Have you heard of vertical farms? Created thinking about large urban centers, the practice has been considered the future of agriculture for the next generations, since it uses automation with the lowest possible environmental impact. They are spaces where food production takes place in an environment protected from sunlight, rain, wind and away from the ground.. As if it were a laboratory in an urban center. The magic happens thanks to the lighting made by blue, red and white LED lamps, which together leave the place with a pink tone replacing sunlight.
A survey by the English MarketsandMarkets pointed out that, by 2026, vertical farms should triple their market, jumping from US＄ 3.31 billion in 2021, to US＄ 9.7 billion in the next five years. The “Indoor Farming Market Size, Share & Trend Analysis” report, carried out by the Indian Grand View Research, extended the analysis period and projected that, by 2028, the global vertical farming market will reach US＄ 17.6 billion.
The institutions that carried out the research also explained that the growth of this sector was due to the population increase, mainly in countries like China and India. In this way, the need for new planting methods that provide, among other resources, food for the population grows and alternatives are sought that use less renewable methods, but that meet this demand.
In addition, Assunta Lisieux, manager of the LED lighting line (ONNO) at Varixx, a manufacturer of power electronics equipment and systems, added that the pandemic also impacted this sector, since people ended up worrying more about having a healthy diet. health and its effects, such as immunity, opting, therefore, for organic products. And since vertical farms are grown in clean environments, designed to be more practical, they have become a viable option for this audience.
In general, vertical farms can have different models and shapes, but the most common are those based on constructions, that is, inside buildings, sheds or roofs (rooftops), as they have the possibility of being scalable.
From this practice, the products can be produced by hydroponics (when the plants only have contact with water through the root) or aeroponics (with plants suspended and fed by sprinkling). In both cases, the rooms are closed, climatized, according to the needs of the plant being cultivated, and controlled by an interconnected system.
“Another important point is that in this model of agriculture there is no type of crop protector, chemical or biological, but it has lights, which are usually LED and colored, because when combined they give the plants the energy necessary to carry out photosynthesis ”, says Assunta.