Hydroponics for Urban Farming
The future of farming
Next generation farming is interesting because it sounds like it should be from the future. But in reality, it just refers to the act of hydroponic farming.
For those unfamiliar, hydroponic farming is the when you grow plants without the use of soil. Its difficult to imagine, but the picture below should ring a bell.
In short, hydroponics is useful because it allows people to grow plants in tight, enclosed areas — especially relevant for an urban lifestyle. Another side benefit is that it results in 20 times savings of water, and thats because the water isn’t wasted in the soil.
The typical startups in this field tend to own their own hydroponic farm and sell the produce. The main players in this industry being:
- BrightFarm
- Bowery
- Freshbox Farms
But if you’re personally interested in hydroponic farming, we suggest you contact Freight Farms. Freight Farms is a startup founded in 2010 and sells massive hydroponic shipping containers.
“Being 40 feet by 8 feet by 9.6 feet in height, 2 to 4 tons of food can be produced annually from this green machine. And requiring less than 5 gallons of water a day, all of which can be automated, it seems like Freight Farms offers a lot of convenience to urban farmers. With all that tallied, selling the produce at market rate should allow people to get a ROI in just less than 3 years.”
The Author’s take:
Personally, I think hydroponics is interesting because it really seems like the future of farming. At the same time, despite the automation, it seems the management of a hydroponics farm would be time consuming.
On the other hand, I think the future of farming should take after more genetically grown crops. Specifically crops that can either grow in an environment with high salt content, so it can be grown near the sea — or in a low water content environment.
And it seems drip farming is may be the direction for that: https://www.dw.com/en/growing-veggies-in-the-desert-no-longer-a-mirage/a-17032261
Another method seems to make deserts fertile again using a special paste which China has invented: https://america.cgtn.com/2017/09/13/new-technology-in-china-turns-desert-into-land-rich-with-crops
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