Crop-growing skyscrapers

 

                                  Crop-growing skyscrapers 




A. By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth‟s population will live in urban centres.
Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human
population will increase by about three billion people by then. An estimated 109
hectares of new land (about 20% larger than Brazil) will be needed to grow enough
food to feed them if traditional farming methods continue as they are practised today.
At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising
crops is in use. Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor
management practices. What can be done to ensure enough food for the world‟s
population to live on? 


B. The concept of indoor farming is not new since hothouse production of tomatoes
and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to
scale up this technology to accommodate another three billion people. Many believe
an entirely new approach to indoor farming is needed, employing cutting-edge
technologies. One such proposal is for the “Vertical Farm”. These are multi-storey
buildings in which food crops are grown in environmentally controlled conditions.
Situated in the heart of urban centres, they would drastically reduce the amount of
transportation required to bring food to consumers. Vertical farms would need to be
efficient, cheap to construct and safe to operate. If successfully implemented,
proponents, claim, vertical farms offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable
production of safe and varied food supply (through year-round production of all
crops), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal
farming.


C. It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take
for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning
verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time frame, we
evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives
vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from the
elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigours of the great outdoors
and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not
now, due to a rapidly changing climate, that is not what happens. Massive floods, long
droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying
millions of tons of valuable crops.


D. The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system.
For instance, crops would be produced all year round, as they would be kept in
artificially controlled, optimum growing conditions. There would be no weather-
related crop failures due to droughts, floods or pests. All the food could be grown
organically, eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. The system
would greatly reduce the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the
agricultural interface. Although the system would consume energy, it would return
energy to the grid via methane generation from composting nonedible parts of plants.
It would also dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, by cutting out the need for tractors,
ploughs and shipping.


E. A major drawback of vertical farming, however, is that the plants would require
artificial light. Without it, those plants nearest the windows would be exposed to more
sunlight and grow more quickly, reducing the efficiency of the system. Single-storey
greenhouses have the benefit of natural overhead light: even so, many still need
artificial lighting. A multi-storey facility with no natural overhead light would require
far more. Generating enough light could be prohibitively expensive unless cheap,
renewable energy is available, and this appears to be rather a future aspiration than a
likelihood for the near future.


F. One variation on vertical farming that has been developed is to grow plants in
stacked trays that move on rails. Moving the trays allows the plants to get enough
sunlight. This system is already in operation, and works well within a single-storey
greenhouse with light reaching it from above: it is not certain, however, that it can be
made to work without that overhead natural light.


G. Vertical farming is an attempt to address the undoubted problems that we face in
producing enough food for a growing population. At the moment, though, more needs
to be done to reduce the detrimental impact it would have on the environment,
particularly as regards the use of energy. While it is possible that much of our food
will be grown in skyscrapers in future, most experts currently believe it is far more
likely that we will simply use the space available on urban rooftops.

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