Advantages of Vertical Farming
Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or
more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor
acres)
No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests
All VF food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers
VF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water
VF returns farmland to nature, restoring ecosystem functions and services
VF greatly reduces the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired
at the agricultural interface
VF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of
evapotranspiration
VF adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting
non-edible
parts of plants and animals
VF dramatically reduces fossil fuel use (no tractors, plows, shipping.)
VF converts abandoned urban properties into food production centers
VF creates sustainable environments for urban centers
VF creates new employment opportunities
We cannot go to the moon, Mars, or beyond without first learning to farm indoors
on
earth
VF may prove to be useful for integrating into refugee camps
VF offers the promise of measurable economic improvement for tropical and
subtropical
LDCs. If this should prove to be the case, then VF may be a catalyst in helping
to reduce or even reverse the population growth of LDCs as they adopt urban
agriculture as a strategy for sustainable food production.
VF could reduce the incidence of armed conflict over natural resources, such as
water
and land for agriculture
bob lynn on 13 Feb 12China's twelfth 5-Year Plan (released in 2011) addresses the country's rapid urbanisation by including a target to deliver 36 million new social housing units by 2015. Shenzhen in southern China, located in the Pearl River Delta in the Guangdong Province, is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It has a large stake in this project and is aiming to deliver 240,000 new units which will house approximately 800,000 people. At the vanguard of China's economic reform, Shenzhen has grown 400 times its original size in the last 40 years, following high levels of investment by the government and through mass migration of workers from all over China. The city has a huge transient working population comprising mostly young people, in particular single women. Most residents come to the city from various parts of the country, leaving family, friends and other support networks. Shenzhen is rapidly running out of space, with only limited land available to house future population growth.
