A problem that we have already talked about on occasion is that of feeding an increasing number of people every day. The human population of the planet is only growing, and feeding all these people is becoming more and more complicated. But still the solution has already arrived: vertical agriculture.
One of the problems with feeding all of humanity is lack of space. Surface on the planet to grow the food that is needed. Because The farmland on the planet is not infinite, and as much as we want to, we cannot improve endless crops either.
So it has a bad solution … unless we raise our heads off the ground. Literally: you have to think vertically. In vertical gardens, specific. This technique, which is already used in many places, is based on … precisely what it sounds like: on create gardens on walls, which grow vertically instead of horizontally as we are used to.
But if instead of planting flowers and ornamental plants, we use those vertical gardens as vertical crops, we can have the solution to the problems of space to feed people.
In addition, the “vertical farms” – to put a name to it – they would have two more advantages. The first is that we would not have to steal (more) land from nature to cultivate. The capacity to produce food for humans can be expanded without affecting ecosystems. A big advantage.
And also allow a more sustainable management of resources. Vertical farms would be grown by aeroponics or hydroponics. In the first case, both the water and the nutrients would be given to the plants in the form of a mist, which allows them to reach the roots much more precisely and consume much less water. In the case of hydroponic crops, the roots sit on water, and although it may seem counterintuitive, it requires less nutrients and water than traditional growing.
Are they all advantages? Not really. First of all, the idea of going from a traditional agriculture, on the plane, to a vertical one has its problems. And the first of them is to know if we will be able to feed the human population like this. The defenders of this type of strategy are sure that it will be possible, but there is no certainty.
And you also have to take into account that vertical farms are not cheap. They require a significant initial investment. By some estimates, we are talking about $ 15 million to start up a functional vertical farm. Fortunately, there are investors interested in this, but this fact must be taken into account.
In any case, it is an innovative idea to a problem that has been a constant since the beginning of humanity, and that is becoming more and more important.
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