GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Controlled environment agriculture—indoor farming—offers a promising opportunity to sustain and develop our food systems despite climate change. This farming system requires less land and inputs than traditional farming. These farming systems are often in or near urban areas, which reduces or eliminates supply chain distance. However, there is still limited knowledge of the conditions many widely consumed crops need to successfully grow indoors, as well as the genetic advantages that can smooth a crop’s transition to indoor farming. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) consortium is providing the University of Florida a $2,112,454 grant to define…
Author: urbanagnews
Strategically manage resources for greenhouse and indoor cultivation By Gretchen Schimelpfenig, PE, Jennifer Amann Food production is responsible for a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Crop cultivation and supply chain processes require energy and generate associated carbon emissions. Greenhouses and vertical farms use diverse sources of energy like electricity, natural gas, propane, and gasoline depending on the facility type and the location. The worldwide controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry is growing rapidly in several crop categories. While CEA facilities use less land to grow more food with less waste, they can also demand more energy. Many states…
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 from 1 – 3 pm EST This virtual field day hosted by University of Florida and colleagues at the RUG Consortium will provide greenhouse growers with principles to ensure consumer success and satisfaction. Gain tips to produce great plants for the booming urban gardening market in 2022. Learn what quality attributes are important to a home consumer, and about high-performing compact vegetable cultivars. Presentations will be given by UF researchers and industry partners. Click here to register for free: https://tinyurl.com/RUGFIELDDAY2022 For more information, email Dr. Celina Gómez at cgomezv@ufl.edu
Wageningen, 2 February 22 / Wageningen University & Research – The WUR Student Challenges Team is launching a new podcast series for everyone interested in urban farming. The five-episode series is set to release on podbean and paprikatastyradio on 14 February 2022 and will run until 29 June 2022. ‘Urban Greenhouse Talks’ explores the world of urban farming through the lenses of the Urban Greenhouse Challenge#3, an international student competition organised by Wageningen University & Research. The main motive of the series is the question of how feeding our cities can become more sustainable and socially inclusive. By interviewing a…
By Corenthin Chassouant, originally published by Horti Generation Introduction Strawberries (genus Fragaria) are one of the most important fruit crops in the world. In North America, California and Florida are the largest producers. In Canada, the Quebec province stands out with a growing production in recent years. In France, half of the strawberries are now produced in soilless culture (Ancay, 2010; Izard, 2017). In recent years, soilless hydroponic strawberry cultivation in greenhouses has gained popularity. In fact, there are many reasons for this: reduction of root diseases by using sterile soil, increase in yield per unit of production, improvement in working conditions – planting, maintenance, easier harvesting – and fruit quality, better use…
It pays in the climate change and coronavirus pandemic era of supply chain disruptions to look at the plant factory business from a clients’ perspective, and that is why the Japan Plant Factory Association is offering a new training course. The JPFA will run a new online training course in English on plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) on Feb. 25-March 15, 2022, which allows you to learn how large-scale PFALs in Japan ensure stable supply and quality for clients, a crucial point in business operations in such an era. You are invited to check and apply from here. The…
On 11th Jan, the AVF convened for their 2022 AGM. As we said goodbye to 2021 the tenure of our amazing board who have led the AVF for the last two years also came to an end. The AVF is grateful to Christine Zimmermann, Joel Culleo and Ramin Ebrahimnejad for their leadership that has led to immense growth and the achievement of many major milestones in the AVF journey so far. The AVF are delighted as well as excited to announce that Christine and Joel stood again for election this year and they are not going anywhere. Christine has been…
Soli Organic CEO Matt Ryan will lead the day two opening morning keynote address for the 9th annual edition of Indoor Ag-Con, Feb. 28 – Mar. 1, 2022, at Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, NV. Themed “Growing Your Business,” the premier trade show and conference for indoor| vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture will give attendees the opportunity to explore new resources on the expo floor and hear from Ryan, other CEO headliners, thought leaders and industry experts from today’s cutting-edge farms and CEA companies. Soli Organic, formerly known as Shenandoah Growers, Inc., is the nation’s only soil-based, controlled environment agriculture…
Irrigation Design & Construction has signed an agreement with Hort Americas to become an authorized dealer of GE Current, a Daintree company, LED grow lights. In 2015 Hort Americas LLC, a leader in the commercial horticultural industry and a supplier of innovative goods and technical services in Bedford, Texas, became the North American master distributor and marketing partner of LED grow lights manufactured by GE Current, a Daintree company. This month Hort Americas has signed an agreement with Irrigation Design & Construction LLC (IDC) in Castroville, Calif., for IDC to become an authorized dealer of Current Arize LED grow lights.…
Caption: Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology ‘Working as a collective will help create a paradigm shift so more women can enter this space.’ As more women enter the Agritech sector, a group of industry professionals led by Connie Bowen (Farmhand Ventures) and Amy Wu (From Farms to Incubators) decided to create a new searchable directory to serve as a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs looking to connect both inside and outside of Agtech and help other growers partner with women in the sector. The directory has more than 1400 online members with diverse Agritech and food service backgrounds in…
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today a $9 million investment in new Cooperative Extension and USDA Climate Hubs partnerships to bolster climate research and connect and share climate-smart solutions directly with the agricultural community. “The Cooperative Extension system and the USDA Climate Hubs have unmatched capacity to reach agricultural, Tribal and underserved communities, as well as educators and students, and our nation’s farmers directly,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This partnership will strengthen climate research efforts and accelerate the development, adoption and application of science-based, climate-smart practices that benefit everyone.” This investment is part of the National…
Capsum and iFarm Launch Sustainable Vertical Farming R&D Project to Create Innovative Cosmetics Marseille (France), Helsinki (Finland) Scientific cosmetics manufacturer, Capsum (France), and agricultural technology company, iFarm (Finland) have signed a cooperation agreement and are set to launch a cutting-edge farm-laboratory to enhance the creation of innovative beauty products. As part of a pilot project, a small farm-laboratory using iFarm technologies will be built inside the existing R&D site at Capsum’s plant in Marseille. The leading microfluidics cosmetics manufacturer only uses natural ingredients to create its products and will evaluate the potential of large-scale cultivation of plants in a closed…
At CEAtech, we owe our success to the efficiency of our organizational processes. To help maintain and grow this standard, we’re seeking an experienced operations manager to oversee daily activities. As an ideal candidate, you’ll have a sharp business mind and proven success managing multiple departments toward maximum productivity. You’ll be highly skilled in human resources, finance, and IT management. Additionally, you’ll display a proven ability to develop and maintain an environment of trust, diversity, and inclusion within your team. Your ultimate responsibility is to increase our operational efficiency in the assembly and installation of the Robotic Fan and Modular…
AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb To Lead CEO Keynote Presentation At Las Vegas 2022 Indoor Ag-Con Press Release — AppHarvest Founder and CEO Jonathan Webb will lead the Indoor Ag-Con keynote presentation, “How Tech In Farming Can Build A Resilient Food System,” on Monday, February 28, 2022 from 11:00 am – 11:50 am. A headliner event at the February 28 – March 1, 2022 edition of the trade show and conference for the indoor|vertical farming industry at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, Webb’s discussion will focus on what needs to be done to truly fix the world’s food system. And that,…