Greater sustainability and improved nutrition through smart technology and supply chain logistics
Growers investing in high-value crops such as saffron and vanilla, and in varieties bred for sustainability, are fuelling diversity in indoor cropping, found a panel of experts at the recent Indoor AgTech NYC Innovation Summit.
In the lead-up to its inaugural Food Systems Summit, scheduled for September 2021, the United Nations is gathering input from a broad array of stakeholders to flesh out the Summit agenda. The Summit focus is on developing more resilient, sustainable and equitable global food systems.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for shorter, more resilient supply chains and for diversified, fresh and locally-grown food, says a recent story in the Financial Times.
From community vegie gardens to vast vertical farms, city-based cropping ventures are proliferating as the coronavirus pandemic up-ends food supply chains and heightens food-security fears.
The ACT’s first vertical farm installation has landed at Canberra’s Ginninderry development, a 6-star Green Star Community west of Belconnen.
University of Florida research suggests wheat yields could be boosted exponentially if this staple grain was grown undercover, in vertical farm facilities. To make it economically viable, just add reliable renewable energy.
As British farmers struggle to provide fresh food for the UK’s citizens, grappling with labour shortages and complex export supply chains, vertical farm facilities are attracting increasing interest.
This video highlights some of the high-tech commercial vertical-farming operations supplying fresh greens to cities across the world – and some of the big-name investors backing them.
The supply-chain disruption precipitated by the pandemic shutdown may provide the motivation needed to reinvigorate urban agriculture, contends protected cropping expert Oula Ghannoum.
Sprout Stack runs Australia’s only commercial-scale vertical farm, growing fresh salad greens in the Sydney metro area. And with COVID-19 disrupting supply chains worldwide, the company’s low-food-miles position is proving advantageous.