Vertical farming - smart urban agriculture for enhancing resilience and sustainability in food security

Global meals safety has been substantially threatened via the Covid-19 pandemic and several extended challenges consisting of weather exchange, population increases, scarcity of natural resources, power crisis, and rapid urbanisation worldwide. Although severa tries have been made to steady resilience in the food system, many nations are stricken by starvation and malnutrition, specifically in African and a few Asian countries. This review paper offers one of the sustainable farming practices – vertical farming that might play a key position in mitigating worldwide food protection inside the current unsure world. It addresses the recent development of vertical farming with superior precision tracking and controlling gadget by the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It additionally provides facts about the opportunities and challenges of vertical-city agriculture and the way city agriculture meets monetary, social and academic desires.

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ABSTRACT

Global food safety has been notably threatened through the Covid-19 pandemic and numerous extended challenges such as weather trade, populace will increase, shortage of herbal assets, strength crisis, and fast urbanisation global. Although numerous tries have been made to secure resilience inside the meals device, many countries are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, specifically in African and some Asian countries. This evaluate paper provides one of the sustainable farming practices – vertical farming that would play a key role in mitigating worldwide meals protection inside the modern-day unsure global. It addresses the recent development of vertical farming with advanced precision monitoring and controlling system with the aid of the Internet of Things (IoT) packages. It also provides information about the opportunities and challenges of vertical-city agriculture and how urban agriculture meets financial, social and academic wishes.

KEYWORDS: Vertical farmingsmart farmingurban agriculturehydroponicaeroponic

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Introduction

Global food protection has been notably threatened by means of the Covid-19 Pandemic together with the extended drivers of meals insecurity which include climate change, scarcity of agricultural resources, an electricity crisis, an boom in population, and urbanisation (Oh et al., Citation2021). Land/soil degradation is a especially critical trouble for international meals safety incredibly affecting the scarcity of arable land for crop manufacturing. Reduction within the global land location would require a 50 to one hundred% boom in food manufacturing in keeping with unit hectare on existing land by using 2050 (Searchinger et al., Citation2018). Many nations relying on imports for his or her meals materials are suffering to manage to pay for food and there are less picks for wholesome meals due to their better prices and insecurity of accessibility (Hardy et al., Citation2021). Therefore, we urgently want to reconsider the manner we farm.

Vertical farming is a current agricultural exercise of developing vegetation, stacked vertically in a protected indoor surroundings, which mainly utilises a hydroponic or aeroponic cultivation gadget. Vertical farming gives severa potential benefits, including more efficient makes use of of space, reduced water utilization, shorter growing instances, reduced want for pesticides/herbicides, and shelter from severe climate. In addition, when you consider that vertical farms may be installation almost anywhere, even underground, they may permit hyper-localised production, hence shortening food deliver chains and offering sparkling and nutritious local meals all year round (Eldridge et al., Citation2020; Shamshiri et al., Citation2018).

This review paper aims to review the latest improvement of vertical farming-smart urban agriculture. The objectives are to (i) gift the modern development of vertical farming and urban agriculture international; (ii) determine present day of vertical farming with present day and precision technologies; and (iii) perceive current challenges and opportunities of vertical farming for meals security.

Vertical farming: mitigation for food security

Urbanisation has constantly extended international and 55% of the arena’s population inhabits urban regions. Whilst the populace of rural areas citizens is anticipated to drop through eleven% in 2030, the quantity of city settlements will be constantly elevated (United Nations [UN], Citation2018). As the demand for meals deliver in town citizens has increased, clever urban-vertical farming has been highlighted. Urban agriculture mitigates societal, environmental and financial challenges associated with meals safety as a result of controlled and ultimate growing conditions consisting of temperature, humidity, CO2 and lighting conditions. It subsequently contributes to shortening the growing cycle and growing plant density and enhancing harvest yield (Khan et al., Citation2020; Treftz & Omaye, Citation2016). Owing to urban accessibility, city agriculture alleviates power and costs for transportation, distribution and garage management, and enables the reduction of the carbon footprint of food vegetation (Avgoustaki & Xydis, Citation2020b).

According to Armanda et al. (Citation2019), several countries in Europe and Asia and the US of America were practising commercialised vertical farming systems. Unlike traditional controlled environmental agriculture together with glasshouse cultivation with herbal sunlight, indoor vertical farming is based totally on fully controlling and tracking the growing situation along with synthetic mild assets with a high yield in less area. Farms range in region, including underground, in abandoned areas or on rooftops, reflecting that every farm applies different technology for particular microenvironments. Overall, urban agricultural farms consciousness on growing leafy vegetables with a excessive annual food manufacturing (Armanda et al., Citation2019). Vertical farming has been broadly employed in East and Southeast Asian countries, including China (e.G. Smart farm in Fujian Province), Japan (e.G. Nuvege Plant Factory), Singapore (e.G. Sky Green Farms) and South Korea (e.G. NextOn) (Shamshiri et al., Citation2018). In North America, america and Canada characteristic numerous city farm tasks (e.G. AeroFarms). The AeroFarms is primarily based in New Jersey and it's miles one of the biggest indoor vertical farms within the global with 8400 square metres of growing area the usage of an aeroponic growing gadget (Hardy et al., Citation2021).

Because of the vast fee of urbanisation, city agriculture is hastily growing and practised in Asian nations. However, there are numerous challenges to its implementation in Asia. For example, there's a lack of arable regions in urban or peri-urban areas and extensive requirements for residential regions in place of urban farms. Varying law and policies in special areas also prevent the city agriculture development (Akaeze & Nandwani, Citation2020). Although city agriculture faces several demanding situations, numerous examples have shown that urban agriculture not handiest grants meals crops successfully but additionally presents socioeconomic benefits, together with environmental (e.G. Provision of biodiversity and sustainability in city areas) and socioeconomic blessings (e.G. Enjoyment, education and reduction of transportation for food vegetation) (Akaeze & Nandwani, Citation2020).

In European countries, city agriculture is anticipated to deal with the societal transformations of both city and rural areas, such as getting old and generational renewal in the agriculture (Piorr et al., Citation2018). There are numerous a hit commercialised city farms in Northwest European countries such as Belgium (e.G. BIGH Farms), France (e.G. Agricool and La Caverne), Germany (e.G. InFarm), the Netherlands (e.G. RotterZwam), Sweden (e.G. Urban Oasis), and the UK (e.G. Zero Carbon Food Ltd/Growing-Underground, Intelligent Growth Solutions Ltd., Jones Food Company and Fischer Farms (Armanda et al., Citation2019; Shamshiri et al., Citation2018; Figure 1).

Figure 1. Indoor vertical farming with the automated controlled machine within the UK. (a) thru a unique modular and scalable gadget referred to as overall controlled environmental agriculture (TECA), Intelligent Growth Solutions Ltd. Use 50% of much less strength required by using similar systems for growing veggies (photograph supplied with the aid of Intelligent Growth Solutions corporation). (b) Growing-Underground is the first business hydroponic farm of Zero Carbon Food Ltd. Which utilised the discarded underground safe haven within the UK (image supplied by means of Zero Carbon Food Ltd/Growing-Underground).

The importance of city agriculture/vertical farming is good sized in low- and occasional-center-earnings nations including in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Southern Asia. Unlike in excessive- or high-center-income international locations, urban agriculture has significantly impacted small growers given that it is practised for the purpose of self-sufficiency in low- and coffee-center-profits nations. Therefore, there are pretty few urban agriculture initiatives on a big scale, together with on the community or national degree. However, current urban agricultural programmes have attempted to decorate meals security and mitigate the adverse effects on the surroundings primarily based on an know-how of the cutting-edge boundaries to city agriculture, such as formal agreement issues, rights of property and distance from urban farms to food stores (Davies et al., Citation2020; FAO, Citation2012).

Vertical farming technologies

There are controversies about the efficiency of vertical farming due to the excessive initial expenses and high preservation requirements in urban regions. However, by getting rid of the seasonality of developing fresh vegetables, it might be feasible to boom yield and profits in vertical farming (Beacham et al., Citation2019). According to Kozai et al. (Citation2015), indoor vertical farming indicates one hundred instances higher productiveness in leafy lettuce in comparison to conventional cultivation and 15 instances that of glasshouse cultivation (Kozai et al., Citation2015). Vertical farming creates economic blessings now not most effective through growing yield however also lowering the expenses for transportation or garage (Van Gerrewey et al., Citation2022). Farmers in turn will gain from reduced crop losses, improved yields and greater secure supply chains in addition to reduced environmental effect and improved agricultural sustainability. Soilless cultivation systems have been improved by way of subsystem upgrading together with utilising an ultrasonic atomisation machine in aeroponics which permits greater unique and effective manipulate of the deliver of nutrient solution than does using water pumps in hydroponic structures. Within the droplet length variety (1–five µm), the ultrasonic atomisation method is substantially impacted by using the aeroponic drift charge and temperature of the root region (e.G. Nutrient solution) (Niam & Sucahyo, Citation2020).

Known as ‘Aeroponic 2.0”, fogponic has been highlighted as a high-power efficient cultivation system as operates like aeroponics. In the fogponic systems, ultrasonic fog generates exceptional foggy mist ranging from five to 30 μm and it ensures enough oxygen availability for vegetation by way of circulating nutrient fog inside the air conditioner. Compared to conventional hydroponic and aeroponic systems, fogponics reduces water and fertiliser usage by using as much as 50% to 60% respectively (Rakib Uddin & Suliaman, Citation2021; Venkatesh et al., Citation2020).

Methods of developing plant life without soil and soilless cultivation have been extensively used in protected agriculture and horticulture and decreased sources of each water and vitamins since the initial application of those processes. Along with the subsystem improvement, numerous studies articles have been posted highlighting generation trends in the top-rated growing conditions for indoor vertical farming. The plant grown in vertical farming is based totally on synthetic lighting along with mild-emitting diodes (LEDs) assets instead of natural daylight (Figure 2). Therefore, light situations, which includes light intensity and spectral first-rate, substantially affect plant boom and improvement through enhancing crop nutritive fee in conjunction with the law of the proton motive pressure (Pocock, Citation2015). LEDs represent the maximum promising synthetic lighting source within managed environmental horticulture as supplementary or a single source of illumination because of their stable output, durability, applicability in unique mild spectrum, manageability, and value efficiency (Avgoustaki & Xydis, Citation2020; Shamshiri et al., Citation2018; Zhang et al., Citation2020). LED mild has excessive photon-use efficiency because it emits specially focused wavelengths with a slender-waveband monochromic mild (Lu & Grundy, Citation2017). Based on LEDs’ traits, various attempts had been made to apprehend the effect of different mild compositions, intensities and photoperiods on vegetation grown in indoor vertical farming along with a long way-red, pink, green, blue and UV mild respectively and in the combination of various mild spectrums (Wong et al., Citation2020). For example, moderate LED light software at some point of their manufacturing degree may want to considerably enhance plant boom and metabolism with the aid of improving the nutritional level and decreasing nitrate content material in meals crops (Bian et al., Citation2018; Table 1).

Figure 2. Vertical farming with LED lighting generation. (a) LED lighting fixtures for the transport field farming in Nottingham Trent University. The effect of various light nice and depth on plant great has been investigated. (b) Data interpretation with premiere LED light systems in developing-underground farm (picture furnished by using Zero Carbon Food Ltd/Growing-Underground).

Automation and precision city farming

One of the major worries in vertical farming is variability in meals plants that's probable as a result of unequal growing situations such as temperature or light (Beacham et al., Citation2019). However, managed environment growing systems in vertical farming lets in tracking and controlling of the growing conditions exactly by using actual-time based totally sensors. For example, massive statistics and the Internet of Things (IoT) technology can result in advanced know-how and destiny smart ‘shrewd’crop manufacturing with the utility of software program or firmware (e.G. LED lights and nutrient recipes). Big information analytics in agricultural databases might be extraordinarily useful for precision farming improvement. To acquire most advantageous crop boom, resource use efficiency (e.G. Strength, water, nutrients), reduce prices and in the end circulate toward growing crops with better pleasant, similarly non-stop tracking and manage systems are required primarily based at the size of plant physiological tendencies and microenvironmental situations that creates unique and well timed proprietary huge facts, generated towards more than one inputs/substances from the Vertical Farming developing surroundings. Primary parameters consist of light, nutrient answer, plant phenotyping and surroundings (e.G. Temperature, relative humidity, CO2 attention inside the air and oxygenation level of the water) (Stefan et al., Citation2019). The records may be transmitted thru a wi-fi solution, after which be provided in a cloud-hosted tracking and manipulate platform that offers real-time information, faraway control of robotics (to make certain premier conditions are maintained), an stop-person dashboard and signals. All information can be saved inside the wireless sensor and actuator networks, to be utilised via data scientists/vertical farming professionals to develop an algorithm which include deep getting to know and AI techniques to calculate ideal growing recipes for nutritionally dense crops and make sure highest quality strength/resource performance (Kozai et al., Citation2018; Mohmed et al., Citation2022).

An computerized machine might be an awesome opportunity for indoor vertical farming in aggregate with actual-time statistics from an IoT system allowing the enhancement of fee-efficacy tracking and manage structures and the reduction of human interplay, along side phone packages (Adhau et al., Citation2018). Additionally, clever growing structures with automation permit growers to personalize the environmental conditions for practical ingredients. Automated urban farming constitutes one of the most promising techniques that offset the high preliminary set up expenses of vertical farming by way of utilizing low-cost sensors and reducing more labour inputs.

Discussion - universal possibilities and demanding situations

Vertical farming takes conventional farming to new ranges. Unlike traditional soil-based farming and horizontal crop increase on a unmarried degree, vertical farming implements soilless cultivation into vertical boom on more than one ranges in a blanketed indoor environment (e.G. Glasshouse, buildings). This allows growers to offer clean, safe and nutritious meals yr-round at the same time as promoting crop yield and profitability without interference from soil-borne pathogens (Treftz & Omaye, Citation2016). Vertical farming and concrete farming drastically boom plant productivity in keeping with unit of location compared to horizontal hydroponic way of life (Kalantari et al., Citation2018; Touliatos et al., Citation2016). Automatic monitoring and manipulate systems allow growers to plot flexible developing schedules and nurture vegetation by way of securing most beneficial environmental conditions and nutrient solutions based totally on specific calculations.

Furthermore, resource use may be particularly efficient in phrases of water, CO2 and fertiliser with minimum detrimental environmental pollution (Kozai et al., Citation2015). Vertical farming allows more advantageous efficiency in the use of sources, along with land, water, light power, electrical power and inorganic fertiliser. Agriculture presently makes use of 70% of all water consumed globally, vertical farming can help prevent water shortage (closed-loop water structures). A reduction in unsustainable worldwide call for for land and water for arable use may want to entice investment for commercial-scale farms to turn out to be commercially feasible (Kalantari et al., Citation2018; Kozai et al., Citation2018).

Although vertical farming and urban agriculture are promising sustainable mitigation for food protection, numerous demanding situations continue to be. First, the high preliminary cost of infrastructure is one of the foremost demanding situations for vertical farming. To offset the high costs, it's miles necessary for modern-day vertical farming to enhance useful resource performance to improve crop yield and quality together with the installation of an intelligent automated controlling device to enhance labour and electricity efficiency (Kalantari et al., Citation2018). Also, the complexity of the system calls for teamwork and optimally designed tasks and strategies. Secondly, there may be controversy concerning energy-in depth use, such as light, temperature, and humidity that wishes to be controlled (Kozai et al., Citation2015). Kozai et al. (Citation2015) suggested numerous ways to reduce energy charges in vertical farming by; i) a brand new cheap and strength-green LED lighting utilization; ii) installing a well-designed mild system to suit spectral characteristics with plant kind and physiology for greatly multiplied yield; and iii) using renewable strength (e.G. Sun electricity wind-based or geothermal based totally electricity), waste heat, which might lessen electricity fees and growth strength use performance (Avgoustaki & Xydis Citation2020; Kozai et al., Citation2015).

Thirdly, there may be a confined range of crops that is appropriate for this business model (Nin et al., Citation2018). Technically vertical farming lets in the cultivation of all styles of vegetables, together with leafy greens, herbs, medicinal flora, fruiting vegetation, root vegetables, and grains. At gift, the type of vegetation grown commercially in vertical farming is normally restricted to leafy vegetables and microgreens. However, further to the vegetation noted above, vertical farming can also grow useful foods from medicinal flowers and micronutrient fortification in food vegetation which have high price and profit. For example, previous studies discovered that several cereal crops and tuber vegetation may want to develop properly in vertical cultivation with controlled environmental situations together with the strawberry (Wortman et al., Citation2016) potato (Čížek & Komárková, Citation2022), bean (Stoochnoff et al., Citation2022), and wheat (Asseng et al., Citation2020). Further superior technology are had to facilitate the growing various crops vertically.

Conclusions

There are big demanding situations that hinder the superiority of vertical farming together with high preliminary fees, scarcity of knowledge, and requirement for a controlled growing gadget. However, vertical farming is rapidly turning into extra attractive to the world because of its ability to supply reliable and sustainable food. It can lessen water intake and land degradation, decrease pesticide/fertiliser use, and shorten the food supply chain. Therefore, we advocate that extra research and collaboration are critical to convey together the contemporary technological practices to growth sustainability. Furthermore, it's miles predicted to optimise product high-quality in vertical farming and concrete agriculture for brand new abilties within the agricultural and horticultural industries.