This ppt will help you in understanding what is vertical farming and hydroponics which I believe to be the future of agriculture in urban areas. This presentation won me second prize at my college.Hope it helps you all.

1. Vertical Farming
-By Abdulqadir Nulwalla

2. Introduction
 Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically
stacked layers or integrated in other structures (such as in a
skyscraper or old warehouse) with use of less water and no soil.
 The modern ideas of vertical farming use indoor farming
techniques and controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
technology, where all environmental factors can be controlled
such as artificial control of light, humidity & temperature.
 As urban population continues to grow and as arable land is
diminishing rapidly across the globe, a fundamental change in
food production is required.

3.  The resources used in this vertical farming system where the
windmill is used generate electricity for the water pumping
system, also these windmills are kept at the top of the
skyscraper where to gather air source and other energy
resources are added additionally such as solar energy for the
purpose of generating the artificial light source to the crops for
the high yielding.
 Technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial
Intelligence), Machine Learning, Robotics are absolutely
crucial for vertical farming.

4. What is the need for vertical farming ?
 Vertical farming is the need of the hour, to feed a population of
around 7.8 billion people around the world which is growing in
geometric progression in comparison to yield efficiency of farms.
 Every year, crops worth millions of dollars are destroyed due to
erratic climatic conditions as well as pests. Vertical farming
eradicates the need to rely on climatic conditions and helps grow
seasonal crops year round.
 Regular agricultural techniques, take up 80-85% of the total water
consumption. In comparison, vertical farming saves up to 90%
water required for the same crop and gives greater yield.

5. It also helps convert farmland to natural forests, helping to
restore the ecological balance.
Crops with high amounts of nutrients and great taste can be
customized by varying contents of water used in the
hydroponic system and the LED wavelengths required for
the plant.
Cancerous chemicals are present in most crops to get higher
yield and unedible colouring with growth injections are
used in traditional farming methods which do more harm
than good to us.Use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers can
be completely eradicated with vertical farming.

6. Imported fruits can be grown in vertical farms by altering the
climatic conditions, which drives down the price of rare foods
while also guaranteeing its quality.

7. Where is vertical farming practiced?
 Vertical farming is a boon to urban towns where land is scarce
and expensive.Using this technique the yield per hectare can
increased manifold in proportion to height of the farm.Hence it is
also known as urban farming.
 The total transportation cost and time required for the foods to
reach consumer is known as ‘food miles’.As most of the vertical
farms would be in urban areas, food miles can be cut down which
helps lower the cost and increase shelf life.
 Vertical farming can also be practiced by any individual in the
comfort of their homes to produce heathy and tasty plants

8. A vertical farm concept as proposed by Sir Vincent Callebaut

9. How is it done ?
Vertical farming is mainly possible due to the following techniques
 Hydroponics - Method of growing plants without soil instead
using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent
 Aquaponics - Method of combining conventional aquaculture
with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment
 Aeroponics – Method of growing plants in air or mist
environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium

10. LED lighting about 400-700 nanometer wavelength is used for the
plants to go undergo photosynthesis
Different sensors such as moisture sensor, heat sensors are used to
get information about plant and soil health, this information is
processed with the help of machine learning and with the help of
IoT required changes are made
In hydroponics, huge stackable trays are kept on each other and
since there is no soil involved weight is reduced considerably, so
that skyscrapers with thousand of trays can be made.
Practicing this type of farming in local neighbourhoods can reduce
dependency on agricultural sector and also help us reduce global
greenhouse gas emissions wile reducing our carbon footprint

12. Is it sustainable ?
 The three basic human needs are Food, Clothing and Shelter (in Hindi as we
say Roti, Kapda aur Makaan).Our ancestors began with eating food to survive,
then came shelter and lastly clothing.Though both shelter and clothing have
risen to great heights in technological advances, agriculture clearly lags
behind.How many builders names we know, how many clothing brands are
known to us but only a few of us may know some raw food suppliers.
 For business this is an extremely great line and that is why many agri-tech
startups have come up in recent years.In India, agriculture provides around
60% of the country’s GDP, that is about 1.5 lakh crore USD, with that market
share it is somewhat strange that the Indian agricultural sector has been so
backward..

13.  Engineering is multidisciplinary in its true nature and so is vertical farming.We
as engineers are familiar with the concept of sensors, AI, Machine Learning ,
IoT, cloud computing, etc and this field could definitely hire a lot of such
individuals.Traditional farmers lack a formal education and concepts such as
these are only a virtual reality for them but for us we can change this dream into
a reality.
 In terms of investments, lakhs and crores of rupees are invested my SoftBank
and Jeff Bezos to try out the sustainability and economic viability of these
vertical farms.

14. What are the problems faced ?
 Cost of infrastructure development is very high and large investment is
required, also getting a house in an urban area is difficult, let alone an empty
plot to grow fruits and vegetables.
 Also, the main concept of a vertical farm is to save on the food miles, so great
market research is required to choose a place with a high demand for these
products plus the availability of land.
 Proper power supply is required for smooth functioning of these farms, also all
the variables including technology, water supply, etc, need to be kept in mind
before beginning.
 Most of the times you cannot compete with conventional farmers with their
reduced pricing as they are growing traditionally with almost zero running
costs.

15.  Labour in urban areas is comparatively very expensive and using robots may
increase the initial overall setup cost.
 A lot of research and development is required with the number of variables such
as nutrients, temperature, wavelengths of LED, etc to provide the best produce.
 If fossil fuels are used to run these farms then they may be leaving behind a
bigger carbon footprint than its predecessor, again getting renewable energy
source further increases the cost.

16. Conclusion-The future is definitely bright for
vertical farming
There are new companies emerging every day promising to deliver new solutions
in every subcategory from growing equipment, lighting technology, climate
controls, data, sensors, automation, consulting, and much more.
We’re all still learning. That’s the beauty of fast-growth, nascent industries.
Vertical farming, in a lot of ways, is the next frontier of agriculture.
It’s one of the most promising ways to get fresh food into our cities and food-
insecure places like Alaska and other often overlooked food deserts.
By exerting more control over the growing environment, making better use of our
resources, and implementing smart, labor-efficient growing technology, I believe
we’ll see some tremendous strides made toward greater access to better food for
anyone who wants it.

18. Acknowledgement
 Harry Goldstein –Blueprints for a miracle-The
Green Promise of Vertical Farms

19. References
 https://university.upstartfarmers.com/blog/9-reasons-why-vertical-farms-fail
 ssir.org
 hortidaily.com
 www.tandfonline.com
 Greencoast.org
 Gminsights.com
 Fao.org
 Statista.com

20. Thankyou