An innovative approach to agriculture, known as vertical farming, could potentially “feed the world without trashing the planet,” according to an alternative farming entrepreneur.
Vertical farming involves cultivating crops like rocket, watercress, basil, and chives in stacked layers under controlled conditions for temperature, light, water, and humidity.
Fischer Farms, a leader in this field, claims that their facility in Norwich can produce up to 1,000 tonnes of leafy greens, herbs, and salads daily using this method.
Belinda Clarke, the director of Agri-TechE, said vertical farming could be “a gamechanger for the industry”, but it had “been really difficult to get the business model right”.
Tristan Fischer, the founder of Fischer Farms, said he believed the system could “provide a significant amount of food stability around the world”.
“They’re emulating wind and sunshine, so we can have a night cycle for the plants, the wind makes the plants stronger and the sunshine helps them to grow,” said grow assistant Samantha Wood.
Mr Fischer believed vertical farming could “feed the world without trashing the planet at the same time”.
“The very sophisticated systems are expensive, there’s a lot of up front capital costs and you need a high value crop,” said Dr Clarke.
To ensure the investment is profitable, investors may need to focus on growing high-value crops such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics ingredients, or out-of-season produce currently imported into the UK.
Dr Clarke suggested cereals, which “we’re quite good at growing to scale under free sunlight”, would be harder to justify.
The company has successfully trialed growing wheat and plans to expand into fruits, followed by soy, wheat, and peas. These crops are cultivated in a biosecure environment, free from pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides.
Fischer Farms’ four-acre (1.61-hectare) facility at the Food Enterprise Park yields as much food as a traditional 1,000-acre (404-hectare) farm, making it one of the largest vertical farms globally, covering 25,000 square meters (269,098 square feet). However, the energy demands of vertical farming are substantial.
Dr. Clarke, an expert in the field, notes that for vertical farming to be commercially viable, it must be located near a sustainable energy source, such as a solar farm or anaerobic digester.
Fischer Farms plans to meet its future energy needs with power from a new 130-acre (52-hectare) solar farm being constructed next door, supplementing the existing solar panels on its roof.
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