How AI Managed Vertical Farming is Coming

Hey Everyone,

Today I want to talk about something a little bit different and it’s the advent of AI in more sustainable farming practices, namely Vertical Farming. As Ag-tech (agricultural technology) improves, it also begins to become more autonomous.

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Trying to Understand the Key Components of Vertical Farming

Vertical farming is not just an agricultural novelty; it's a testament to human ingenuity and adaptability. The blending of agronomy with technology offers a valuable future for our food supply.

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When I think of for AI for good really means I often think of healthcare, science and those technologies that can sustain us better. I’ve always wondered about the viability, cost-efficacy and sustainability of vertical farming.

Growing Up: How Vertical Farming Works

What is Vertical Farming?

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.

Vertical farming is a type of food-production system in which food is grown in an indoor environment where growing conditions like temperature, light, and humidity can be controlled. In theory, it can be controlled by artificial intelligence systems.

Benefits of Vertical Farming

Vertical farms can when properly managed:

• Increase in crop yield
• Decrease in water usage
• Be situated in urban environments, e.g. “Smart cities”

With the advancement of green technology married with artificial intelligence, our smart cities might actually begin to improve our sustainable living.

Part of the argument for vertical farming is that the current food system must be more sustainable, cost-effective, and good for people and our planet. Vertical farming and hydroponics can solve existing problems and improve the system, leading to a healthier and more sustainable future.

This article is not going to cover the recent failures in Vertical farming startups and companies nor explore today’s leaders. Ag-tech doesn’t get much press, and vertical farming while challenging, has tremendous long-term rewards for human civilization and our cities.

They also change supply chain dynamics being closer to their consumers. Furthemore and this is important I think, the advantages of this kind of agriculture include growing more food in less space and eschewing pesticides.

China’s Autonomous Vertical Farming Breakthrough

So this week there was some PR out of China that caught my attention.

China has unveiled its first domestically developed unmanned vertical plant factory in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Developed by the Institute of Urban Agriculture under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the 20-storied vertical farm is a first of its kind.

In China they conceive of this as a system can be utilized for food production in urban areas as well as in deserts and on barren lands. Vertical farming is often considered a promising and innovative approach to address certain challenges in agriculture. Allowing for the cultivation of crops in stacked layers, maximizes the use of vertical space.

With more climate change impacting China in recent years, vertical farming might also be a more controlled environment.

• Unaffected by climate constraints, new Chengdu facility can reportedly produce a harvest of lettuce every 35 days under AI-controlled environmental conditions
• Vertical farms are seen as an essential means of bringing enough food to arid and urban parts of China, with automated facilities that provide year-round harvests

The biggest downside of vertical farms is the large amount of energy it takes to grow crops: between 30-176 kWh per kg more than greenhouses. Given that China has a real-estate crisis, allocating some of those unused spaces to vertical farming might make some sense. The cost of real estate and technology, as well as farms running on fossil fuels, are some of the issues preventing greater adoption at scale.

So in comparison to horizontal farming, there is the issue of plants getting an adequate amount of sunlight and water when crops are grown vertically. The team that developed this 20-storied art of specimen found a solution.

Supporting Urban Horticulture

According to the Chinese media reports, the team at the Institute of Urban Agriculture (IUA) , Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) deployed robots that can grow and harvest a crop of lettuce in just 35 days, claim the researchers in a report .

This is possible due to an artificial intelligence-based control system. This control system utilizes advanced technologies and algorithms to monitor, analyze, and adjust key environmental variables within the vertical farming facility.

• Robots and AI are beginning to automate vertical farming systems more efficiently.

Vertical farms save water, prevent pesticide pollution and avoid extreme weather — but their Achilles’ heel is their massive electricity use. It’s not clear from the report how China has solved or improved that lingering issue.

Though the report does claim the facility utilizes “advanced plant light formulas” to improve light efficiency, overcoming challenges related to low light efficiency and high energy consumption.?

I think eventually we’ll get vertical farming right, but it might take more integration with improved solar energy systems. The energy and agriculture industries are definitely becoming more autonomous however.

Lower Energy Consumption in their Stack

"We can combine different amounts of red, blue, yellow, near-ultraviolet and near-infrared lights during different stages of the plant's lifecycle," said Wang Sen, a researcher at the IUA. "We have built a database of 1,300 combinations for 72 types of crops."

The Chinese research and development team took the lead in creating the so-called "plant light formula" to improve light efficiency, which helped overcome the challenge of "low light efficiency and high energy consumption" at plant factories.

High Efficacy of Vertical Farming Solutions

The company that gets the right combination of AI, robotics, light solutions and low energy consumption is going to do really well! The Chinese vertical farming system enables year-round, continuous production of green food in multi-story structures, addressing issues like stable local food supply in urban areas and expanding cultivation in challenging environments.?

With the ability to produce more than 10 harvests of green vegetables annually, the system enhances land utilization efficiency and conserves resources, providing a sustainable solution for future agriculture.

The research team led by Wang has found no significant difference between lab-grown plants and those from traditional farms. Indoor farms, with the ability to produce vegetables faster, are considered ideal for urban areas, wastelands, and deserts.?

It also serves as a breeding accelerator, reducing the breed time of wheat, cotton, and soybean plants by at least 50 percent. The researchers are discussing with companies like Foshan NationStar Optoelectronics to commercialize their innovative vertical farming technology.

According to the Chinese report, the 20-storey vertical unmanned plant factory they have constructed is the world’s first of its kind. I’ve always been impressed with China’s emphasis of green technology and smart city urban planning. How they have adopted and will continue to adopt EVs is many years ahead of the United States.

With the capability to produce more than 10 harvests of green vegetables a year, it is equal to an estimated annual output of over 50 tons, equivalent to the yield of about 60 mu (4 hectares) of farmland. This significantly enhances land utilization efficiency and conserves arable resources, the report said.

In 2023, given the consolidation in the U.S. energy (oil) sector, low demand for EVs and a lack of commitment in green technologies and the fall of ESG investing of late, I have to wonder how badly the U.S. lags China in smart city and green technology adoption. Many of the most spectacular failures in vertical farming startups have occured in the United States in recent memory.