Construction On Shanghai's Hydroponic Vertical Farm Expected To Sta...

A US architecture firm, Sasaki Associates, recently unveiled their concept design for a vertical farm in China that's designed to be a hydroponic vertical farm for Shanghai. The firm is planning for construction to begin later this year on their new farm and it's intended that the farm will be able to meet the food demands of the largest city in China.

The vertical farming method is a huge space-saver and it's a growing method that's being employed not only in China but in the US and other areas around the world as well.

One of the world's largest indoor vertical farms is located in New Jersey and it just opened a couple of years ago. That facility is a 21,031 square-meter vertical farm and it grows without any sun or soil, and uses 95 percent less water than traditional farming methods. It's estimated that it will be about 75 times more productive than a traditional farm space would be. Built by AeroFarms, it's regarded as one of the most sophisticated vertical farms in the world, as crops are sprayed with a aeroponic mist it provides everything they need with a mixture of oxygen and nutrients.

It is innovative initiatives like this one with vertical farming, or others with hydroponics, aquaponics, and so on, that are going to enable the market to meet the growing food demand in many years to come.

The farm that they have planned for Shanghai is going to specialize in growing leafy greens like kale, lettuce, and spinach. But vertical farming is also used to grow a number of other food items like tomatoes, green onions, garlic, mint, and more.

There are a number of benefits attributed to this method of growing, aside from being able to grow more using less space, vertical farms also aren't susceptible to the weather and pests like normal crops are that are grown traditionally. Another important feature of the vertical farming is that it cuts down on the travel time that food must endure before it ends up on the market shelves and ultimately on our dinner tables.

The vertical farm in Shanghai that's being built is part of a new development plan that's known as the Sunqiao Urban Agricultural District. It is intended that the farm will act as an education center for those living in the area, intended to provide them with knowledge about urban agriculture.

But this won't be the first vertical farm for Sinagpore. They've already built one several years ago back in 2012 and it was their very first one; constructed by Sky Greens Farms. And it's been supplying the supermarkets in the city with fresh deliveries every week for years now.

The farming concept is becoming so popular in the West that even Target is now looking at building vertical farms for their supermarkets. Referred to as "in-store growing environments," the company is expected to unveil a vertical farming section at some of its locations this year.