The rise of vertical farming
Another aspect of the future of Agriculture Technology is the way that the land is utilized. Vertical farming isn't a new concept. Ancient civilizations had a type of vertical farming in the form of terraces.
Vertical farming probably will be the future of agriculture. A rule of thumb is that it takes 1 acre to feed a single person. There is 640 acres in a square mile (2.58999 sq kilometers). How can we compress that 1 acre. One way to do it would be to have several crops per year. For instance if you could have 4 crops per year, a square mile could feed 2560 people. Many plants could be grown with a maximum height of 3 feet. Having a building with 10 layers (30 feet) could feed 25,600 people.
Makes you think.
Then add to that the savings in resources (water, fuel, externalize costs that pollution generate) that soil-less urban vertical farming will yield. Controlled growing environments can avoid using pesticides or tainted soils. We have the technologies today that, once scaled, will feed many more people. Let's put some public policy in place that promotes that.
I'm not sure if a public policy is necessary. It just requires people with the interest in doing this ... as once in place it would be very profitable. If I was 30 years younger I would consider doing something like this.
You're right. There's nothing stopping people (Elon Musk's brother, for example) from creating what can be very profitable. But given all the favorable tax treatment given to incumbent businesses a forward looking Fed, State, or City government should want to create a favorable climate to grow these businesses. (intended).
Can't comment on USA policies because I'm Canadian eh! While large scale operations might require support I reported a person who created a microgreen operation for $1000 here.
Thank you very much for the news very nice video @dwarrilow2002
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