Vertical Farm Daily

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Lithunia: Growing beyond borders "Knowing how to grow is more important than relying on technology alone," says Valentinas Civinskas, founder and CEO of Leafood. In Vilnius, Lithuania, Valentinas with his team are turning vertical farm into a succes. Leafood's provides fresh herbs, microgreens and leafy greens to both local markets and beyond. From Lithuania to Germany: A fresh perspective on cross-border operations. https://lnkd.in/e4x3G9rg

Improving microgreens growing by tackling inefficiency "When I started, vertical farming was mostly something you'd hear about in Japan. Now it's everywhere." Jonah Krochmalnek reflects on his decade-long journey in the microgreens industry. "The U.S. and Canada are nowadays leading the way, but Europe and Asia are catching up fast." For nearly ten years, Jonah led Living Earth Farm, an urban microgreens farm in Toronto, Canada. There, he focused on producing high-quality, nutrient-rich microgreens known for being tastier, fuller, and packed with more nutrition. Jonah explains. "Combining organic farming practices with innovative vertical farming technology turned the farm into one of the largest microgreens farms in Canada." Microgreens Consulting https://lnkd.in/eQxMAGx7

We’re using this trial to showcase the benefits of dynamic lighting” "Switching from HPS to LED lighting can result in energy savings of 50–70%. In our trials, we've demonstrated an energy efficiency of 3.5 to 5 micromoles per joule, outperforming many of our competitors, who often achieve around 3.3 micromoles per joule at best," says Halvard Aagaard, CEO of Photosynthetic - a Rift Labs brand and Norwegian lighting manufacturer specializing in LED lighting for cinematic and horticulture purposes. Currently, the supplier is trialing with Ravnsborg Gard, a greenhouse company that is producing potted herbs for the Oslo, and beyond, market. They are now trialing LED lighting which is applied as top lighting to measure the effect on its basil production. "This is our chance to demonstrate how our technology works in dynamic conditions. The core technology remains the same, but the form factor and specific features can be adjusted based on the grower's needs," Halvard tells. https://lnkd.in/e5pm4Cyk

“Promoting longer root systems, increases the plant's ability to take up nutrients and water” "Initially, we aimed for human consumption, but we soon realized that the market for seaweed biostimulants offered more opportunities to create a broader impact," says Hermann Schips, CEO of Kelpinor, whose attention got stuck on the plant during a sailing trip. In the small town of Sandhornøy, yet, inside a picturesque office building, just outside the Norwegian coast, a crew of seven is set to demonstrate the potential of seaweed biostimulants in open-field agriculture and CEA. Founded in 2022, Kelpinor has quickly made a name for itself by developing biostimulants from brown algae, just harvested outside the office. The biostimulant named Kepinor Suspension aims to enrich plant growth, improve resilience, and reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers. Over the past four months, Kelpinor has been working to standardize its experimental protocols. "Since the initial drawings, much progress has been made, and we're already generating data that guide our product development and validate our product portfolio," Hermann adds. Today, Kelpinor focuses on developing paste-based biostimulants that are easy to apply foliar and highly effective when deployed in the field or in the farm. https://lnkd.in/eQ-8hrRx

"We cannot keep producing substrates that aren’t fully recyclable" "The hydroponic market is growing rapidly, requiring large volumes of substrates every year. However, the substrates currently in use are not sustainable due to several factors," explains Bilitis Vanicela, researcher at German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research, the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research. "The high energy required to produce rockwool, the destruction of biodiverse wetlands during peat extraction, long-distance transport, and the challenges of composting coconut coir all contribute to a significant environmental impact. We cannot endlessly produce substrates that are not fully recyclable," Bilitis explains. All aspects, before mentioned, led to the development of a textile-based substrate created for hydroponic farming. Launched recently, the substrate is the result of the three-year international research project "CirCulTex" involving six research institutions and companies from Germany and India, which was first showcased at Greentech this year. Eschler Textil GmbH University of Hohenheim HariMitti FoundationBidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya Amity University Michael Walz - Dr. Bastian Winkler - Suhrid Chandra - Harshata Pal https://lnkd.in/e8zbTrFh

No-venting in the greenhouse pushes tomato yield to 160kg per m2 "At NIBIO, we don't use natural gas to heat anymore so we do not benefit from waste carbon dioxide. With DAC technology, we capture carbon dioxide from outside and put it in the greenhouse. While using hydroelectric energy, allows us to be a zero-emission system," says Verheul Michel, Senior Research Scientist at NIBIO Særheim, Norway. In September 2023, NIBIO began a three-year research project focused on emission-free greenhouse farming, funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The project seeks specifically to reduce energy needs in a closed greenhouse using an Environmental Control System (ECS) provided by GreenCap Solutions AS, also a Norwegian company. https://lnkd.in/e37h79ve

Real-time plant feedback shows higher yield and lower light consumption "We're super excited about the results of this lighting study, as growers can have a 'Green Conversation' for the first time. Roughly speaking, we 'ask' the plant how it feels about producing more biomass, and based on the 'reply' we get, adjustments are immediately made to the growing conditions," says Dr. Jim Stevens, Senior Innovation Consultant at InnoPhyte Consulting, a provider of Science-as-a-Service startup. This UKRI-funded research focuses on a vertical farming system for cultivating basil that optimizes light usage by adjusting it in real-time to meet the plants' needs, addressing the challenge of high energy costs. Amongst others, InnoPhyte aims to show how chlorophyll fluorescence could be used in a feedback system. At the heart of the device is a chlorophyll fluorescence probe linked via computer to LED lights, allowing it to detect plant stress and adjust light intensity accordingly. https://lnkd.in/e5NBQcMq

"There is so much potential, but we only focus on mass crops" "Lettuce alone won't feed the world. You can eat 40 lettuces a day, but still miss many essential vitamins. We need to explore more nutritious alternatives,” says Paul Gauthier, Professor of Controlled Environmental Agriculture at the University of Queensland, in a panel at the Asian Pacific Innovation Summit. "I live In 2050, not now. That is where my research is based. There is so much more potential, but we only focus on mass crops," Paul continues. "Crops like rice, vanilla, chocolate, ginger, and coffee—all the flavors we like will disappear from this planet if we continue on our current path. Urbanization brings pests and diseases, which pose a major threat to these crops. We are working on solutions. As academics, it's our responsibility to prepare solutions to secure these crops for the future, ensuring they're ready when the industry is ready to adopt them." "While there's immense potential in the farm's crops, they are currently mostly used for mass production. We need to rethink how we want to grow and use them for a more sustainable future," he says. Sky Kurtz Eleanor Choong Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit https://lnkd.in/eUMPayuW

“AI should be used to make our farming more effective, not as a goal” Are we overhyping AI in CEA? "AI is driving change in so many aspects, also in farming. Yet, we want to approach that from a down-to-earth point of view. In farming though, I don't think we can call it AI yet, because we need to collect much more data first," says Ard Van de Kreeke, Founder and CEO of Growy, a vertical farming company. After collecting the right amount of data points, you can create a reliable dataset where AI can start managing the tools to better control the system. "We're a few years away. Before allowing AI to tell us what to do in the farm, it should be used to make our farming more effective, not as a goal," he concludes. Finishing its second day of the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, in Singapore, we want to continue a panel from day 1 which dived into 'Protected cropping and indoor agtech'. Led by Sky Kurtz, Founder & CEO at Pure Harvest, and joined by Lyndal Hugo, Co-Founder of Orlar, Ard van de Kreeke, Founder & CEO at Growy, Edwin Ong, Director of ArianeTech Pte Ltd, and Simon Meijer, CEO at CE-Line. Continuing the conversation, Edwin shared that he started exploring AI a few years ago, which was an overhyped term. "Right now, we are very dependent on a head grower. Therefore, we want to introduce the know-how into an AI-run system to help growers manage the farm in the very distant future. We want to use AI not for the hype, but we want to have serious use for it. https://lnkd.in/e-8z2w7V