Join three CEA scientists (Chieri Kubota, Erik Runkle and Cary Mitchell) who are organizing an online monthly forum series, called ‘Indoor Ag Science Café’. This online forum has been designed to discuss the science and technologies that can contribute to indoor controlled environment agriculture (AKA vertical farms). According to Chieri, “we wish to make the forum develop as a non-competitive, informal communication platform among indoor agriculture industries”.
“Low-pH hydroponic nutrient formula for growing leafy greens for better root-rot disease management“by Dr. Chieri Kubota (Ohio State University) This presentation ’Growing leafy greens with a low-pH hydroponic solution for root-rot disease management” was given by Chieri Kubota (Ohio State University) during our 49th café forum on February 7th, 2023. Indoor Ag Science Café is organized […]
Continue ReadingLast year, venture capitalist companies invested $51.7 billion in Ag Tech, but what exactly is Ag Tech? Ag Tech is technology focused agriculture that is meant to increase existing efficiency processes in agriculture and sustainability, which includes everything from aquaculture to new crops/genetics, to animal health to the controlled environment agriculture industry. With dwindling resources, […]
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“Indoor Farm Automation: Lessons learned from the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenges”by Dr. Ken Tran (Koidra Inc.) This presentation ‘Indoor Farm Automation: Lessons learned from the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenges’ was given by Dr. Ken Tran (Koidra Inc.) during our 44th café forum on September 20th, 2022. Indoor Ag Science Café is organized by the OptimIA project team […]
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This presentation ‘Precision Indoor Propagation for High Quality Transplants’ was given by Dr. Ricardo Hernandez (North Carolina State University) during our 32nd cafe forum on August 3rd, 2021. Upcoming Cafes: September 21st (Tuesday), 11AM Eastern – ‘Introduction to Aquaponics‘ by Dr. Paul Brown and Dr. Cary Mitchell (Purdue University) October 26th (Tuesday), 11AM Eastern – […]
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Purdue University professor turns smart phones into smart sensors Dr. Krishna Nemali, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at Purdue University, has developed an easy-to-use, affordable smart sensor that’s proving valuable to indoor farmers for improving farm productivity and crop quality. Using only a smart phone and a connection to Dr. Nemali’s apps, users can quickly […]
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Plant Factories and Indoor Farming Innovations in Japan Japan is a leader in the world of indoor farming. At the heart of their success is a non-profit organization, the Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA), and Eri Hayashi, its Vice President. Find out more about this sophisticated collaboration between academia, industry, and government. See the ways several of Japan’s […]
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“Indoor Farming in Mexico: Current Status and Opportunities” ‘Indoor Farming in Mexico: Current Status and Opportunities’ by Karla Garcia Founder and Director of Microgreen FLN and Technical Services Specialist for Hort Americas, Karla Garcia, discusses in the February 2021 Ag Café episode what’s happening in Mexico’s controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, what’s impeding its growth, […]
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‘Considerations for Marketing Vertical Farm Food Products to Consumers’ by Dr. Bridget Behe (Michigan State University) This presentation given by Dr. Bridget Behe discussed marketing indoor farm produce. Dr. Behe emphasizes that marketing is the communication of the value with consumers and “Why” to sell or buy is the important focus to connect producers and consumers. Dr. […]
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‘Crop Growth Monitoring and Simulation Based Resource Use Optimization’ by Dr. Murat Kacira and KC Shasteen (University of Arizona) This presentation given by Dr. Murat Kacira and his graduate student KC Shasteen introduces the concept of using crop modeling/simulation for making indoor farming management decisions. Indoor Ag Science Café is an outreach program of a project OptimIA, […]
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This presentation ‘Hydroponic Nutrient Management Basics’ was given by Dan Gillespie (JR Peters Inc.) during our 22nd cafe forum on September 22nd, 2020. Indoor Ag Science Cafe is organized by the OptimIA project team funded by USDA SCRI grant program. Cafe Archive & QA Forum Our archived Indoor Ag Science Cafe page in OptimIA website now has […]
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OptimIA offers free indoor ag webinar on July 29, 2020 The OptimIA (Optimizing Indoor Agriculture) project team invites indoor farmers, allied trades, and professionals to their first annual meeting to share recent research results with leafy greens and discuss future activities. OptimIA is a USDA-supported Specialty Crop Research Initiative project to advance the emerging indoor farming industry […]
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This comprehensive presentation includes all basics of selecting LED lighting for plant production and the update of recent light quality research at the Runkle Lab at MSU, discussing how lettuce crop responds to blue, green and far-red which affect morphological extension growth. Indoor Ag Science Café is an outreach program of a project OptimIA, funded by […]
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‘How to Fund Your Indoor Farm’ by Nicola Kerslake (Contain Inc.) This month’s Indoor Ag Science Cafe was about financing indoor farm start up. Nicola Kerslake gave an overview of funding strategies and her guest presenter Dave Dinesen (CubicFarms) shared their insightful experience. Indoor Ag Science Café is an outreach program of a project OptimIA, funded […]
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‘Photons = Flavor, the case study of basil’ by Dr. Roberto Lopez and Kellie Walters (Michigan State University) Roberto and Kellie work on lighting technologies for basil production and shared their most updated research on light intensities during young seedling stage of basil, affecting flavor profile and consumer liking in addition to yield and quality. […]
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