Food challenges
The world population is currently 7.8 billion, and it’s growing every minute. However, the land on Earth is constant, which means that it doesn’t grow proportionate to the population. As far as we know, there are no other planets that can sustain plant life similar to Earth. With this in mind, the current farming methods need to be modified to prove sufficient to human needs and natural resources. With companies deforesting, using harmful chemicals, and occupying more land to grow food, the negatives eventually outweigh the positives. A significant downside of this is global warming, which disrupts food availability and quality, affecting most agricultural industries. By consuming unhealthy food, the public is at a higher risk of developing diseases which would not be sustainable for humanity.
Farming
Nowadays, farming is treated as an unstable profession and can be compared to gambling. Farmers are becoming increasingly concerned by how beneficial their yield would be while seeding and if they would get their investment back. Like gambling, where there’s a doubt while placing bets, there’s a greater chance of losing rather than winning. Farmers have to overcome many hurdles during open farming. For example, it’s impossible to predict weather patterns, especially since the rise of global warming. They aren’t sure when temperatures will rise, rain or storm. Additionally, crops are more susceptible to wastage in soil, water, air, and even insect and animal attacks, directly transported to the plants. With all the challenges, farmers cannot cope with the stress and financial losses, which has caused farmer suicide rates to increase by 40% over the past two decades.
Land is limited but sky is unlimited
If we didn’t invent the stacking of multi-floors, there wouldn’t be enough land to shelter humans. It’s impossible to provide housing to Earth’s growing population of 1.05% per year. If humans can live in vertical towers, why can’t plants grow in them as well? Vertical farming is a centuries-old idea that is very thought-provoking, and researchers have spent years trying to revolutionize it. In recent years, it has proven to be effective in commercial farming by minimizing costs, space, and pollution.
Hydroponics
Hydroponics is a soil-less farming method where plants grow in water with mineral nutrient solutions. Only the roots are exposed to the nutritious liquid and are physically supported by an inert medium such as perlite or leca pebbles (clay balls). Hydroponics has many advantages; one main one is that it can be grown indoors, and since it does not require soil, the plants can be stacked vertically. Additionally, since the plants are grown indoors, they are protected from all types of harmful weather conditions and diseases. Like factory manufactured goods, there is a 100% chance that there will be a final product. Hydroponics farming guarantees the same confidence as a successful yield using plant seeds. It doesn’t need much land because of vertical stacking, which allows it to be set up in urban areas and rooftops similar to any factory. This system reduces the carbon footprint and provides fresher produce because food doesn’t have to be transported as far. Just like houses controlled with HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition), the Hydroponics system can be influenced by precise temperature according to the plant’s needs. With a controlled environment, any plant can be grown anywhere year-round. Moreover, many diseases can be eliminated by a controlled environment since they don’t need to be sprayed with harmful chemicals, so they are grown purer than organic farming. They are simply supplying pure natural nutrient food to the plants and nothing less.
Hydroponics Growth
In this era, hydroponics growth is going to skyrocket and will see multifold growth.
Significance of the IoT (Information of Technology) on Hydroponics
Significance of the AI (Artificial Intelligence) on Hydroponics
Significance of the Analytics on Hydroponics