Growing AI, Literally.
Overview of Indoor Farming and the Many Advancements Yet to Come
By Isaac Duru, Tyler Dickinson, Abhi Bhabad
What is Indoor Farming?
Indoor farming, or vertical farming, is the practice of growing crops in a controlled environment stored vertically and managed by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and artificial lighting to optimize the growth of plants. Indoor farming is taking the agricultural sector by storm due to current problems and forecasts of new ones. Currently in the agriculture industry prominent issues such as climate change, soil erosion/degradation and lack of labor harass farmers and will continue to worsen as time goes on. Additionally, the United Nations estimate that the population on Earth is expected to increase by 2 billion people by 2050. Farmers will be unable to match the growing demand for food with their current hindrances.
As technology advances, indoor farming continues to become more viable as a solution to substitute farming outside. For starters, it eliminates the variability of the outside weather while allowing for precise control over the temperature inside. With AI, the temperature, humidity or lighting can automatically be adjusted to support the growth of the crops. AI can also be used to detect issues within the crops or predict when they’ll be ready to harvest! This process is called “precision agriculture”, the use of technology to optimize farming practices.
Internet of Things (IoT) is also used in indoor farming to collect data from various sensors and devices throughout the environment. Sensors with the job to monitor the water-tank level, temperature, and soil moisture are some notable roles that communicate with each other through IoT for the purpose of refining the growth of crops. Whenever a plant needs water, the task to deliver water is automated. The sensors provide the AI with information to supplement the plants with the right amount of water, mitigating waste while reducing labor costs and improving efficiency.
Potential Problems with Indoor Farming
One of the biggest challenges companies face breaking into indoor farming is the high initial costs. These upfront costs are unavoidable and can deter many potential small business owners. Depending on the facility, the cost to start an indoor farm can dig deep into your pockets. Start up costs vary based on size of setup and amount of technology you plan on implementing. According to iFarm, a company that provides technology solutions for vertical farming, the cost to set up technology within the area is roughly $1,000 per square meter. Their equipment consists of pallets, lighting and other automated equipment that may be used within the facility.
With such high costs, you’d expect revenues to be lucrative. Unfortunately, most vertical farms do not achieve break-even for up to 10 years! Companies producing healthy greens will not see the same returns as an indoor cannabis farm; the leafy greens may be sold for $1 or $2 compared to cannabis which sell for a higher price.
For larger companies, implementing automation may seem like the ideal solution to cut costs but realistically it’s the opposite. Automation has been proven to be successful, but the costs to maintain the technology may be more harmful than helpful. To ensure automation could carry out its role, robotics and software engineers need to be employed. These engineers are workers that demand higher salaries compared to the manual labor workers in an outside farm.
Conclusion
Indoor farming is a rising business opportunity that has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of traditional outdoor farming methods. Moreso, as the population of the world continues to grow exponentially, previous agricultural practices are not predicted to be viable methods to supply the growing demand. The adoption of indoor farming will be costly, especially to small farmers, with the need to spend more on fixed costs and experts to manage the technology. In conclusion, indoor farming can minimize the environmental impact compared to orthodox farming methods at a premium.
Sources
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-6124-2_4#Sec1
https://www.eriemutual.com/insights/the-problem-with-vertical-farming/
https://ifarm.fi/blog/vertical-farming-costs
https://www.fastcompany.com/90824702/vertical-farming-failing-profitable-appharvest-aerofarms-bowery