Agrilyst has once again provided Urban Ag News with access to their State of Indoor Farming Report. Read below to learn more about what the industry was saying in 2017 Last year, we set out to provide detailed insight about the state of the indoor farming industry today — what growers are doing, their challenges, and how they see their field changing over the next few years. With that, the State of Indoor Farming was created. This year, their report provides not only an outlook of the industry, but also an updated analysis of the industry following our 2016 report. We received over…
Author: urbanagnews
Alongside the region’s first ever dedicated B2B event for honey production apiARAB, and VIV MEA the world’s leading expo for poultry and livestock production. The Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture 2018 (GFIA), returns to Abu Dhabi as part of the UAE’s Innovation Month to showcase the latest game-changing innovations and technology from across the world critical to food security across MENA. GFIA Abu Dhabi will be held with strategic support from Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) and the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment from the 5-6th February at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. Free to attend,…
By Jacob Eisenberg, Editor of Agri-Futures The Mecca of all vertical farming can be found an hour outside Tokyo, a city often heralded as the world’s largest metropolitan area. The Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA) sits on a quiet plot next to the Chiba University campus. Across from three towering apartment buildings and a sprawling UNIQLO mall, the JPFA greenhouses sit translucently illuminated on the boundary of a dense city center and quiet suburb surrounding the agricultural campus. Large crows sit quietly in the branches of the beautifully pruned dwarf tree orchard of the university — and for a few moments, it becomes easy to forget…
Hort Americas is excited to announce that it has been appointed the exclusive distributor of the Moleaer Inc. nanoBoost Nanobubble Generator. The generator delivers a supplementary source of dissolved oxygen that can significantly increase plant growth, improve size uniformity, reduce stress and prevent root diseases under extreme production conditions. It is ideally suited for horticultural applications including hydroponics, greenhouse irrigation and pond management. Real-world application Hort Americas installed the 50-gallons-per-minute (GPM) nanoBoost in in its hydroponics demonstration greenhouse in Dallas, Texas, to improve the production of leafy greens and culinary herbs during the summer months when warm summer temperatures make…
Originally published in Issue 13 By Jennifer Prescott On a chilly February 26, excited student greenhouse ambassadors of PS84 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn greeted a host of city and local dignitaries arriving to tour and cut the ribbon for the launch of their amazing 1,500-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse classroom rooftop facility. As New York City Council member Stephen Levin observed, “it’s 34 degrees out and we are in this beautiful greenhouse growing food!” Principal Sereida Rodriguez-Guerra—observing the student ambassadors guiding each guest on a tour, with thorough explanations of each hydroponic system—was understandably proud of the students and the school community as…
The indoor agriculture industry has grown rapidly as consumer demand for fresh, local produce anytime, anywhere is forcing shifts in global supply chains. Indoor Ag-Con is the premier event covering the technology of growing crops in indoor systems, using hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic techniques. It is returning to Singapore for the third time in January 2018. This years’ event will be focused on accelerating innovation in the industry, in areas as diverse as plant biology and artificial intelligence. Their two-day event will be hosted at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore on January 16-17, 2018, and will include an exhibition hall…
Company announces commercial partnership with Hort Americas LOS ANGELES – Moleaer Inc., the leading manufacturer of industrial scale nanobubble generators, expands its innovative product line with the new nanoBoost Nanobubble Generator, ideally suited for applications such as hydroponics, pond management, and irrigation. Like the existing Moleaer industrial XTB Nanobubble Generator™, the compact nanoBoost is a cost-effective and simple-to-install solution to deliver a supplementary source of oxygen-enriched nanobubbles that remain in suspension longer than conventional micro bubbles, efficiently oxygenating the entire body of water and providing a reserve of oxygen encapsulated within the bubbles. One of the prime beneficiaries of the…
Eighteen months ago, the outlook for hydroponic, aquaponic, and containerized growing methods in the National Organic Program looked bleak. A small, yet vocal, minority in the organic sector had mounted a campaign within the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to prohibit these production methods from organic certifications despite a lack of scientific basis to do so. Through the hard work and dedication of CSO’s Board and member companies, we were able to launch a strategic advocacy plan to push back against this unfair and arbitrary effort. After three failed votes in the NOSB, our place in the organic industry is…
Urban Agriculture just got serious! Plantagon is building 10 underground city farms in Stockholm – and locals are invited to join in… STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (December 1, 2017) – We hear a lot about smart sustainable innovations coming from Sweden, from turning rubbish into fuel, recycling excess heat from data centres, geothermals etc… Swedish pioneers Plantagon, are now taking on sustainable city farming on an industrial scale. Plantagon CityFarm® is a new concept for using empty premises for resource efficient and sustainable food production in cities. The first plant is located under Stockholm’s iconic “DN Skrapan” in Kungsholmen, and the goal is to have ten production…
Originally published in Issue 15 By Sidsel Robards Not many teachers can come back to school telling students that their summer vacation included a visit to The White House to pick up a Presidential Award. But Shakira Provasoli, resident science teacher at The Sun Works Center at PS333 in New York City, did exactly that after an August ceremony where she received a presidential honor from the EPA for her outstanding work as an environmental educator. Established in 2011, the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as…
Growers, CEOs and scientists from 27 businesses, 7 universities and the USDA joined FFAR at the IBM Research headquarters in Yorktown Heights, New York on November 13. Thank you for your engaging participation. [View the story “FFAR Crops in Controlled Environments Convening Event” on Storify]
Send a message to your representatives that you support the NOSB’s decision to uphold aquaponics’ and hydroponics’ Organic eligibility Click here for a Sample letter to Congress expressing support for the NOSB’s Organic decision Copy and paste to send them a message There are two main reasons it is a great time to message your political representatives about the NOSB’s recent Organic decision: As long as there are strong interests against organic aquaponics/hydroponics, this issue is not truly dead. At some point Congress’ influence could come into play, and we need them to know we are here. We need to develop…
Originally published in Issue 14 By Eri Hayashi, Japan Plant Factory Association, Industry Expert We are immensely proud to be working together with Urban Ag News for our upcoming, fall 2016 event in the United States as part of an international project of the Japanese government and the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI). This international project aims to promote global PFALs (Plant Factory with Artificial Lighting) and the vertical farm industry by encouraging multi-discipline, international business and research and development cooperation. We will focus on selecting companies that possess prominent technology or outstanding capacities for technological development in…
Urban Ag News proud to feature Dr. Chieri Kubota’s class on Greenhouse Plant Physiology and Technology. Dr. Kubota was a professor at the University of Arizona and has moved to The Ohio State University this summer. Week 9-2: GH environment 2 This is the final week! For this week, we will have two lectures understanding greenhouse as a whole system and the mechanism of interactions between plants, micro climate, greenhouse system, and outside environment. All the lecture contents now come together into describing and understanding this complex system.