Can Cities Feed Their Inhabitants? David Thorpe looks at the options A greenhouse developed by Priva, an international company that provides innovative solutions for the more efficient control of energy and water within indoor environments. There are three dominant trends to which cities and national governments must respond in order to secure food supplies for their people. First, between 1980 and 2011 the global population not dependent on agriculture doubled to 4.4 billion, and, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization this population is growing at a rate about five times that of the agriculturally dependent population. Second, the amount of agricultural land available for growing food is declining and will soon start to be adversely affected by climate change. Third, in 2011 agricultural subsidies in the world’s top 21 food-producing countries totalled an estimated US$486bn. The growing of food in cities won’t mean that conventional agriculture will disappear. His personal website is: www.davidthorpe.info
WeFeedUs announces PA-based commercial aquaponics facility Home / Scale Up / WeFeedUs announces PA-based commercial aquaponics facility Scale Up January 22, 2013AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com arlisle, Pennsylvania-based WeFeedUs, a sustainable resource management company developing a commercial scale sustainable operation integrating the production of produce, fish, algae and renewable energy, has announced it has constructed a commercial aquaponics facility. According to the company, the production of food will be driven by on-site managed aquaponics systems, Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS), algae biomass production and green energy systems powering the facilities. The proprietary eco-process maximizes the utilization of nutrients, waste and other important natural components to promote the robust growth of sustainable produce, aquaculture, algae, and other co-products. The company is finalizing off-take agreements with several US Colleges that have world-class sustainability programs. More Like This… From The A.I.M.
This Japanese Vertical Farming Company Wants to... Nuvege (also called “Green Green Earth”) is a hydroponic vertical farming company based out of Kyoto, Japan. Currently they only produce lettuces but they appear to be a well-established business. This is what they say about themselves and their technology: Nuvege’s innovative hydroponic technology is unlike any other conventional hydroponic system that exists today. Nuvege’s proprietary lighting network (NLN) uniquely increases the yield rate of vegetable growth by equalizing light emissions that also advance photosynthesis through increased levels of carbon dioxide. Our unique Vertical Farming Environments utilize “vertical space” for our growth environments. Check out this video from their site (very basic but has some cool shots of their lab)
Vertical farming: Does it really stack up? WHEN you run out of land in a crowded city, the solution is obvious: build upwards. This simple trick makes it possible to pack huge numbers of homes and offices into a limited space such as Hong Kong, Manhattan or the City of London. Mankind now faces a similar problem on a global scale. The world's population is expected to increase to 9.1 billion by 2050, according to the UN. Such is the thinking behind vertical farming. Better still, says Dr Despommier, the use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides can be kept to a bare minimum by growing plants indoors in a controlled environment. A wide variety of designs for vertical farms have been created by architectural firms. “Without artificial lighting the result will be an uneven crop, as plants closest to the windows are exposed to more sunlight and grow more quickly.” The necessary technology already exists. He and his colleagues have created the South Pole Food Growth Chamber, which has been in operation since 2004.
Friendly Aquaponics, Inc. | Organic Certification If you were asking yourself: “Is organic certification of aquaponics possible?” when you loaded this page, the answer is a resounding YES! My gorgeous wife Susanne got our farm’s aquaponics systems USDA Organically Certified in 2008. Also, our back Commercial Newsletter #10 has complete information (as of 5-10-2012) of all the organically certified aquaponics farms and their certifying agency that Susanne could locate. What does organic certification (hereafter referred to just as “certification” to save your time) mean for you and your farm? Why Is Certification Valuable To You? Because you can get double the prices for certified produce as you can for conventional. Defining “Organic” Precisely And Accurately: “Organic” is a word that the US Government owns, and its meaning, and where you can and can’t use it, is strictly defined by Federal law. Fines Are NOT Fine! Get Certified Anywhere In The World: How Do I Get Certified? What Are “Materials And Devices”? What Does Certification Cost?
Caliber Biotherapeutics - Home WHAT IS VERTICAL FARMING?WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?WHAT ARE MICRO NUTRIENTS?ADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL FARMING? FOR PRELIMS AND MAINS GS PAP III | THE FORTUNE STROKE Ø Yes it's vertical because you are trying to grow more crops on a smaller land area and this usually means going upwards into buildings Ø It normally means that, instead of having a single layer of crops over a large land area, you have stacks of crops going upwards Ø It's also associated with city farming and urban farming Ø Who is "Dickson Despommier"? Ø Who is William Frederick Gericke? Ø Dickson Despommier, Columbia Microbiology Professor, is the Godfather of Vertical Farming Ø William Frederick Gericke, in the early 1930’s, pioneered hydroponics at the University of California at Berkley NB: Will read more about it WHY IS IT HAPPENING? Ø By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth’s population will reside in urban centers Ø Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim Ø At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use No not at all..!!
Aquaponic Gardening - A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners MIT City Farm | As part of the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, ... This Week in Virology - The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century Product Description "The vertical farm is a world-changing innovation whose time has come. Dickson Despommier's visionary book provides a blueprint for securing the world's food supply and at the same time solving one of the gravest environmental crises facing us today."--Sting Imagine a world where every town has their own local food source, grown in the safest way possible, where no drop of water or particle of light is wasted, and where a simple elevator ride can transport you to nature's grocery store - imagine the world of the vertical farm. When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. Despommier takes readers on an incredible journey inside the vertical farm, buildings filled with fruits and vegetables that will provide local food sources for entire cities. A Look Inside Vertical Farm (Click on Images to Enlarge) Review “A book you will read, and then you will read it again. And so on.