from their food supply chain. We see Sustainitech playing a pivotal role in growing a wide range of crops in any climate at industry-leading costs and best in class energy usage," FullCycle Founder and Managing Partner, Ibrahim AlHusseini said in a statement announcing the investment.

Sustainitech fits well within the FullCycle portfolio. Their unit economics exceed FullCycle's IRR thresholds, and their Carbon-Return-on-Investment (CROI20) of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP's) meets FullCycle's requirement of gigaton level carbon abatement. With this investment, FullCycle acquired substantial equity as well as exclusive rights to invest in the roll-out of Sustainitech's projects worldwide.

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"As the demand for building larger facilities grows, we needed to find the right capital partner to scale us from the present through to a high growth future. Only FullCycle offers the right instruments, tools, and values to allow us to chart a path to a multi-billion-dollar horizon while keeping our focus on a sustainable future," said Sustainitech CEO Joey Hundert.

FullCycle also announced the appointment of Ann M. Veneman to their Board of Advisors. Previously Veneman was the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the first and only woman to hold that position to date. "I have spent much of my career in agriculture, and look forward to identifying promising and sustainable climate-friendly solutions," said former US Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman.

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26 Nov 2020

Global CEA Census Report Shows Continued Positivity Despite COVID-19

1 December 2020: Autogrow and Agritecture Consulting have released the 2nd Annual Global CEA Census Report highlighting positive signs of growth despite the global pandemic. 

Data captured over an 8-week period show 95% of growers have an optimistic outlook for the next 12 months with all types of operations including greenhouses, shipping containers, tunnel, and vertical farms showing profitability.

“The optimism reflects what we have seen across many areas of the industry including increased technology adoption and increased consumer expenditure on fresh produce. And despite the challenges we’re seeing an overwhelming number of new entrants into the market,” says Autogrow CEO Darryn Keiller.

“What has not changed is the high percentage of new growers, almost 50%, that have no experience in agriculture before starting their business. That lack of experience has an impact on new technology solutions created and the need for more education to be available to support them. It also shows a real desire to make a difference considering their willingness to start during a pandemic.”

Respondents from 58 countries shared their views on their farming practices, financials, and the impact of COVID-19. The report also gave insight on three key growth regions around the world – India, the UK, and MENA (Middle East & North Africa).

"The results of the 2020 Census confirmed our hypothesis that the UK, India, and MENA regions are the emerging hotspots for CEA, albeit for different reasons. In the UK, Brexit is driving investment towards CEA to combat supply chain risks, while in India rising population and increased premium consumer demand for clean food are driving CEA. In the MENA region, government responses to COVID-19 have accelerated policies and incentives for developing scalable CEA solutions,” explains Agritecture Consulting Founder Henry Gordon-Smith.

“All of these regions present great opportunities for the CEA industry to grow and make a meaningful impact on their respective local conditions.”

Other takeaways from the Census:

• 68% of respondents are salad green growers

• 88% of growers surveyed are below age 50

• 29% of respondents receive funding from multiple sources

For a copy of the FREE report - https://engage.autogrow.com/census

INDIA: This Goa Couple Grow Their Veggies & Fish Without Using Soil or Chemicals!

AUTHOR: GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

December 1, 2020

Goa-based Peter Singh is 74-years-old, and his wife Neeno Kaur is 65. They are a power couple, setting an example of how to be self-reliant with food, and at the same time, converting biodegradable waste into something useful.

On 185 square meters of greenhouse and rooftop garden, in their house at Dona Paula, Panaji, they produce 120 kilograms of fish a year and grow 3,000 plants consisting of vegetables and fruits.

For the last four years, they have been practicing aquaponics at home, a combination of aquaculture (raising fish in tanks), with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water).

However, they do with a twist. “We do aquaponics with permaculture,” says Peter Singh, explaining his system to a bunch of enthusiasts earlier this year.

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(L) Peter Singh in his air-conditioned greenhouse that has plants which require a cooler climate. (R) Ornamental fish are grown in a fish tank

He adds, “We compost our kitchen and garden waste and use it in our aquaponics. Plants are potted in a layer of gravel, 1/3rd of coco peat, and 2/3rd of compost. So, our plants get compost plus fish waste, which results in a higher yield. I don’t use any chemicals for this, and I am taking care of my waste and my food.”

One may wonder why they are doing it. For them, the answer is simple–they want to eat organic and be sure of how their food is grown.

Moreover, both have a background in agriculture.

“I was studying Mathematics at the Delhi University; the idea was to stay in Delhi, but then we thought of moving back to our farms in Jalandhar, Punjab. We worked on different forms of agriculture, in which different fruit and timber trees were planted, we did intercropping in the orchard of oilseeds and pulses, produced seeds for the national seed corporation, had a dairy farm, did beekeeping and even exported the honey,” explains Singh.

They moved to Goa seven years ago and found it difficult to source organic vegetables. The majority of the vegetables in the state come from the neighboring city of Belgaum in Karnataka. So, they decided to grow their food in this unique way.

“As we have limited space in Goa, we experimented and discovered aquaponics. We downloaded papers from universities, and read about it. And came up with this model,” says Singh.

They opine that they are still experimenting and bring in changes accordingly. As they have the technical know-how and a background in farming, they are quite confident of their system.

How this system works

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Peter Singh explaining the model

This system of aquaponics which involves the fish tank, NFT pipes, (Nutrient Film Technique) which are used to grow vegetables, water-pumps, and artificial grow lights, may look complicated. But Singh makes it easier to understand. He has also made a model of this system that can fit in any balcony or even in any corner of the living room.

“This unit of 2 ft by 6 ft and 6 ft high, with artificial lighting of 200 watts uses 250 litres of water and can grow 180 plants. One can grow lettuce, kale, bok choy or any other vegetable. One fish tank can sustain five kilograms of fish mass so that you can have ten fresh-water fish of ½ kg each,” elaborates Singh.

The system works mainly on electricity, water, and fish waste.

Singh explains, “In a fish tank, the fish waste is mainly ammonia. In this system, aerators circulate the water and create a current. The fish waste settles at the bottom, and the pipes take this waste into the bio-filter, which breaks the ammonia into nitrates and nitrites for plants to use.”

The water gets further filtered and goes back to the fish. It also has aeroponic towers which work as the nursery of plants. It is also a space-saving system as it is vertical.

“Because of heavy nitrogen, green vegetables grow very well. We have lettuce, bok choy, and celery. Also, this system uses 10 percent of the water used in traditional soil-based farming, as water is constantly getting re-used. The only loss is in the evaporation. There’s no need of watering, no weeding, one only has to feed the fish twice a day,” says Neeno Kaur.

The entire system has three fish tanks on the ground floor. One is of 3,000 litres of water; second is 1,500 litres, and the third is 4,000 litres. They raise three types of fresh-water fish—rohu, catla, and chonak or sea bass. If one does not eat fish, Singh suggests using ornamental fish.

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The rooftop garden

On their roof, they have a greenhouse of 12ft by 24ft, which has 2,000 plants. The greenhouse in the back garden is 6 ft by 16 ft and has 500 plants. A roof-top garden has 25 fruit trees, 300 onions, and an assortment of chillies, lemons, tomatoes, aloe, chives, creepers like ivy gourd, bottle gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, ladyfinger, brinjal.

Along a boundary on the ground floor, they have mango, banana, and papaya. They also have an air-conditioned tunnel of 8 ft by 12 ft in their greenhouse, with 1,000 plants of lettuce, kale, bok choy, basil, parsley, cabbage, and broccoli. For the whole system, they spend around Rs 14,000 per month.

The aquaponics system doesn’t require cleaning of water as the water gets filtered in the process. And all the fittings are made by Singh himself. He has also part-time workers for about six hours a day. He adds, “We spend Rs 6,000 on electricity, Rs 4,000 on feeding the fish, and another Rs 4,000 on labour.”

They won the first prize for Most Innovative Stall at the Aqua Goa Mega Fish Festival 2020 held in February.

Agriculture expert from Goa, Miguel Braganza opines, “Peter Singh’s aquaponics is good for those who can afford it as the basic cost of the unit is Rs 30,000. Also, it is ideal for those who eat salads and continental cuisine.”

Regarding the cost, Singh states that it is high “because we pump water from the ground floor to the greenhouse on the roof. If it is on the same floor, this is much lower.”

They also have plans for solar panels and making fish feed at home to be self-sustainable. He adds, “If we automate the system, and put in solar power, then costing will go down substantially. We are also working on growing feed for fish. So our whole system becomes self-dependent.”

However, they are also trying to monetise from this system, by conducting two-day training programmes priced at Rs 5,000. Singh adds, “We also custom design and help set up aquaponics systems, of any scale, from small home systems to commercial systems, charging 10 per cent of the capital cost for the design.”

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(L) Bok Choi grown in aeroponic towers. (R) Gourds grown on the roof.

Recently, they started selling these vegetables from their home. A basket contains two bunches of lettuce, a baby bok choy, three sticks of celery, sprigs of parsley, basil, and a small bunch of mint, priced at Rs 100. They will also add kale and Swiss chard to it. From next month, their air-conditioned model will produce about 300 packs of greens a month at Rs 120 each.

Singh and Kaur are hopeful that more people will learn from this system and eat healthy food as it is the need of the hour.

He concludes, “This method is independent of the weather, rain, hail, and sun; it is protected from predators and is the future of agriculture. It doesn’t need land, soil, or chemicals, and produces vegetables and fish wherever you are.”

Also Read: Experts Answer: Can a Hydroponics Farm Be a Good Business? Here’s How!

This shows that aquaponics could be next best thing in agriculture due to urbanisation and loss of agricultural land. It is estimated that the market of aquaponics will grow with the awareness to eat healthy food.

According to a report by Assocham and Ernst & Young, organic products market in India have been growing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 25 percent, expected to touch ₹10,000-₹12,000 crore by 2020 from the current market size of ₹ 4,000 crore. As aquaponics is a part of the organic market, the future looks bright for this new-age form of agriculture.

During the current nationwide lockdown to tackle COVID-19, Peter Singh is selling their produce once a week from their home by maintaining social distancing. He says, “We slowed down the sale of our produce in the first week, and worked out a weekly production schedule, which includes a weekly harvest and transplantation. This means we will be able to supply every week all year round.”

Lead photo: Peter Singh is 74, and his wife Neeno Kaur is 65. Together, they grow 3,000 plants on just 185 sqm by a method that’s independent of the rain, hail, and sun!

(Written by Arti Das and Edited by Shruti Singhal)

Infarm Drives Expansion of Urban Farming in Japan

NEWS PROVIDED BY

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Infarm

02 Dec, 2020

Infarm's rapid growth in Asia continues with new agreement to offer freshly-harvested produce to Summit supermarkets in the Tokyo metropolitan area

Following partnerships announced with East Japan Railway Company (JR East), food retailer, Kinokuniya and distributor Muroo Co. Ltd, Infarm produce to appear at partner retail locations starting in January 2021.

TOKYO, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infarm, the world's fastest-growing urban farming network, announced today a partnership with Summit Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of  Sumitomo Corporation Group to offer fresh produce grown and harvested at the company's Summit Store (supermarket), one of Tokyo's leading supermarket chains.  With annual revenue (as of March 2020) of USD 3B, Summit Inc. has 120 retail locations across the Tokyo metropolitan area. The first farms will be installed by Infarm at Summit's Gotanno location, in conjunction with the store's rebuilding in December 2020, and produce will be available for purchase at Summit Gotanno store at the end of January 2021.

This announcement marks Infarm's second major partnership in Japan. The company first expanded into the market through partnerships with East Japan Railway Company (JR East), food retailer, Kinokuniya, and national food distributor, Muroo Co. Ltd,  announced in February 2020. Infarm produce will first be available to Kinokuniya consumers on January 19, 2021, at the Aoyama International flagship store and on January 23, 2021, at the Nishi-Ogikubo store located at the JR Nishiogikubo station. Additional Kinokuniya stores are expected to follow through 2021.

"We are very pleased to partner with Infarm. Since last year, we have been communicating with Erez and Mr. Hiraishi, and our business vision and chemistry matched with each other, which led to this partnership. We look forward to serving our customers with Infarm vegetables at our Gotanno store, an important flagship store for Summit," commented Junpei Yamamoto, Executive Officer of Summit Inc.

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 "Japan's busy urban centers present a unique opportunity to improve the way millions of people get access to fresh, sustainable produce.  We're proud to partner with Summit as we continue to grow in this dynamic market. Summit's commitment to offering high-quality food to customers at all price points, while reducing waste and making shopping enjoyable, aligns perfectly with Infarm's vision to make fresh nutritious food available to everyone," commented Erez Galonska, co-founder and CEO of Infarm.

 According to some estimates, Japan relies on imports for about 60% of its food, contributing to a tremendous amount of cumulative food miles, while annual food waste has been estimated to have reached more than 6.12 million tons[1].  In addition, Japan has one of the highest rates of pesticide use in the world according to estimates offered by the FAO.[2]  By partnering closely with Japanese clients, Infarm hopes to make a positive contribution to retailer efforts to reduce the negative environmental impact of produce with fresh food that is grown as closely as possible to the point of consumption.

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 "We continue to experience positive momentum in Japan and believe our approach to farming will be attractive to Tokyo consumers. Our clients can be sure that our harvesters have taken care of each plant as if it were in their very own garden, full of flavour and pesticide-free. We're convinced that Infarm shoppers will taste and notice the difference," said Ikuo C. Hiraishi, Managing Director, Infarm Japan.

Infarm has developed the world's most advanced, easily scalable and rapidly deployable modular farms that can transform any retail space and fulfil any market demand.  Each in-store farm offers a controlled environment with growing recipes that bring out the natural flavour and properties of each plant.

The individual farms are connected and remotely controlled from a central farming platform that gathers up-to-the-minute information about each plant's growth and learns, adjusts and improves itself continuously, so each plant grows better than the one before.

Infarm staff regularly visit the farms to harvest mature plants, place them at the point of sale, and plant new seedlings for the next cycle. Consumers have access to the plants at their freshest points, still alive with their roots, free of pesticides and full of nutrients and flavour.

"Flavour for me is a primary concern - as I want to offer each of my customers a unique experience that both surprises and delights the palate. Being able to use herbs and lettuces freshly harvested from Infarm gives me a personal garden to be creative and make my dishes sparkle - it's an experience that can really transform your cooking as a chef or for your family at home," said Tim Raue, Infarm client and Michelin-starred chef of Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin.

Founded in 2013, Infarm is one of the world's largest urban farming platforms harvesting and distributing more than 500,000 plants each month across its network. Infarm currently operates across Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland where it has deployed more than 1,200 farms in stores and distribution centres. Since 2013 the company has raised more than 300 million USD.

About Infarm

Infarm was founded in Berlin in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska. Passionate to become self-sufficient and eat better, they were growing their own food, enjoying all the flavour and nutrients, without the chemical pesticides and transport kilometres. With the aim to share the goodness of own-grown produce with everyone, they developed a smart modular farming system, that allows distribution of farms throughout the urban environment, growing fresh produce in any available space and fulfilling any market demand. Today, with cutting edge R&D, patented technologies, and a leading multi-disciplinary team, Infarm is growing a worldwide farming network helping cities become self-sufficient in their food production while significantly improving the safety, quality, and environmental footprint of our food.

With a multinational team of 700 people globally, Infarm has partnered with more than 30 major food retailers including Albert Heijn, Aldi Süd, Amazon Fresh, Auchan, Casino, E.Leclerc, Edeka, Empire Company Ltd (Safeway, Sobeys, ThriftyFoods), Farmdrop, Intermarché, Irma, Kaufland, Kinokuniya, Kroger, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Migros, Selfridges, Selgros, Summit and Whole Foods Market in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland,  deployed more than 1200 farms in stores and distribution centres, saved more than 40,000,000 litres of water and 50,000 square meters of land, while harvesting 500,000+ plants monthly and growing.

About Summit

Summit Inc. was established in 1963 in Tokyo, 100% owned by Sumitomo Corporation. Summit has spread across the Tokyo metropolitan area with 120 supermarkets. The annual revenue as of March 2020 is USD 3B.

[1] https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202005/202005_09_en.html

[2] http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/EP/visualize

SOURCE Infarm

Sky-High Vegetables: Vertical Farming Sprouts In Singapore

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MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF

November 9, 2012

Singapore is taking local farming to the next level, literally, with the opening of its first commercial vertical farm.

Entrepreneur Jack Ng says he can produce five times as many vegetables as regular farming looking up instead of out. Half a ton of his Sky Greens bok choy and Chinese cabbages, grown inside 120 slender 30-foot towers, are already finding their way into Singapore's grocery stores.

The idea behind vertical farming is simple: Think of skyscrapers with vegetables climbing along the windows. Or a library-sized greenhouse with racks of cascading vegetables instead of books.

Ng's technology is called "A-Go-Gro," and it looks a lot like a 30-foot tall Ferris wheel for plants. Trays of Chinese vegetables are stacked inside an aluminum A-frame, and a belt rotates them so that the plants receive equal light, good airflow, and irrigation. The whole system has a footprint of only about 60 square feet or the size of an average bathroom.

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Troughs of bok choy stack up vertically at the 30-feet urban farm in Singapore. The veggies rotate along the A-frame to ensure they receive even light. Courtesy of MNDSingapore.

Advocates, whose ranks are growing in cities from New York City to Sweden, say vertical farming has a handful of advantages over other forms of urban horticulture. More plants can squeeze into tight city spaces, and fresh produce can grow right next to grocery stores, potentially reducing transportation costs, carbon dioxide emissions, and risk of spoilage. Plus, most vertical farms are indoors, so plants are sheltered from shifting weather and damaging pests.

But is vertical farming just a design fad, or could it be the next frontier of urban agriculture? That depends on your angle — and location.

Implementing these "farmscrapers" on a commercial scale has been challenging, and making them economical has been almost impossible.

It's still up for debate whether vertical farms are more efficient at producing food than traditional greenhouses, says Gene Giacomelli, a plant scientist at the University of Arizona, who directs their the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center.

The limiting factor is light. The total food produced depends on the amount of light reaching plants. Although vertical farms can hold more plants, they still receive just about the same quantity of sunlight as horizontal greenhouses.

"The plants have to share the existing light, and they just grow more slowly," Giacomelli tells The Salt. "You can't amplify the sun."

For American cities, like New York and Chicago, Giacomelli thinks putting plain-old greenhouses on rooftops could be just as efficient as vertical farms – and a lot easier to implement.

In fact, two companies are already working on that approach. Gotham Greens is producing pesticide-free lettuce and basil for restaurants and retailers from rooftop greenhouses in Brooklyn, while Lufa Farms grows 23 veggie varieties in a 31,000-foot greenhouse atop a Montreal office building.

But for the island of Singapore, where real estate is a premium, vertical farming might be the most viable option. "Singapore could be a special case, where land value is so exceptionally high, that you have no choice but to go vertically," Giacomelli says.

An illustration of the 177-feet vertical farm by Plantagon currently in the works for Linkoping, Sweden.

Illustration by Sweco/Plantagon

The Sky Greens vegetables are "flying off the shelves," reports Channel NewsAsia — perhaps because the vertical veggies are fresher than most available in Singapore, which imports most of its produce from China, Malaysia, and the U.S. They do, however, cost about 5 to 10 percent more than regular greens.

"The prices are still reasonable and the vegetables are very fresh and very crispy," Rolasind Tan, a consumer, told Channel NewsAsia. "Sometimes, with imported food, you don't know what happens at farms there."

Lead photo: Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan transplants some leafy green seedlings at the grand opening of Singapore's first commercial vertical farm. Courtesy of MNDSingapore.

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Tags: Singapore urban agriculture farming

Utah Farm Using Robotic Vertical Farming To Feed Their Animals For Less

The Future of Farming Is Here In Utah, All Thanks To Something Called

Robotic Vertical Farming

By: Jordan Hogan

Posted at 8:19 AM, Nov 29, 2020

and last updated 7:08 AM, Nov 30, 2020

MOSIDA, Utah — A Utah tech company, Grōv Technologies, is working with a local farm, Bateman and Mosida Farms, to produce food for their cows more efficiently.

It's being done in towers that handle the whole growing process from start to finish.

The farm produces milk and meat from their cows, but raising them takes a lot of feed and a lot of time.

Now, technology is making part of the process easier.

Olympus Tower farms made by Grōv are a form of robotic vertical farming.

"The key is you can eliminate the weather challenges and it can give you a predictable optimized crop every time," said Steve Lindsley, the president of Grōv Technologies.

It starts with wheat seeds being loaded into trays. Then, they're wheeled up to the top of the tower to start a six-day journey back down to the bottom of the tower for harvest.

Along the way, they're watered with precision and given light from special LEDs that don't give off any heat.

The whole process is automated too, meaning it can run without the help of many traditional farmhands.

Grōv says each one of the towers produces 6,000 lbs of food each time it goes through its cycle. That saves money, time, water and energy. The benefits don’t stop there either — they are then passed on to the consumer.

"Each of these machines represents between 35 and 50 acres of land, so in this case here, it's the same as 50 acres of land but it's only covering 875 square feet of the ground and it uses 95% less water to grow the crops," said Lindsley.

Saving water and space is something that's becoming increasingly important as the demand for more homes increases and climate change increases the chances for extreme drought in the summer months.

"One of the biggest challenges farmers have around the world is how do they deal with the weather, the climate, and the uncertainties that come with that," Lindsley said.

The new technology couldn't have come at a better time for the farm either.

"In the first weeks and the first month of the COVID-19 Pandemic things started to go a little bit crazy," said Brad Bateman, a farming operations partner at Bateman Mosida Farms.

He said the farm wasn't able to order in a lot of their feed at the beginning of the pandemic, threatening the cows' food supply.

Now they can rely on their own production of feed, and this model of farming could be adopted beyond farms in the future.

"The vision that I see is there’s probably one of these in the back of every supermarket growing fresh food right in the store," said Bateman.

Grōv Technologies told FOX 13 they plan on rolling out this technology worldwide once they reach agreements with other farms.

SWEDEN: Vinnova Grants Swegreen And Research Partners 9,1 MSEK Funding For An AI-driven Vertical Farming Project

Nov 13, 2020

Swegreen, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and Mälardalen University team up in an innovation and research cluster named AIFood - From Farm to Fork.

Swedish AgTech rising star Swegreen, together with research partners RISE and Mälardales University, secures funding from Vinnova, for a 9,1 MSEK project aiming to develop further Swegreens’ platform for AI-driven vertical farming and to evolve a digitalized supply chain from farm to fork.

The research partners Swegreen, Mälardalen University and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, have teamed up together to digitalize the urban farming industry and restructure the urban food industry towards climate neutrality by help of Artificial Intelligence. The core for the partners research is Swegreens’ innovation for hyper-local vertical farming and building connected and circular models for integration of those facilities in host buildings.

The cluster started off earlier this year with the project ‘NeigbourFood’, funded with 2 MSEK by Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova, to further develop a data-driven monitoring and optimization for precision farming in closed-loop indoor environment for Swegreen’s offer for Farming as a Service FaaS. The clusters' new project, called ‘AIFood’, has now been granted with 9,1 MSEK, corresponding to approx. 1 Million USD, to enhance the local and sustainable food production systems in urban environments with help of digital technologies.

– A data-driven approach on Vertical Farming has been Swegreens’ main focus from day one, and sustainability is embedded in our DNA as a greentech company, Andreas Dahlin, CEO of Swegreen, says.

– Hand in hand with our technological development, our concrete collaboration with the leading research and academic institutions of Sweden gives us the upper hand to lead this industry’s development as a spearhead enterprise – and our partnership with RISE and Mälardalen University keeps our position on the edge of the development, globally speaking, Andreas Dahlin continues.

The call ‘AI in the service of the climate’ has been launched by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova to support initiatives that focus on use of Artificial Intelligence for minimizing various industries' climate-negative impact. The agricultural and food sector accounts for 30% of the global GHG emissions, and vertical farming can create urban symbiosis as a key factor for resource efficiency and integration of farming facilities into urban infrastructure for significant global greenhouse gas emission cutback.

The ‘AIFood’ project runs for two years and focuses on a proof of concept for autonomous orchestration of vertical farming facilities modeling, and on development of an AI-based platform for precision farming, integration of vertical farms into host buildings, and autonomous interaction of the production facilities with the after-harvest actors.

Dr. Baran Cürüklü, from Mälardalen University – a vibrant AI development academic center – is the Project Lead for the cluster.

– AI can go beyond narrow and specific contributions. In this project, our aim is to demonstrate that complex and intricate systems can be orchestrated by AI, and contribute to rapid transition to a more sustainable agriculture, and even innovative services connecting the whole chain from producer to citizens, says Dr. Baran Cürüklü.

The project has a close collaboration with two other national project platforms as reference groups: Sharing Cities Sweden, a national platform for sharing economy with four testbeds in Stockholm, Umeå, Gothenburg, and Lund and a cluster called Fastighetsdatalabb which focuses on data-related advancement of the real-estate sector.

Dr. Charlie Gullström, a senior researcher at RISE, Sweden’s major research institution and head of Sharing Cities Sweden’s Stockholm testbed, plays an indispensable role in this project. She convenes an interdisciplinary climate panel connected to this project including household name researchers who focus on the climate aspect of the project. Dr. Alex Jonsson from RISE is another senior researcher that attends to the needs for the project from a technical perspective.

Dr. Gullström adds:

– I believe that urban food production can speed up climate transition because it has the potential to engage citizens in local consumption and circular business models that both reduce food waste and unnecessary transports. AI allows us to explore how to complement existing agricultural systems by actively involving stakeholders in the value chain as a whole. In this way, AIFOOD really points the way to a new green deal.

Sepehr Mousavi, Chief Innovation Officer of Swegreen remarks:

– We are proud of this collaboration with leading Swedish research institutions and researchers and see it as a successful model for how a private entity could collaborate with academia and offer its assets as a research infrastructure for the good of the whole industry, in a planet and prosperity win-win model.

– This green transformation of the food sector is dependent on empowering factors such as innovation and circularity enhancement, a connectivity-based and data-driven approach through the whole chain; and the application of Artificial Intelligence as an exponential enabler. Autonomous control of the vertical farming facilities for maximum resource efficiency, scalability and preciseness of operations is of extreme and fundamental importance for both the industry and our company to move forward, adds Sepehr Mousavi.

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Andreas Dahlin

Press Contact

VD

andreas.dahlin@swegreen.se

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Sepehr Mousavi

Chief Innovation Officer

Sepehr.Mousavi@swegreen.se

+46(0)733140043
 

Tags#AI#SweGreen#ArtificialIntelligence#smartcities#foodtech#faas#Viablecities#RISE#MälardalenUniversity#agriculture

INDIA: Simply Fresh Receives ‘Telangana Best Brand Award’ by CMO Asia

The Award Recognizes The Best

And Most Innovative Brands Across Categories

Hyderabad, 01 December 2020:  Simply Fresh, has been awarded the ‘Telangana Best Brand’ award by CMO Asia ‘2020. The award was presented at a virtual felicitation ceremony. The awards recognize, identify, and celebrate outstanding brand building & marketing initiatives by organizations, individuals, and teams for their innovation, uniqueness, consistency, and performance.

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Simply Fresh, an innovative agri-tech startup, using precision farming techniques, has commissioned India’s largest 140-acre ‘Plant Factory’ in Telangana. The company uses plant profiling & nutrient management in climate-controlled greenhouses. The greenhouses have retractable roofs & walls, are equipped with growing systems (benches, gutters, pots, etc.), and supported by AI-driven fertigation and irrigation system. Simply Fresh leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) through its proprietary software Farm in A Box (FiAB), which tracks the plant’s life cycle from the initial stage of seeding, plant profiling, monitoring plant health, and nutrient level requirement at each stage of growth. This gives the brand ‘Simply Fresh’ the unique attributes of transparency and ensures quality and consistency in the product.

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Speaking on the recognition Mr. Sachin Darbarwar, Founder and CEO of Simply Fresh India said “It is a great honour to receive the award from CMO Asia this year. The award encourages us to work hard and bring outstanding quality for produce including nutraceutical crops, medicinal & aromatic plants, leafy greens, and vine crops using precision farming techniques; for the customers through sustainable agriculture practices.”

About Simply Fresh India:

Simply Fresh Private Limited was founded in 2013 by two Indian software engineers, based in Australia, Sachin Darbarwar (CEO) and Shweta Darbarwar (CMO). With a strong understanding of the technical processes associated with farming techniques, the duo shifted back to their hometown Hyderabad, where they started implementing the latest farming techniques that are inspired by international farming practices. 

Simply Fresh uses global technology in farming based on international standards using precision farming techniques. The farm uses AI technology in farming for growing, nourishing, picking, and processing. Farming uses sustainable practices that do not exhaust natural resources. Simply Fresh Farms produces a full line of Medicinal plants and fresh produce year-round at our greenhouses located in Hyderabad. They are a grower-owned processor adhering to industry-leading food safety and quality standards.

For more information please Visit Us on:  simplyfresh.co.in

For more information please contact: KONNECTIONS

Anurag Kumar - 8686072400 / anurag.kumar@konnections.co.in

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Vertical Farming In New Jersey

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November 19, 2020 

By Eric Stein

Introduction

Vertical and indoor farming is an emerging growth industry and New Jersey  is show-casing itself as a leader in the field. Some of the most well-known companies like AeroFarms, Bowery Farming, and Element Farms have made New Jersey their home in part due to the proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, which represent huge markets for food and dining out.  This post will highlight  the impacts these and other indoor farms are having in the Garden State.

What is Indoor Farming?

Indoor farming represents the cultivation of crops in a controlled environment thus allowing for year-round growing. This approach to growing food  includes a range of methods such as greenhouse production, hydroponics, aeroponics, plant factories, and vertical farming. 

Many new technologies and methods are used to fine-tune nutrient delivery, water use, climate conditions and artificial lighting to create optimal growing conditions using fewer resources. These innovative designs and technologies help make indoor farming methods more sustainable and allow for the production of fresh vegetables and greens anywhere throughout the year. 

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Benefits of Indoor Farming

The benefits of indoor farming are numerous. Some argue that on a macro scale indoor farming addresses many of the concerns regarding traditional food production methods such as the over-use of pesticides, the consumption of freshwater, soil erosion, and nutrient loading. Furthermore, some argue that it offers a new way to feed an ever increasing world population, which is expected to climb to over 9 billion by 2050.

On a micro level, indoor and vertical farming offers sustainable growing practices, higher yields with the use of less water and space, pesticide-free fresh foods, consistent quality, stable pricing, year-round availability, and local production close to urban centers. The appearance of Covid-19 has highlighted the weakness of long-distance food supply chains in the United States, pointing towards the importance of local and sustainable food sources. 

Why New Jersey?

New Jersey has a long agricultural history dating back to pre-colonial times, which is how it acquired its name as the “Garden State.” Traditional cultivation methods of NJ’s fertile land have earned New Jersey its spot as a top producer of several horticultural crops. New Jersey ‘s cultivation of over 720,000 acres is thus seen as vital part of a multi-billion-dollar industry totaling over $115 billion (2019). However, in recent years, the high cost of land and urban encroachment of farmlands has become a serious concern for the state. New Jersey has experienced the highest decline of farmland and rural open land in the United States. 

Limited available farmland has pushed some producers into urban and peri-urban areas. Others have been enticed with investments and tax incentives to move operations to urban areas across the Garden State. Companies like AeroFarms, Bowery and others have established themselves in New Jersey’s cities and are benefitting consumers with local fresh foods, offering employment opportunities, and championing urban development initiatives and partnerships.

Bowery Farming in Kearny, NJ

Headquartered in New York City, Bowery Farming has farms in Kearny, NJ, Maryland, and Washington DC. Bowery’s recent series B funding led by a $90 million investment by GGV brings the indoor vertical farming company’s venture funding to $117.5 million. The indoor farm in Kearny produces arugula, basil, crispy leaf, and butterhead lettuce in a repurposed industrial space using Bowery’s proprietary technologies, which help to collect data and optimize production. According to its website, the farm claims to be 100 times more productive on the same amount of land and use 90% less water than traditional agricultural methods. Bowery Farming’s produce is now available in over 650 retail stores in the Mid-Atlantic area making it one of the larger producers of vertically farmed greens and herbs in the U.S. 

“Climate events continue to disrupt the way food is grown and distributed, and the pandemic exacerbated the vulnerabilities in our already fragile food system. We need a more resilient solution focused on the future, and that’s exactly what we’re building at Bowery,” says Irving Fain, Founder & CEO of Bowery Farming. “Our growth has been driven by consumer demand for safer and more transparently grown produce, and our ability to provide a consistent and reliable supply to our retail partners. We’re incredibly fortunate to have a dynamic team at Bowery that is relentlessly committed to innovation, strengthening our food system, and increasing access to fresh, healthy food.” 

In addition to employing local residents, community partnerships with Bowery include a New Jersey food rescue effort, Table to Table, the Maryland Food Bank, DC Central Kitchen, and Teens for Food Justice.

AeroFarms in Newark, NJ

AeroFarms operates a 70,000 square foot  farm in a former steel mill in Newark, NJ. They are also building vertical farms in Danville, VA, and in Dubai. AeroFarms raised $100 million in a 2019 funding round, bringing its total funding to over $238 million. Additionally, the company benefits from a grant of $11.14 million in tax incentives over 10 years from the Grow New Jersey Assistance Program, which encouraged them to move to New Jersey. These incentives included requirements for AeroFarms to bring operations into economically depressed areas and make capital improvements to the buildings they occupy. 

Their Dream Greens brand features blends of baby greens and microgreens for local retail sales. AeroFarms uses a proprietary aeroponics method to produce its greens. Aerofarms offers fully-controlled indoor vertical farming with 390 times greater productivity per square foot annually vs. traditional field farming while using 95% less water and zero pesticides according to its web site and in statements by CEO David Rosenberg.  The company highlights its use of advanced sensing technologies, data science, machine vision, and artificial intelligence to achieve these gains.

Moving forward, AeroFarms will be partnering with the city of Jersey City to create a municipal vertical farm. It is a part of the World Economic Forum’s Healthy Cities and Communities 2030 Initiative whereby produce from its vertical farms are delivered to people in the community. AeroFarms also has partnerships with Table to Table and Matriark Foods in New Jersey.

Other Smaller Indoor Farms in New Jersey 

Element Farms produces a variety of baby greens and salad mixes in their greenhouse hydroponics operation which is housed in a new 70,000 square foot facility in Lafayette, NJ, about an hour northwest of Newark. Almost $700,000 was crowdfunded for their expansion into a new greenhouse facility. Element Farms serves the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania tri-state area and seeks to expand into other states in the future. 

Sweetleaf Farm in Andover, NJ, also about 50 minutes northwest of Newark, is a smaller, low-tech operation, run by New Jersey locals Cris  and Guy Tuhy. They produce an array of greens, herbs, and microgreens. Some are traditional crops but they found that the use of hydroponics in their greenhouse allowed them to serve their community with locally grown produce year-round, using minimal land and water. Fortunately, they have found the demand for safe, local produce has increased since the pandemic began. 

In Freehold, NJ, Beyond Organic Growers has transformed the family’s sod farm into a state of the art greenhouse that houses their vertical farming aeroponics operations. The Reid family grows leafy greens, herbs, microgreens, and some specialty crops. In addition to the sales of their produce, they have an organic juice bar on-premise and they host events such as farm-to-table dinners and yoga classes in the greenhouse. 

Non-Profit Indoor Farms

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The town of Robbinsville, NJ created one of the first municipal indoor farms in 2017 using a box container farm purchased rom Freight Farms. The program allows for community participation and provides healthy fresh foods to those in need.

Greens Do Good is a nonprofit organization producing lettuce, microgreens, and basil in Hackensack, NJ to benefit  its customers and a portion of the proceeds go to autistic members of the community. The organization offers individuals with autism the opportunity to work alongside their farmers. They also donate 100% of their proceeds to the REED Foundation for Autism, a nonprofit organization that supports adults with autism by providing continuing education, life experience, and work opportunities so they can achieve greater independence and participate meaningfully in their communities. 

Kula Urban Farm in Asbury Park, NJ includes a mix of traditional farming and a greenhouse for various hydroponic crops. The farm is run by the non-profit organization Interfaith Neighbors as part of a larger array of programs addressing homelessness and food insecurity in the community.

 Summary

In New Jersey, not only are we are seeing an interesting mix of businesses large and small as part of a growing industry but also non-profits benefitting the populations they serve. Vertical and indoor farming ventures are versatile in the ways they can operate in the community by bringing fresh healthy foods, sustainable practices, and new opportunities for education and employment. We look forward to seeing how indoor farming continues to add to the rich history of agriculture in the state of New Jersey.

Tags: Industry Snapshot, Knowledge Base, Learning

This 2-Acre Vertical Farm Produces More Than ‘Flat Farms’ That Are Using 720 Acres

By Andy Corbley

Nov 24, 2020

Another massively successful vertical farming startup is pushing the future of farming towards the sky, literally and figuratively.

From an ag-tech startup named Plenty, a two-acre indoor vertical farm produces yields that would normally require a 720-acre ‘flat farm’—and it can be done with 95% less water.

Saving water is critical in an agricultural state like arid California, where Plenty is set to supply fresh produce for 430 Albertsons grocery stores.

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Plenty

The vision is truly one out of Star Trek, with Plenty’s use of robotics and artificial intelligence to ensure perfect plants year-round.

The reasons to support indoor vertical farming are varied, ranging from climate-related benefits to removing cumbersome logistical challenges like long-distance transportation.

The company’s website says the technology “frees‌ ‌agriculture‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌constraints‌ ‌of‌ ‌weather,‌ ‌seasons,‌ ‌time,‌ ‌distance,‌ ‌pests,‌ ‌natural‌ ‌disasters,‌ ‌and‌ ‌climate” that makes GMO-free ‌‌nutrient-rich‌ ‌plants‌ at scale ‌with‌ ‌“extraordinary‌ ‌flavor.”

Perhaps that is why Driscoll’s, America’s largest fresh berry farmers, have agreed to grow their strawberries year-round in Plenty’s expanding portfolio of vertical farms.

And investors are seeing the potential of seeding their own portfolios with Plenty.

The company’s method for growing greens, like baby kale and lettuce, on giant vertical racks, moved around by robotics recently garnered $400 million in investment capital from the likes of SoftBank, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and former Google chairman Eric Schmidt.

Time to grow

Reductions in transportation chains would eliminate millions of tons of CO2 every year, since instead of importing produce into city centers from farms across the country or the world, you could order it from a warehouse on the edge of town.

Furthermore, Plenty’s farms grow non-GMO crops without the use of pesticides or herbicides, and recycle every drop of water that’s not used, making them extremely friendly to the environment—except for their power usage.

A spokesperson told GNN they were using 100% renewable energy for their flagship farm in San Francisco, to keep emissions down.

Bathed in sun-mimicking LED lights in climate-controlled spaces year-round, the farm ensures veggies grow at an astounding rate, which produces 350-times more food per acre.

MORE: World’s Biggest Rooftop Greenhouse in Montreal is as Big as 3 Football Fields – Now Can Feed 2% of the City

Supply-chain breakdowns resulting from COVID-19 and natural disruptions like this year’s California wildfires, demonstrate the need for a predictable and durable supply of produce can only come from vertical farming, says Nate Storey, co-founder of Plenty.

This will be all the more important if continual warming of the planet leads to droughts or other climate-related disruptions that can’t be overcome by farmers and biologists attempting to make crops more climate and drought-resistant.

MORE: The Largest Urban Rooftop Farm in the World is Now Bearing Fruit (and More) in Paris

Furthermore, vegetables and fruits contain far more micronutrients than cereals, but they also spoil fast and therefore are more expensive. Nations and inner cities that have to import all fresh produce places the poorest in the society at an extreme disadvantage nutritionally speaking. Vertical farming could be the way to solve that problem permanently.

Not only that, Plenty told GNN they have introduced new packaging that is not only made of recycled plastic, it is 100% recyclable, and it keeps food fresh longer to cut food waste.

TAGS Innovation Technology California Food Agriculture Eco-Friendly

GoodLeaf Produce Gets ‘Ontario Made’ Designation

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November 26, 2020
Food in Canada Staff

GoodLeaf Farms entire product line of healthy, Ontario-grown leafy greens has been approved for the Ontario Made designation.

Nutrient-dense microgreens and baby greens are harvested daily at GoodLeaf Farms’ innovative indoor vertical farm in Guelph, Ont., using sustainable practices and the latest technology. Because the farm is indoors, using specialized LED lighting to mimic the rays of the spring sun to optimize photosynthesis, the fully automated farm gives Ontario residents the chance to enjoy fresh local food year-round.

“We are proud to grow and package our fresh microgreens and baby greens right here in Ontario,” says Jacquie Needham, Accounts Manager with GoodLeaf Farms.

“Ontario is a leader in agricultural innovation, and our farm leans heavily on innovation to offer what is often the only Ontario option in a mostly imported produce aisle, particularly during the winter.”

The Ontario Made program, created by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), is supported by the government of Ontario and aims to promote and support locally-made products in the midst of the province’s economic recovery. A label has also been developed to help consumers easily identify, access, and purchase products that are made in Ontario.

The GoodLeaf Farms produce designated as Ontario Made are its Asian Micro Blend, Spicy Mustard Medley, Pea Shoots, Micro Arugula, Baby Arugula, and Baby Kale.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the importance of local food,” says Jacquie. “Ontarians are looking for more local food options. It is fresher, tastes better, and is packed with nutrients. The Ontario Made designation will help them identify those choices in the grocery store.”

GoodLeaf’s leafy greens can be found at Loblaws, Fortinos, Longo’s, Zehrs, Your Independent Grocer, and Whole Foods stores across Ontario.

Search GoodLeaf Farms produce and other Ontario Made products at supportontariomade.ca.

Join the conversation on social media using the hashtags #OntarioMade and #SupportOntarioMade.

SINGAPORE: Planting The Seeds For The Future of Farming

Agritech Startup I.F.F.I. Is Injecting

Science And Technology Into Agriculture

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CLAUDIA CHONG

chongkmc@sph.com

.sg@ClaudiaChongBT - November 27, 2020

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Mr. Lim (left) saw a big business opportunity in urban agriculture and its importance in food sustainability. He decided to start I.F.F.I. with Mr. Tham (right), who now heads the subsidiary as its chief executive.

BT PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN

NELSON Lim, who co-founded an agritech startup in Singapore, likes to joke that his crops are incredibly pampered.

"They have to have the right food and the right water, they 'listen' to music, and they even get 'massaged' with wind from a fan," he said with a laugh.

His company I.F.F.I. intends to lead the charge in precision farming, an approach in agriculture where crops are researched and monitored to receive exactly what they need for optimal growth.

"You can control everything - how hard or soft you want your vegetable to be, the nutrition level, the sweetness level and much more. This is no magic. It's all due to science and technology," he said.

Tech solutions not only help to improve the yield and quality of crops but address the perennial challenge of manpower, which is one of the largest cost factors in urban farming.

At I.F.F.I's indoor showroom in Tuas, a robotic arm performs seeding, transplanting, and vision checks on areas such as seed quality, plant growth, and pre-harvest plant condition.

The company uses the Internet of Things (IoT) software to help with remote monitoring, while a special water treatment system reduces bacteria growth and improves yield rate.

Racks for the crops are also customized to different heights and sizes for precision farming, while a customized light spectrum was designed so that crops are cultivated in an optimum way.

I.F.F.I. was founded a year ago as a subsidiary of TranZplus, a precision machinery and components manufacturer.

TranZplus was one of the main vendors for Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific (PFSAP), when Panasonic began venturing into indoor farming five to six years ago and needed to manufacture some racks.

It was then that Mr. Lim, who was then TranZplus' chief executive, met Alfred Tham, the deputy general manager of PFSAP's agricultural unit. Mr. Lim saw a big business opportunity in urban agriculture and its importance in food sustainability.

He decided to start I.F.F.I. (which stands for Indoor Farm Factory Innovation) with Mr. Tham, who now heads the subsidiary as its chief executive.

Mega farm with mega ambition

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I.F.F.I. was one of only nine urban farms that were offered a total of S$39.4 million in grants by the Singapore Food Agency in August to support local food production.

The company is planning to launch a 38,000 square foot mega indoor farm by the middle of next year. The farm, which is under development at JTC Space @ Tuas, is expected to churn out 800 kg to 1,000 kg of produce per day. It will be able to accommodate about 12 layers of racks for crops, Mr. Tham said.

Mr Lim described the current Covid-19 crisis as a "wake-up call for everyone". With the pandemic sparking concerns over food security and protectionism by food-producing nations, Singapore's ability to rely on local resources has become more important than ever, he said.

The city-state has a "30 by 30" goal to produce 30 percent of nutritional needs locally by 2030. The current figure stands at less than 10 percent.

Vertical indoor farming will be a huge driver of this growth because of its ability to maximize the use of space in land-scarce Singapore, Mr. Lim said.

I.F.F.I's ambitions are not limited to the borders of Singapore. In food-producing countries that are dependent on seasonal crops, the company sees opportunities in helping enterprises and traditional farmers grow their produce indoors under controlled conditions all year round.

The startup's core business model would be to serve as consultants and designers to businesses looking to set up urban farms. It is currently in discussion with three potential clients - one is in traditional farming and looking to automate some processes, another is in the logistics industry and the third is in the marine sector.

In February, I.F.F.I. signed a memorandum of understanding with a manufacturing company in China to set up a joint venture called I.F.F.I. China. The China facility will feature an indoor farm, a salad cafe with produce from the farm, and a gym facility.

The company also has a collaboration with Singapore firm Pure Active Water, which distributes the French patented ActivH2O water treatment technology.

A few investors have already approached I.F.F.I. and shown "great interest", said Mr. Tham. The company is currently in negotiation with them.

Talent and education

One of the company's biggest goals is to spark interest in farming and help drive research in this sector.

"You don't see many people studying hard to try to go into farming," Mr Lim said with a wry smile.

"Can you imagine if we put 'hiring for a farmer' in our job scope? It's a finished game!"

Thankfully, educational institutions have been working closely with the government and private sector to teach youth about the newest farming technologies.

Mr Tham, for instance, is an associate lecturer at Republic Polytechnic for the school's diploma in urban agricultural technology.

I.F.F.I. plans to dedicate a space within its upcoming mega farm for a training and R&D center. The center will host workshops, seminars, institute courses, and research collaborations for crop recipes and farming methods.

A farm-to-table cafe parked next to a cultivation showroom is also in the works, with the aim to let consumers appreciate the value of fresh homegrown indoor crops.

I.F.F.I's parent company TranZplus has about 50 staff, and Mr. Tham, Mr. Lim, and I.F.F.I general manager Dorothy Wong are the key members leading the subsidiary.

As the company expands on its ambitions, I.F.F.I plans to hire 30 to 40 staff, mostly for its mega farm.

"We want to change the mindset of people, and how they look at farming," Mr Tham said. "Farming can also be very sexy!"

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Benefits of Vertical Agriculture And Hydroponics

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By James Ducker, MRes

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

It is estimated that 11 percent, or 1.5 billion hectares, of the world’s land is used for crop production, which represents over a third of the total land suitable for crop production. With a growing population and resource needs, the availability of arable land is going to decrease substantially. Consequently, such rapidly pressing needs should be matched by a higher rate of food production.

What alternative solutions are there and what would they provide?

Throughout modern agriculture, conventional systems use large amounts of space, freshwater, fertilizer, and pesticides to maximize yield production and crop health to ensure food security, which unsustainable when looking into a future of widespread environmental and socioeconomic change.

In response, contemporary methods need to evolve to meet the current and predicted requirements of a growing world population.

Alternative solutions include the use of structural modifications such as vertical agriculture as well as entire systems by incorporating elements such as hydroponics, aeroponic, and aquaponics.

These strategies do not require fertile land to be effective, they require less water and space compared with the conventional agricultural systems and are able to increase the yield per unit of area. Additionally, these strategies use significantly fewer agrichemicals, which are potentially harmful to humans and animals.

As such, two strategies that hold promising interests is the implementation of vertical agricultural systems as well as hydroponics.

Integrating verticality into the design of agricultural systems

Agricultural systems have typically been spread over large spans of land as far as the eye can see. The reduction in arable land as well as the increase in demand to house growing populations, however, means that such strategies need to be reconsidered.

Rather than horizontal systems, large vertical walls covered crops can be used instead. These vertical layouts can employ soil, water, or air-powered systems to manage crops, and can be contained in greenhouses, warehouses, or other such facilities.

As a result, vertical agricultural systems, also known as verticulture, can encompass varying sizes and be located within many different areas from the middle of highly urbanized cities to more suburban or rural areas. The verticality aspect can also enhance nutrient and water flow, helping to reuse costly resources in a much better way than traditional methods, as demonstrated by an Indonesian research team in a study published earlier this year.

The potential location of vertical systems means that the cost of transport is nearly nullified as consumers may access them within urban areas. Moreover, the enclosed feature of verticulture means that pests and parasites are easily controlled, reducing the use of pesticides to a minimum. Finally, the reduction in space required means that there is a significant increase in yield per area, holding extensive potential for a future world of urbanization.

Despite such benefits, several limitations persist. Specifically, it is currently difficult and expensive to construct and manage such systems, which has limited their popularity. Some additional costs are also to be considered, particularly the artificial lighting that is required to help the plants grow. However, technological advances may help reduce the economic pressure of sustaining vertical systems as well as improve the overall efficiency of implementing these systems.

The development of hydroponic strategies

The transformation of agricultural systems may also include changes in applied strategies. For instance, transitioning from primary soil-based systems may provide a range of advantages, particularly in a world undergoing considerable changes in environmental conditions.

In particular, the advent of hydroponic systems represents a strategy of soilless agriculture since it uses mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents to grow crops.

By relying essentially on water and nutrients, hydroponic systems are able to reduce the requirement of space and pesticides. Crop demands for nutrients and water can be controlled precisely to optimize growth and adjust to other conditions. Additionally, hydroponics can be used with other strategies, such as verticulture, and be used to address additional non-agricultural issues in urban areas.

Indeed, not only are hydroponic systems easily manageable, but they can also help mitigate issues of sanitation and animal waste processing. For instance, a recent study by African researchers earlier this year demonstrated how treated municipal wastewater can be used to establish hydroponic systems that produce healthy and sustainable crops for consumption. Additionally, a German study from 2016 designed a double recirculating system based on fish waste as fertilizer for tomato plants, with very promising results.

Nonetheless, hydroponic systems rely heavily on water and management measures, making it an expensive solution even to this day. It is therefore difficult to implement such systems at much larger scales, particularly as water scarcity is increasingly frequent and severe in many regions around the globe. In response, the combination of hydroponics with other strategies including recirculating systems or vertical designs may hold additional potential.

Image Credit: Peter Acker/Shutterstock.com

Alternative strategies in an era of global environmental and socioeconomic changes

Conventional agricultural systems have considerable dependencies on space and resources. Using strategies such as vertical designs and elements including hydroponics could be sustainable alternatives as they require less water, less fertilizer, and less space. Such benefits are key to consider in a rapidly changing world, particularly in terms of saving space and energy.

Rising global temperatures and the increased frequency, as well as the severity of extreme weather events, has considerable implications for crop production around the world. Moreover, geographic regions that are predicted to undergo the most environmental changes are ones that are already under socioeconomic stress, therefore exacerbating existing disparities. In response, alternative strategies that incorporate elements of sustainability are urgently required.

However, many limitations remain when considering alternative agricultural systems. In particular, the cost-effectiveness of designing and implementing such strategies may be out of reach of many regions. In response, technological advances are expected to improve our understanding of crop management and reduce the costs of strategy implementation, which can directly help to inform sustainable strategies to increase efficiency and decrease reliance on resources.

Ultimately, strategies are likely to be used in combination to complement one another and reduce the limitations that may occur. Such a coalition of strategies holds promising potential for addressing current as well as future socioeconomic and environmental challenges, yet considerable research is still required to refine such a cause.

References

• Ichwan, N. et al. (2020) ‘Shallot’s growth and production under sub-surface irrigation in vertical agriculture (verticulture) system’, IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. IOP Publishing, 454, p. 12044. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/454/1/012044.

• Magwaza, S. T. et al. (2020) ‘Hydroponic technology as decentralized system for domestic wastewater treatment and vegetable production in urban agriculture: A review’, Science of The Total Environment, 698, p. 134154. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134154.

• Suhl, J. et al. (2016) ‘Advanced aquaponics: Evaluation of intensive tomato production in aquaponics vs. conventional hydroponics’, Agricultural Water Management, 178, pp. 335–344. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.10.013.

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Further Reading

• All Agricultural Science Content

• Artificial Intelligence could help the agriculture industry meet increasing food demands

• Leaf litter converted to biochar could reduce N20 emissions from vegetable fields

• An analysis of the effects GM crops have on agriculture

• The use of natural hydrogels in food and agriculture practices

More...

Lead photo: Image Credit: YEINISM/Shutterstock.com

Last Updated: Nov 26, 2020

Scottish Technology Firm, IGS, Named As A 2020 Red Herring Top 100 North America Winner

30 November 2020

Scottish-based agritech and smart spaces business, IGS Limited, has been named amongst the winners of Red Herring’s Top 100 North America 2020 event, which recognises some of the world’s most exciting and innovative technology companies.

IGS is an agritech innovator delivering state-of-the-art vertical farming technology designed to help producers improve the productivity of their crops – including yield, quality and consistency – whilst dramatically driving down the cost of power and labour. The company was shortlisted from thousands of entries before being invited to present at Red Herring’s virtual conference on November 17th and 18th where they were selected to join the final 100 winners.

Previous winners of the awards include household names such as Alibaba, Kakao, Skype, Spotify, Twitter and YouTube.

David Farquhar, CEO of IGS, commented: “We are delighted to see IGS included in the Red Herring’s Top 100 North America 2020 list. It’s an incredible accolade for a relatively small company based in Scotland to have been recognised alongside major global players in the world of technology and innovation. This achievement is truly testament to the ingenuity and forward-thinking approach of our team.”

Industry experts, insiders and journalists who examined the entrants against a wide variety of criteria including financial performance, innovation, business strategy, and market penetration. Winners were selected from a wide variety of verticals, from FinTech and Artificial Intelligence to Security, IoT, and many more industries.

“2020’s crop of Top 100 winners has been among our most intriguing yet,” said Red Herring chairman Alex Vieux, “What has excited me most is to see so many people forging niches in high-tech and cutting-edge sectors. Some of the technical wizardry and first-rate business models showcased at the conference has been fantastic to learn about. We believe IGS embodies the drive, skill and passion on which tech thrives. IGS should be proud of its achievement - the competition was incredibly strong.”

A full list of the 2020 Red Herring Top 100 North America Winners is available here.

Ends

Notes to editors:

For more information: please contact Kate Forster on kate@intelligentgrowthsolutions.com / +44 7787 534999 or Georgia Lea on georgia@intelligentgrowthsolutions.com / +44 7897 539954. 

About IGS:

Founded in 2013, IGS brought together decades of farming and engineering experience to create an agritech business with a vision to revolutionise the indoor growing market. Its commitment to innovation has continued apace and it has evolved the applications of its technology beyond agriculture to create solutions for a wide variety of indoor environments which enhance life for people, plants and animals.

IGS launched its first vertical farming demonstration facility in August 2018, based at the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie.

For more information visit www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

A Look At Geoponic Technology For Vertical Farming

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By Shannon Flynn

November 26, 2020

You’ve probably heard people talk about how vertical farms and their space-saving approaches to agriculture could help promote future food security and bring produce closer to those who consume it. 

Many of today’s currently operating or planned vertical farms use hydroponic methods to grow the plants in water or aeroponic techniques where growers suspend the plants in the air and mist them. However, some vertical farms also use geoponic technology. It involves growing plants within soil or an aggregate, which is probably the most familiar option to people who are not agriculture professionals. 

Here’s a glimpse at what’s possible when agricultural companies combine vertical farming with the latest options in geoponic technology. 

Letting people pick their produce from the wall

When most shoppers visit the produce department in a grocery store, they pick items from shelves or bins. Such setups are still the most common across the world, but that could change due to geoponic technology that allows grocery stores to grow produce up their walls.

In New York, Evergreen Kosher Market introduced consumers to a 20-foot-high “wall farm,” where each offering sits in an individual pot. Shoppers can pick from a selection of arugula, basil, kale, lettuce, and cilantro. These products are pesticide-free and raised in soil free from bug exposure. Moreover, this type of farming yields a new crop every week, meaning the products are always in season for the people who want to buy them. 

Getting optimal results with energy-efficient lights

Certain kinds of energy-efficient lights also cause positive effects for the crops. For example, the high-pressure sodium lights used in conventional horticultural lighting can get too hot and damage plants. 

That’s why Canada’s GoodLeaf Community Farms used light-emitting diode (LED) options at its vertical farm. That way, the plants can grow as close as six inches from the light sources without encountering excessive warmth. The agricultural operation also uses a preset spectrum for the light output, specially chosen for providing an optimal level of brightness across the facility, which grows kale, broccoli, arugula, and peas in a peat-based medium. 

Trying to solve the food crisis

People are increasingly concerned about the logistics associated with getting produce to individuals who live in urban areas or may otherwise have difficulty accessing nutritious foods. Many challenges exist. 

For example, as produce travels to its destination, long routes can increase emissions that pollute the planet. Moreover, a shortage of available farmland could exacerbate food shortages for people everywhere. 

One of the top advantages of vertical farming compared to other types is that it can happen in substantially smaller spaces than conventional agricultural efforts require. That feature makes it especially appropriate for the world’s sprawling areas that may not have expansive stretches of land to use for farming. 

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Statistics indicate that urban areas will likely contain 68% of the world’s population by 2050. People in some cities enjoy fresh produce through methods such as community-tended rooftop gardens. Geoponic vertical farms could offer another possibility. 

One company sells shipping container-style gardens that can fit in parking lots and use geoponic technology. Destinations such as shopping centers and apartment complexes could start featuring those as competitive advantages. They’d give people quicker and more convenient access to produce than shopping in stores allows. 

Sticking to soil-based methods while embracing new technologies

Most companies specializing in vertical farming mention their soil-free options. However, as the examples here show, geoponic-based methods can support non-horizontal agriculture methods, too. That reality could make some people more eager to get involved with this approach to growing food.

For example, many households have soil-based gardens in their backyards but are less familiar with hydroponic and aeroponic options that do not require dirt. If a person wants to get involved in vertical farming with a reduced learning curve, geoponic options could be their best bets. 

All kinds of vertical farming approaches typically use sensors that ensure the crops get enough light, water, and nutrients. This lower-waste approach promotes a more sustainable future and could lead to higher yields throughout the year rather than in smaller seasonal windows. 

For these reasons and others, vertical farming is worth following for the foreseeable future. It’ll undoubtedly be interesting to see the geoponic-specific use cases and companies that arrive on the market, too. 

YouTube: Vertical Farming at NY Farm-to-Table Restaurant Amid COVID-19

Photo credit: The feature image is owned by Evergreen Kosher and Vertical Field. The plant close-up photo was taken by Kathleen Phillips for Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The photo showing a design engineer was prepared by This is Engineering.
Source: Evergreen Kosher press release on New Hope Network / Mark Halper (LEDs Magazine) / Aaron Reich (Jerusalem Post)

PODCAST: Learn About Urban Farming And The Technologies Fueling This Industry

Joe Swartz & Nick Greens | 11/27/2020

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Learn about Urban Farming and the technologies fueling this industry. We also talk about the brief history of hydroponics.

Our new podcast called Polygreens Podcast with Joe Swartz from AmHydro and Nick Greens from Nick Greens Grow Team brings agriculture and technology together in educational episodes. This podcast is about hydroponics, greenhouse, urban farming, vertical indoor farming, and much more.

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/nickgreens)

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Keynote Address: The Role of Carbon Markets in Advancing

Regenerative Agriculture

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Announcing Our final Keynote Speaker

Katie Sullivan serves as Managing Director of IETA, the global multi-sector business voice for the intersection of markets and climate change. Katie currently sits on the Global Steering Committee for the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), Boards of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and the International CCS Knowledge Centre, and numerous Advisory Panels.

 In 2019, Katie Sullivan was recognized as a Clean16 and Clean50 award recipient for contributing to Clean Capitalism Leadership in Canada.

Want to learn more about AgritectureXchange´s Complete Program?
 

See 2020 Program

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Very inspiring - because usually all of these organizations are working separately.” - Patricia G., Xchange 2018 | Santiago, Chile
 

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CubicFarms Systems Corp. Announces C$3.8 Million Sale of Commercial Scale Systems to Farming Customer in Indiana

VANCOUVER, B.C., NOVEMBER 25, 2020 – CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) (“CubicFarms” or the “Company”), a technology company developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world, announced today that its automated, controlled-environment growing technology has been selected by Vertical Acres Farm LLC (“Vertical Acres”), an Indiana-based produce company, to grow commercial quantities of fresh produce for the region.

The Company’s commercial agreement with Vertical Acres is for the sale of 21 CubicFarms machines, including 17 cultivators, three propagators, and one fertigator, for a complete CubicFarm installation.  

The agreement, which includes a deposit received from Vertical Acres, represents approximately C$3.8 million in anticipated revenue to the Company. The technology is expected to be installed in Indiana in the first half of 2021.

The Company’s patented CubicFarms technology will enable Vertical Acres to grow high-quality foods, with predictable crop yields indoors, all year round.

CubicFarms CEO Dave Dinesen, commented: “We are looking forward to our partnership with Vertical Acres to help them successfully grow high-quality, great tasting, local produce in Indiana, and for the neighbouring regions. Our patented technology should enable them to maximize their production per cubic foot, while greatly reducing the physical footprint of their traditional farming operations.”

Vertical Acres owner Fred Schakel, said: “We evaluated a large number of indoor growing systems and chose CubicFarms as the optimal commercial-scale fresh produce system solution. We love the idea of the perfect growing environment, the fraction of water it takes to grow our greens, and the freedom from contaminants that the Cubic system affords. We are excited that we will be able to supply our local community with fresh, perfect greens every day of the year without the influence of bad weather always weighing on our production model. With CubicFarms’ excellent technology, we are truly looking forward to this partnership.”
 
Private Placement
 
The Company also announced that pursuant to a non-brokered private placement (the “Offering”), the owners of Vertical Acres have agreed to purchase 225,500 common shares of the Company at a purchase price of C$0.78 per common share for gross proceeds of C$175,500.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for general working capital purposes.

Closing of the Offering is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Mr. Schakel commented, “After performing significant due diligence on the Company’s technology, we are excited to further demonstrate our conviction in CubicFarms through this investment in its business.”   
 
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
 
About CubicFarm® Systems Corp.
 
CubicFarm Systems Corp. (“CubicFarms”) is a technology company developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary technologies enable growers around the world to produce high quality, predictable crop yields. CubicFarms has two distinct technologies that address two distinct markets. The first technology is its CubicFarms™ system, which contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops indoors, all year round. Using its unique, undulating-path growing system, the Company addresses the main challenges within the indoor farming industry by significantly reducing the need for physical labour and energy, and maximizing yield per cubic foot. CubicFarms leverages its patented technology by operating its own R&D facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, selling the system to growers, licensing its technology and providing vertical farming expertise to its customers.
 
The second technology is CubicFarms’ HydroGreen system for growing nutritious livestock feed. This system utilizes a unique process to sprout grains, such as barley and wheat, in a controlled environment with minimal use of land, labour and water. The HydroGreen system is fully automated and performs all growing functions including seeding, watering, lighting, harvesting, and re-seeding – all with the push of a button – to deliver nutritious livestock feed without the typical investment in fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, field equipment and transportation. The HydroGreen system not only provides superior nutritious feed to benefit the animal, but also enables significant environmental benefits to the farm.
 
For more information, please visit www.cubicfarms.com
 
Cautionary Statement on Forward-looking Information
 
Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, statements with respect to CubicFarms’ expected revenue recognition, and the completion of the sale and installation of the system by the customer. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of CubicFarm Systems Corp., or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information including the Company obtaining the approval of the Offering from the TSX Venture Exchange. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict", and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events, or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur, or be achieved.
 
These statements reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events, performance, and results and speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except as required by securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if the Company's expectations regarding future events, performance, or results change.

Spread Has Acquired GLOBALG.A.P. Certification At Its Kameoka Plant And Techno Farm Keihanna

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Spread, the Leading Company in Sustainable Agriculture, has Acquired GLOBALG.A.P. Certification at its Kameoka Plant and Techno Farm Keihanna to Provide Safe, Clean and Healthy Lettuce in the COVID-19 Era

November 24, 2020

Kyoto, Japan.–Spread Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Japan; CEO: Shinji Inada, hereinafter “Spread”） has acquired the internationally recognized GLOBALG.A.P. certification for production management at its vertical farms: Kameoka Plant (Kameoka, Kyoto), a pioneer in reaching profitability at a large scale vertical farm, and next-generation Techno Farm Keihanna, which has successfully achieved major labor savings through unprecedented large scale automation.

Through acquiring the certification, in addition to existing efforts of food and workplace safety management, environmental sustainability, and traceability, Spread has updated its processes to incorporate measures for mitigating the risk of infectious diseases, including the novel coronavirus. Doing so has further reinforced Spread’s ability to produce and supply safe, clean, and healthy lettuce, even in the COVID-19 era.

Purpose of GLOBALG.A.P.’s Acquisition

GLOBALG.A.P. certification is increasingly being recognized as one of the global standards for sustainable agriculture. By acquiring GLOBALG.A.P. Spread strives to reassure retailers and consumers of the strength of its production system and the quality of its produce.

Effects of GLOBALG.A.P.’s Acquisition at Spread

・ Visualization of strict hygiene and product quality standards

・ Raising awareness of the employees through conducting labor safety courses and displaying related information via signs and notices

・ Communicating information about production system safety and environmental sustainability to the stakeholders

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Future Developments

Moving forward, the labels of packaged lettuce products from Spread’s GLOBALG.A.P. certified factories will indicate this certification status with a GLOBALG.A.P. Number. 

Spread will commit to the continuous enforcement of hygiene and safety management, and the promotion of environmental sustainability through the development of new technologies. By pursuing indoor vertical farming in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders and partners, Spread aims to create a sustainable society and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.

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• GLOBALG.A.P. Overview

G.A.P. is a farm management program and stands for “Good Agricultural Practices.” GLOBALG.A.P. is an international certification that evaluates more than 200 items from the standpoint of food safety, environmental preservation, workplace safety, and traceability. It is demanded of producers, particularly in North America and Europe, when entering into business arrangements with large distributors, and also it is increasingly becoming a food procurement standard at international events. 

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• Kameoka Plant, the Profitability Pioneer of Vertical Farming

Capacity：2.1t/day

Spread’s Kameoka Plant has cracked one of the toughest challenges in commercial vertical farming. Since starting operations in 2007, Spread has developed sophisticated technologies of environmental control, and significantly improved the overall operational efficiency at the Kameoka Plant. Together this has brought the yield rate to 97% and enabled Kameoka Plant to become profitable in 2013.

• Techno Farm Keihanna. Massive labor savings thanks to automation Capacity：3t/day

Started operations in 2018. The first vertical farm to utilize next generation food production system Techno FarmTM. At the R&D facility attached to the farm, development of the new cultivation techniques, as well as AI and IoT systems is underway. As the mother plant of Techno FarmTM, Techno Farm Keihanna will serve as the foundation for the never-ending evolution of new technologies.

Innovative technologies, allowing for simultaneous increase in productivity and environmental sustainability:  

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・ Automated cultivation

・ Recycling of over 90% of the water, used in cultivation

・ Advanced technologies of environmental control

・ LED lighting, tailored for the usage in vertical farm

・ Upgrade in operational efficiency due to IT-based cultivation management system 

• Next Generation Food Production System Techno FarmTM

Developed by Spread with the help of partner companies, Techno FarmTM builds on the know-how refined at the Kameoka Plant in more than 10 years of its operation. Automated cultivation, water recycling and environmental control technologies specialized LED lighting as well as IoT and AI make for a simultaneous increase in productivity and environmental sustainability. Spread will continue to promote this technology as an essential part of sustainable agriculture.

URL：www.technofarm.com/en

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• Over 60 Million Packs Sold in Total*1

Vertically Farmed Vegetables Brand Vegetus

Under the concept of “Easy, Elegant, Full of Flavor”, Vegetus helps to add a fresh new color to dining tables around the world, striving to be sustainable lettuce, good for people and the Earth alike. It is a favorite of children who enjoy our lettuce. Spread’s current lineup includes 3 unique varieties: crunchy Frilly Lettuce, smooth and sweet Pleated Lettuce, and soft yet crispy Fringe Lettuce. Each of these delivers a clean and fresh taste and is rich in beta-carotene. *2

Due to being rich in varieties and extra clean, Vegetus is easy to prepare and fits into any meal, not only salads and sandwiches but brings an extra crunch to soups and other cooked foods.

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URL：www.vege–tus.com  (Japanese only)                         

 Contribution to SDGs

Examples of Spread’s contribution

・ Goal 2: Zero Hunger – Promotion of sustainable food production

・ Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Labor-saving through automation and digital transformation

・ Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – Helping to reduce food loss due to most part of lettuce being edible

・ Goal 13: Climate Action – Promoting resilient agriculture

・ Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Techno FarmTM Partnership Business 

Spread contributes to the achievement of SDGs until 2030 through its efforts in vertical farming. Through innovative technologies and an efficient supply chain, it also strives to develop a Global Food Infrastructure and protect food security for the people of the world.

*1 Actual numbers of lettuce, produced and sold by Spread

*2 Vegetus clears Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare standards for the “betacarotene rich” vegetables. (equal or more than 600µg/100g)

[Contact information] Spread Co., Ltd.

Corporate Communication Department

E-mail: info@spread.co.jp 

URL: www.spread.co.jp/en

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