Pros and Cons of Vertical Farming Systems: What You Need to Know (2024)

FAQs

Pros and Cons of Vertical Farming Systems: What You Need to Know? ›

It is important to note that there are several benefits to vertical farming, such as the ability to control the environment, reduce water usage, and minimize the need for pesticides. There are, however, some downsides (no pun intended) to vertical farming, such as high initial costs and special equipment requirements.

Vertical farming is the agricultural process in which crops are grown on top of each other, rather than in traditional, horizontal rows. Growing vertically allows for conservation in space, resulting in a higher crop yield per square foot of land used.

Yet vertical farming is much more than just stacking plants and hoping for the best. The practice requires artificial temperature, light, water, and humidity control. If a delicate balance is not maintained, it's possible to lose an entire crop the way a traditional farm might in the event of a drought or flood.

Indoor vertical farms can grow 365 days per year, regardless of the weather conditions. Vertical farms are not susceptible to the impacts of storms or extreme weather events in the way conventional farms are. A climate-controlled environment allows for year-round, reliable food production.

Challenges and Limitations

Higher Initial Costs and Maintenance Requirements: Vertical gardens may incur higher costs and maintenance requirements compared to traditional gardens due to the installation of vertical structures and irrigation systems, as well as the need for regular monitoring and care.

Vertical farms are largely restricted to producing crops with a high proportion of edible biomass, such as lettuce and microgreens. Several staple foods, such as rice and wheat, have a low proportion of edible biomass and so cannot be grown profitably in a vertical farm.

Vertical farms can be much safer than conventional farms if they are designed and operated correctly.” Besides allowing for a high degree of traceability using emerging technologies, a key factor in food safety is the reduced need for harmful pesticides.

Energy Consumption: The energy consumption of vertical farms, especially those using artificial lighting, can be substantial. High energy costs not only affect profitability but also raise concerns about the sustainability of the operations.

Vertical farms are a good option because lots of plants can be grown in a small space, no pesticides are needed, and food can grow all year long. Farms located in cities also reduce the distance that food must travel between where it is produced and where it is eaten—and this is good for the environment, too.

Vertical farming provides several benefits, including less reliance on the weather, reduced water usage, and the ability to convert urban areas into functional farms. Vertical farming also has many drawbacks. They're overly dependent on technology and use a lot of energy. Vertical farms are still a work in progress.

Is vertical farming expensive? ›

The price tag for outfitting an area with iFarm vertical farm rack technology, including setup and activation, is around $ 1,000 per square meter (the exact cost depends on the overall size of the farm, as well as on other factors such as building conditions or if any auxiliary equipment is needed).

Salads are undoubtedly the most popular vertical farming plants there are. Anything from superfoods like spinach and green kale to everyday dinner foods like crispy salads and baby leaves are grown with great success. There are a couple of reasons why salads are the most popular vertical farming crops.

Depending on the types of plant life, and with constant care and maintenance, plant walls are predicted to last up to 25 years.

The space requirements for HVAC equipment and air circulation around the plants are often overlooked, resulting in the two most commonly identified difficulties when controlling the environment: humidity control and air movement.

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.

While it might make sense to start a VF if you are growing a high value crop that can be grown hydroponically, and you are limited to growing in a dense population area, it might still be a risky business investment if you do not have access to cheap renewable energy.

Vertical farming — growing plants in controlled indoor environments with higher yields, fewer inputs and less waste — has big promise, but is struggling to reach profitability.

It just takes too much electricity to replace the sun during the day and replicate the sun at night. Analysts have calculated that it would require five, 10 or many more acres of solar panels to provide the power for each acre of vertical farming.