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Eco Factor: Energy-neutral greenhouses produce 20 times more fruit per acre than conventional farms.

With the land available for farming being used to develop modern residential and commercial complexes, environmentalists around the world are worried about the future, where the lack of land might leave millions hungry. Like always, scientists have tried to find an answer to this growing threat in the latest in technology.Houweling Nurseries, a Canadian farming company, has developed hi-tech greenhouse facilities which generate renewable electricity, harvest rain and runoff water and above all produce 20 times more fruit than conventional farms. The $50 million complex is a completely self-dependent ecosystem in which nothing is wasted. The facility has five acres of photovoltaic solar cells to supply it with 2.1MW of electricity, which is used to run water pumps and climate control systems. Thermal systems collect solar heat and warehouse refrigeration exhaust to warm the greenhouse on cold evenings. Workers of the facility have dug a four-acre pond that collects rainwater which is then filtered and re-circulated back to the facility for irrigation. Plants in this greenhouse are fed through tubing and crops are grown without the use of any herbicides and almost no pesticides. Since there is no dust or germs inside the facility, fertilizer use is also limited. The 20-acre facility has 450 workers who are constantly keeping an eye on all the critical systems and ensure that the production is the best.

Vertical farms, what is that? Well, Vertical farming or skyfarming as it is also known as, is a theoretical form of agriculture which can be done in urban high-rises. In these farmscrapers (high-rises) food such as vegetables, fruit, fish, and even live-stock can be raised by using greenhouse growing methods. Ingenious idea!

Despite concerns over exorbitant costs, Dickson Despommier, an environmental health expert in New York is convinced the world has the know-how to make the concept a reality.

In fact, Chris Jacobs, Creative Director of United Future, LA California has brought the Vertical Farm concepts into the spotlight, especially after his article about Dickson’s Vertical Farm concept was featured in the New York Magazine.

But, why do we need vertical farming? Dickson Despommier says,

the reason why we need vertical farming is that horizontal farming is failing. If current practices don’t change by mid-century, he points outs, an area bigger than Brazil would need to become farmland just to keep pace with the demand

Vertical farming has numerous advantages; some of them are as follows:

• Prevention of deforestation, sprawl, and other consequences of growing agricultural land use.

• By producing food within the city, less pollution is produced transporting the food from distant farms.

• Controlled environment of a greenhouse will also hopefully allow greater crop yields and also reduce the need for pesticides and fertilizers.
Way to go! I hope vertical farms become a reality soon, because not only will they make the cities cleaner, but they will also help to reduce global warming.

Source

Doctrine of biodynamic agriculture is that food raised biodynamically is nutritionally superior and tastes better than the food produced conventionally. And while biodynamic farming is a lot like organic farming in many ways it is set apart from organic agriculture by its use of the spiritual science of anthroposophy, also founded by Rudolf Steiner and having its emphasis on achieving the balance between the physical and higher non-physical realms which acknowledge the influences of the cosmic and terrestrial forces to enrich the farm, the products and the inhabitants with life energy. Biodynamics works without injecting the harmful additives from today’s chemical industry into the food source.

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