Workshop on the "Challenges in Vertical Farming"

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To those with interest in Controlled Environments, please review the
following announcement.

Gene Giacomelli

 

Workshop on the "Challenges in Vertical Farming"

September 26, 2012

 
<http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasum-the-marriott-inn-and-conference
-center-university-of-maryland-university-college/> The Marriott Inn &
Conference Center, University of Maryland University College

3501 University Blvd, East Hyattsville, Maryland 20783 USA

 <http://challengesinverticalfarming.org>
http://challengesinverticalfarming.org

We are pleased to announce an NSF funded workshop on the "Challenges in
Vertical Farming", which will be held on September 26, 2012 at the
University of Maryland Conference Center. 

We have assembled a group of experts from around the world to address
various aspects -- horticulture, lighting, irrigation, automation,
architecture, economics, business development and outreach related to
Vertical Farming as a form of Urban Agriculture, who will provide their
expertise within a full day of presentations and discussions. Attendance may
be in person or through live Webcast. More information including the list of
speakers and registration for attendance (select 'in person', or via 'live
webcast') are available at  <http://challengesinverticalfarming.org>
http://challengesinverticalfarming.org

The goal of the workshop is to capture the state of the art in agriculture
in controlled environments, to define a research agenda for the future and
to establish a working group at the nexus of Agriculture, Engineering,
Economics and Architecture with focus on Urban Agriculture. The output of
the workshop will be a report that could serve as the basis of research
agenda by agencies such as the NSF, USDA and USAID.

Please feel free to forward this notice to those interested in participating
in the workshop.

The Workshop organizers are led by Sanjiv Singh of Carnegie Mellon
University, and include:

DICKSON DESPOMMIER (COLUMBIA) GENE GIACOMELLI (UNIV OF ARIZONA) MARC VAN
IERSEL (UNIV OF GEORGIA) JOEY NORIKANE (FRAUNHOFER) GEORGE KANTOR (CARNEGIE
MELLON) NIKOLAUS CORRELL (UNIV OF COLORADO) and MICHAEL HOADLEY (FEWZION)

Here is some motivation for these efforts:

By the year 2050, we expect human population to increase to 9 billion and to
be further concentrated in urban centers. An estimated billion hectares of
new land will be needed to grow enough food to feed the earth. At present,
however, over 80% of the land suitable for raising crops is already in use.
Further, if trends in climate change persist, the amount of land available
for farming will decrease. Since crops consume 87% of all water used
globally, an increase in water usage is not possible. Finally, while the
need is for 50% higher yield by the year 2050 to maintain the status quo, we
expect agricultural productivity to decline significantly across the world,
especially in densely populated areas. There is an urgent need for
high-yield agriculture that decreases the use of water and carbon based
inputs per unit of product, while simultaneously reducing vulnerability of
crops to natural environmental conditions. Vertical Farming (using
controlled environments for urban agriculture) will reduce transportation
energy required from the distant outdoor farms. Recent implementations have
shown high yields in the production of vegetables in controlled
environments. Water usage has been significantly reduced compared to
traditional outdoor farming, and crops are shielded from adverse climate,
and, from pests and diseases. In addition, Vertical Farming has the
potential to provide fresher and healthier produce to the local consumer.

Since no one community or technology holds the magic key, the opportunity
for is to collectively enumerate and prioritize the challenges that must be
addressed to bring high yield, resource efficient agriculture to fruition.
The greatest contribution from this workshop could be a roadmap for
governmental agencies and researchers to follow as they weigh their
priorities in the coming years. Obviously the needs will vary depending on
the locale addressed-- we expect that the needs for developing countries
will be different than those that are less resource constrained. The goal of
our workshop is to capture the state of the art in agriculture in controlled
environments, to define a research agenda for the future and to establish a
working group at the nexus of Agriculture, Engineering, Economics and
Architecture. The output of the workshop will be a report that could serve
as the basis of research agenda by agencies such as the NSF, USDA and USAID.

** If you wish to unsubscribe from the UA-CEAC Newsletter. Return this
message to  <mailto:CEAC at ag.arizona.edu> CEAC at ag.arizona.edu **

Note that some email addresses are forwarded to other addresses. Unsubscribe
all possible email addresses.

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