Vertical Farming Market: Technological Prospects 2022-2028

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Vertical Farming Market Technological Prospects
2022-2028 Agriculture 24, November 2022
Vertical farming a closed environment
crop-growing technique has gained prominence
globally owing to high food consumption and lack
of arable land for cultivation. The volume of
global food consumption reached 2.5 billion
metric tons in 2021. This elevates the need for
this technique to reduce reliance on weather,
high soil fertility, and water consumption. Our
estimates indicate that the global vertical
farming market is set to propel at a CAGR
of 23.10 from 2022 to 2028. Several crops
have been grown in stacked layers in
skyscrapers, warehouses, or shipping
containers in recent years, especially in
Asia and Europe. For instance, Vertical
Future, a London-based company, concluded
research to deliver sustainable fresh
produce with zero agrichemical components.
Hence, a gradual shift from conventional
agrochemical-based farming to sustainable
controlled environment agriculture has widened
the markets scope. Technology-Driven Offerings
A Sustainable Approach 1. Lighting category
captures the major share in terms of offering and
is expected to continue its dominance over
the forecast period. Farming with lighting
technology enables consistent plant growth,
reducing the heat stress on roots and
ensuring uniform lighting. LED, in this
regard, is a popular supplementary light
source as it
consumes 85 less heat than high-pressure sodium
(HPS) lights.
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• Hence, the LED grow light is set to
  become the most sought-after technology,
  forecasted to reach about 12 billion by 2030.
  GoodLeaf, a Canadian vertical farm, is among the
  many to have replaced old lighting systems with
  LED to grow varied crops and reduce overall
  energy-related costs in vertical farming.
  Overall, the growing implementation of this
  technique in skyscrapers and greenhouses is
  estimated to drive the markets demand in the
  coming years.
• Vertical farming is inclined towards
  deploying sensors to store information in
  the cloud and analyze data in real time
  using the internet of things (IoT).
  Increasing government support for modern
  agricultural techniques has boosted the demand
  for these sensors in the market. For example, the
  European Commission introduced the Farm Advisory
  System to help farmers understand rules for
  animal health, agriculture, and the environment.
• Another development includes collaboration
  between International Rice Research Institute
  and government partners to introduce the Cereal
  System initiative in South Asia to offer tools
  for location-specific fertilizer
  recommendations to growers. Estimates indicate
  C02 sensors to be a popular device,
  followed by pH, EC, and magnetometer sensors.
• Climate control is a critical aspect of indoor
  farming techniques, with air quality control
  gaining major prominence. Hence, CO2
  enrichment methods have been adopted to
  saturate CO2 solutions, reducing overall cost and
  the need for additional equipment such as HVAC
  systems. Since the build-up of heat and
  humidity in the growing area increases the
  risk of infection, vertical planes are
  incorporated as it allows air to move easily
  compared to horizontal layouts.
• However, the rising need for airflow examination
  has influenced players to introduce new systems,
  such as the airflow monitoring system by
  Kanomax that measures air velocity 24/7,
  enabling farmers to intervene in real time
  if the airflow is poor or excessive. The
  deployment of such advanced systems creates
  opportunities for operating players to launch
  new products, thus driving the market.
• Bio-Pharma Farming A new Vertical?
• In addition to being economically viable in the
  food industry, vertical farming is expected to
  show significant prominence in the biopharma
  sector in the upcoming years. Molecular
  farming, in this scenario, holds the potential to
  offer proteins that can be used as a therapeutic
  tool in healthcare and life sciences. In line
  with this, a few bio-pharma companies like
  Abattis Bioceuticals Corp have adopted
  vertical farming technology to produce
  nutraceutical components. Therefore, the
  adoption of advanced solutions like indoor
  cultivation will accelerate the vertical farming
  markets development over the forecast period.
• FAQs
• Q1) Which countries have adopted vertical
  farming?
• Several countries in the Asia-Pacific and Europe
  have adopted vertical farming techniques,

including Japan, China, Singapore, the UK,
France, and the Netherlands.
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Q2) Which are the key crop types in the vertical
farming market? Tomato, berries, pepper,
cucumber, microgreens, lettuce and leafy
vegetables, and others are key crop types in the
vertical farming market.