Scientists and other people who are at the forefront of technological innovation are always coming up with new ideas to improve our daily lives. These new ideas mean little if they don't keep an eye on the issues of sustainability, resource constraints,climate change and other environmental factors which face us. One of the bright sparks in recent years which could revolutionize the way we look at agriculture was proposed by Dr.Dickson Despommier. His idea is the green concept of " VERTICAL FARMING ".
This idea tackles the burning issues of the day like food shortage, environmental sustainability, repairing the environment and so on, head on. Our Earth is ever burdened and it keeps getting worse as there is overpopulation. Simply said, the resources are too strained to actually sustain the entire population as of now,and it's only going to get worse. Also the population will be concentrated in urban areas where there is development hence urbanisation also comes to the picture.
The basic idea of vertical farming is to " BUILD UPWARDS". If we don't have land to cultivate crops on then we simply build ON it. Despommier is of the opinion that the way forward in agriculture is to build "eco-cities" where each human activity reprresents an ecological process. Here the land use is minimised because we build upwards and the farming is also done indoors.This new approach employs cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm is efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers.
The necessary technology already exists.We use the glasshouses technology and other technology like hydroponics. We can alter temperature, humidity, lighting, airflow and nutrient conditions to get the best productivity out of plants year round. The technology of hydroponics allows almost any kind of plant to be grown in nutrient-rich water, from root crops like radishes and potatoes to fruit such as melons and even cereals like maize. There are a number of ways to do it, for instance , by suspending plants in a medium—such as gravel, wool or a form of volcanic glass known as perlite—while the roots are immersed in a solution of nutrient-rich water. A constant flow of air keeps the plants bathed in carbon dioxide. Any nutrients and water that are not taken up by the roots can be recycled, rather
than being lost into the soil.
If implemented successfully, they give us various benefits like urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply, and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.
This idea tackles the burning issues of the day like food shortage, environmental sustainability, repairing the environment and so on, head on. Our Earth is ever burdened and it keeps getting worse as there is overpopulation. Simply said, the resources are too strained to actually sustain the entire population as of now,and it's only going to get worse. Also the population will be concentrated in urban areas where there is development hence urbanisation also comes to the picture.
The basic idea of vertical farming is to " BUILD UPWARDS". If we don't have land to cultivate crops on then we simply build ON it. Despommier is of the opinion that the way forward in agriculture is to build "eco-cities" where each human activity reprresents an ecological process. Here the land use is minimised because we build upwards and the farming is also done indoors.This new approach employs cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm is efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers.
The necessary technology already exists.We use the glasshouses technology and other technology like hydroponics. We can alter temperature, humidity, lighting, airflow and nutrient conditions to get the best productivity out of plants year round. The technology of hydroponics allows almost any kind of plant to be grown in nutrient-rich water, from root crops like radishes and potatoes to fruit such as melons and even cereals like maize. There are a number of ways to do it, for instance , by suspending plants in a medium—such as gravel, wool or a form of volcanic glass known as perlite—while the roots are immersed in a solution of nutrient-rich water. A constant flow of air keeps the plants bathed in carbon dioxide. Any nutrients and water that are not taken up by the roots can be recycled, rather
than being lost into the soil.
If implemented successfully, they give us various benefits like urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply, and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.
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