Vertical Farming
AGRICULTURE THAT AIMS HIGH
Our primary objective is to increase the production and quality of the final product, optimizing the production process and reducing all the waste and costs of traditional agriculture.
The proposed innovation is to cultivate on several levels, occupying very little soil and replacing sunlight with artificial light.
For this reason, in 2018 we designed and built our Vertical Farm, consisting of a climatic chamber 18 meters long and 8 meters wide, with a height of 3.6 meters.
The entire structure has been allocated inside our greenhouse, in order to be protected from atmospheric events and to optimize heating during the winter months.
The climatic chamber has the function of creating a completely sealed volume, easy to heat and cool, thus guaranteeing a constant temperature with low relative humidity, so as not to favor the development of the Peronospora Belbahrii fungus, a serious problem for basil crops.
The Vertical Farm lighting system is LED; this allows us to obtain a light spectrum tailored for the plant, with a significant energy saving and with an instantaneous achievement of maximum brightness with low emission of radiant heat.
The times, the intensity of light and the number of irrigation cycles depended on the season and the climate; with Vertical Farming you take total control of the variables, making them become points of strength.
THE ADVANTAGES OF A VERTICAL FARM
Reduction of irrigation water consumption: in an environment without solar radiation, water consumption is significantly reduced.
Rationalization of the supply of fertilizers: resulting from the lower water consumption and biostimulation.
Climate control: the chamber defends cultivation from the effects of climate change on agriculture, protecting the plant and creating a favorable environment independent of the climate and ensuring continuous and constant production.
Less use of pesticides: in optimal environmental conditions the plant does not undergo any stress and grows in a favorable and pathogen-free habitat, without requiring insecticide and fungicide treatments.
Increase in production and employment: in the winter period it is possible to have a production comparable to the summer period, thus guaranteeing a fixed and constant supply.
Increase of the productive surface without the use of new soil: developing in height, it is possible to maximize cultivation by minimizing the occupation of the soil and its consequent impoverishment. Vertical Farms can represent a valid alternative also in a city environment, as an innovative solution for future urban agriculture.
