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It is estimated that world population will increase to 8 billion people by 2025, and hopefully vertical farming will have full realization by then. Today, a hydrophonic vertical farm is fully operational at El Paso, Texas and its owners are proud of the fact that it's no longer a "pie-in-the-sky dream".
At the rate that agricultural land used for food production is diminishing and the population increasing, it is expected that food scarcity will be the next biggest problem we have to contend with. Most of our planet's natural resources have eroded due to intensive farming, while other land areas have been devoted to industrial and suburban uses. GMOs, are not the alternative resources for food production, as means of feeding the increasing population. Vertical farming works
In the U.S. alone, studies show that population increases by as much as 5,000 per day while the land correspondingly decreases by 15,000 acres.Based on agricultural reports, about 24 billion tons of topsoil are lost yearly due to farming methods that make use of harmful pesticides. Liberal irrigation on the other hand has caused the depletion of natural resources of ground water that supplies fresh water to wells and springs. Too much water is being drawn off the ground causing the water table to go down at an uncomfortable level. Other sources of water cannot be relied upon because it has been contaminated by agricultural run-offs that contain pesticides.
Hence, the concept of indoor farming being used by some small scale industries for the past 15 years, is now gaining technological attention. The concept, modified by dedicating high-rise buildings in urban environments for food production purposes, is called vertical farming.
What is Vertical Farming?
Vertical farming is a greenhouse-based method of agriculture, where commercially viable crops would be cultivated and grown inside multi-storey buildings that will mimic the ecological system. Safe and efficient methods of recycling organic wastes as well as the recycling of water wastes from sewage systems will be implemented.
This method of indoor farming will include the production of freshwater fishes, crustaceans, and mollusks, like tilapia, striped bass, trout, shrimps, crayfish and mussels. The success of vertical farming as the answer to the imminent problem of food shortage is also foreseen as a means of rehabilitating vast agricultural lands that were systematically eroded by aggressive commercial farming for the past 20 to 30 years.
The aim of this concept is to follow the patterns of past civilizations and inhabitants; land was abandoned when it was no longer ecologically useful. Thus, the abandoned area will be left untouched to naturally rehabilitate and experience re-growth. Vertical farming will provide an alternative agricultural venue, allowing land that has been depleted to take a break and repair itself with natural growths.
There are several underlying concepts that support the viability of vertical farming:
- The rainforests of Central America also experienced deforestation during the pre-Colombian era when an estimated 50 million people, including the Mayans, occupied this region. It was only in the 1950's that these rainforests completed full re-growth and it became impossible for archaeologists to look for more evidences of its ancient civilization.
- Another example was the grassland prairie of the Great Plains of the United States. Early immigrants used them for farming until the next 20 to 30 years brought drought and soil erosion. The devastating condition resulted to the abandonment of the land by the years 1932-1938. Most of the settlers headed further west to look for more sustainable land which they found in California. After 15 years, wildlife began to come back, while grasslands were rebuilt and other native plants reclaimed the region. However after World War II, farmers came back to plant wheat with the use of irrigational systems. Due to the rising costs of fuel needed to pump and raise water from its depths, farmers are again expected to abandon these lands. In the same pattern as before, the tall prairie grasslands are likely to dominate the land once more.
- There are other similar patterns that were observed in ecological studies conducted by the scientific community. These presented possible processes of recovery for different U.S. sites that include not only grasslands but also alpine forests, semi-arid deserts, wetlands, coastal savannas, estuaries, rivers and lakes. All have shown proof of their natural ability to return to their original state if given the chance to re-establish their natural ecological conditions.
Henceforth, the concept of vertical farming will provide the alternative ecosystem for most of the world's traditional food requirements, in order to give room for most of the agricultural lands to rehabilitate itself.
