Feeding the World Population

The world’s population is expected to rise to 9.6 billion by 2025. That is an extra 2 billion mouths to feed from where we are now. The amount of water, land, and fossil fuels will have a large negative impact on the climate. Regarding poverty, global warming and hunger that is already occurring in our modern day world, how will we be expected to counteract this rise?

Rather than being spread horizontally on land, vertical farms stack racks of plants on top of one another inside tall buildings, skyscrapers even. Being indoors, the crops can grow all year around without being affected by changing climates.

So how does this method of farming work? As long as sufficient light and energy is provided, vertical farms prove effective anywhere. Short farmers won’t have to worry about trying to reach the top shelf as there are many different water-efficient methods farmers use. For example drip irrigation ensures that the roots of plants are watered directly. This can be compared to traditional farming methods which wastes water by irrigating the soil around the plants, causing no significant impact on the plant’s growth.

Why are vertical farms more widespread despite its many advantages? As usual, it has to do with the economy. Money, profit, and costs. Since it may be difficult to get enough natural lighting into a building, the energy needed to replace sunlight with artificial light can be very expensive. Additionally, buying a plot of land in the city is relatively costly, in comparison to a sparse countryside.

I believe that vertical farming will grow up to become successful and more commonly used. Researchers are currently exploring alternative, cheaper light sources such as low-cost LEDs. Vertical farming has the ability to meet the future’s nutritional needs as demand for agricultural produce increases. Scientists, advocaters, and innovators will always find a way. There is hope for the development of agriculture!