"We're in the midst of a global movement, and the demand for locally grown, organic produce has never been stronger," said Greengro Technologies CEO James Haas, "but the biggest problem is that in our society in the U.S., everybody stopped doing basic food-security things -- like, for example, collecting seeds. ..."Urban growers have to take personal responsibility for what they grow and eat."
Famine... or feast?
Soil... or hydroponics, aquaponics, aquaculture or aeroponics?
Nine billion hungry human beings will be living on planet Earth by 2050, according to United Nations estimates.
"We will need to produce more food in the first half of this century than we did in the previous 100 centuries combined," declared Tony Kajewski, an engineering manager at John Deere and president of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers .
Along with an increasing population, the world faces climate change, rising fossil fuel prices, ecosystem degradation, and water and land scarcity -- all of which are making today's food production methods increasingly unsustainable, according to "Latest Agricultural Technology Innovation," a November 2012 report from Kachan & Co.
There's an upside to all this flux and food insecurity, however. The need for solutions is driving important new agricultural innovations -- in particular, urban agriculture and indoor cultivation.
Farming has migrated from the fields to the cities and moved into the developed environment.
Urban Agriculture and CEA
Urban agriculture involves growing plants and raising animals within and around cities. Urban agriculture means food production in densely populated areas, and it features many types of production systems, including traditional open gardens, protected environments and hydroponic greenhouses.
Indoor farming goes by many names: "all-season farming," "undercover agronomy," "commercial indoor cultivation" and "controlled environment agriculture," or CEA, to name a few. Entrepreneurial types are converting unused factories, warehouses, office buildings and other facilities into urban farms. Many are building new glasshouse greenhouses for that superior mix of natural sunlight and the powerful artificial lights favored in grow rooms.
Urban agriculture offers a promising path toward the goal of feeding the planet's growing -- and increasingly urban -- population. Many of the tools to make that path viable come from CEA.
CEA involves a combination of engineering, plant science and computer-managed facility control technologies used to optimize plant growing systems, plant quality and production efficiency.
In addition to indoor crop farming, CEA is used in research at universities and corporate laboratories. It is useful for isolating specific environmental variables for closer study. For example, researchers may study photosynthesis by comparing a crop grown with induction lighting vs. one grown with LEDs. The advantage is that all other factors can be kept constant, reducing the incidence of another influence on the experiment.
CEA has celestial applications as well. NASA pioneered "astroculture" by flying a plant growth facility on nine Space Shuttle missions, including one in 1995 in which potatoes were grown in weightlessness. Some of the research on the International Space Station anticipates traveling beyond low-Earth orbit, focusing on meeting the needs of a long-term spaceflight to Mars, for example.A group of engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are developing an ISS plant habitat with a large growth chamber to learn the effects of long-duration microgravity exposure to plants in space.
CEA is "an integrated science- and engineering-based approach to provide specific environments for plant productivity while optimizing resources including water, energy, space, capital and labor," according to Gene A. Giacomelli, PhD, director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center and a professor in the Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona.
In CEA, conventional aquaculture (fish farming) has merged with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) to produce bio-integrated "aquaponics," a sustainable food production system that mixes vegetable and herb crops and aquatic life in a closed-loop, recirculating, symbiotic environment.
"Aeroponics" is a method of growing plants without soil by suspending them above misting sprays that constantly moisten the roots with water and nutrients. Controlled variables include temperature, humidity, pH and nutrient analysis.
Aquaponics is essentially an organic hydroponic system, explained Rebecca Nelson, co-owner of Nelson and Pade , which markets its Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems for commercial ventures and other applications.
"The plant production part of the system doesn't vary much from hydroponics," Nelson told TechNewsWorld. "It is a soilless system. But in aquaponics, we use a natural fertilizer source, which is derived from fish waste. Aquaponics is a fully integrated system that produces both fish and plants."
CEA is "the future of farming," according to Nelson. "A controlled environment greenhouse protects the crop from extreme climatic conditions and also allows a grower to implement biosecurity practices to ensure food safety."
Lettuce and Tomatoes
The four major hydroponically grown plants are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuces, which can be grown and distributed within urban communities on a scale that doesn't work for high-volume staple crops such as wheat, corn and rice.
These basics foods for much of the world's diet are unsuitable for CEA, due to issues like the massive production and distribution demands of the crops. By extending the growing season and ensuring product quality of veggies and fruits, CEA complements but does not replace field crop production.
Local CEA practices can make a difference in people's nutrition and quality of life while enhancing the remediation of resources.
CEA and hydroponic-type systems offer relatively inexpensive "farms" for the urban grower who may be but more likely is not a traditional farmer, according to UA CEAC's Giacomelli.
"CEA provides the door into production agriculture for those with a non-farm background," Giacomelli told TechNewsWorld.
A long and productive farm background distinguishes Hollandia Produce , which specializes in the production, as well as the wholesale and retail marketing of vegetables it grows in greenhouses using hydroponic methods.
Hollandia "Live Gourmet" brand living lettuces and leafy greens -- harvested with their roots intact to preserve freshness -- are distributed in 45 states and Canada.
"CEA is definitely the way of the future," CEO Peter Overgaag told TechNewsWorld. "Protecting the crops means less waste and of course more production per acre."
The Great Park
AG Kawamura, former California secretary of agriculture, could easily be considered the King of Urban Ag in America. Kawamura is a founding member ofOrange County Produce , which farms nearly 1,000 acres in a densely urban county.
Kawamura also operates the leased 114-acre Orange County Great Park Farm, where his company grows a variety of fruits and vegetables for the consumer market and for contribution to local food banks.
"This is now the largest ag operation in an urban park in the country," said Tom Larson, the park's farm, food and landscape manager. "What's so spectacular is it pays for itself."
With an eye always fixed on the future, Kawamura is planning the construction of hydroponic greenhouses at the Great Park Farm.
"CEA greenhouses can provide a new strategy for establishing production capacity inside urban areas where open ground may be scarce, impaired -- brown fields -- or difficult to farm traditionally," Kawamura told TechNewsWorld. "They certainly can create new opportunities for year-round production of fruits and veggies in places where extreme weather has made farming impractical."
Food Security = Food Knowledge
Greengro Technologies markets both indoor and outdoor aquaponic and hydroponic systems and grow rooms. CEO James Haas emphasizes the importance of philosophy and attitude in any successful urban agriculture initiative.
"We're in the midst of a global movement, and the demand for locally grown, organic produce has never been stronger," Haas told TechNewsWorld, "but the biggest problem is that in our society in the U.S., everybody stopped doing basic food-security things -- like, for example, collecting seeds for growing some of their own food.
"If we want to create better urban food sources, we need to better understand our food itself," he advised. "Urban growers have to take personal responsibility for what they grow and eat -- that's what rural farmers do."
High-tech Exurban Ag
Houweling's Tomatoes operates California's first large-scale, energy-neutral urban ag vegetable greenhouse, producing a broad range of tomatoes and cucumbers grown hydroponically under glass across 125 acres.
"I believe there is a place for urban agriculture, said David Bell, chief marketing officer, for Houweling's Tomatoes, which is surrounded by farmland.
"However, we see the future of CEA leaning towards larger-scale greenhouse farms built to meet a bigger regional area," Bell told Tech News World. "It's positioned for reduced but easy access to freight, with the integration of grow lights to facilitate year-round local production."
Still Experimental
While they are understandably attractive, urban agriculture and urban farms remain at an experimental stage in the U.S., according to Danilo S. Lopez, principal at Novelle Consulting .
"Communities will have to face up to regulatory requirements -- relating to effluent discharge, noise, logistics, lighting, etc. -- and higher quality labor supply year round on one side -- and on the other side, the benefits of fresher products to the community -- hopefully at lower or competitive cost to consumers," Lopez told TechNewsWorld.
"The U.S. can be supplied year round by Canada and Mexico with greenhouse vegetables," explained Lopez. "For large commercial U.S. producers, the tested dependable hydroponics greenhouses should remain popular for the next decade. The jury is still out whether urban hydroponics greenhouse farming will be commercially viable."
The road ahead is not completely clear, however, according to Melissa Brechner, PhD, director of the CEA Hydroponic Technology Transfer Center in the Dept. of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University , who issued a word of caution to urban ag enthusiasts.
"It is NOT true that 'if you grow it they -- restaurants, etc. -- will buy it'. We have seen much perfectly grown produce go into landfills because the proprietor failed to sell it," she noted.
"In my opinion, the most important thing to remember is that CEA encompasses an integrated system that includes greenhouse design, environmental control, labor, marketing, management, distribution and consumer demand," Brechner told TechNewsWorld. "All of the details must be working together, and the failure of any one aspect can bring the entire operation to a halt -- bankruptcy."
Growth of Greenhouses
World greenhouse vegetable production hit a major milestone in 2012, when the total worldwide greenhouse vegetable production area surpassed 1 million acres, according to the International Greenhouse Vegetable Production Statistics released by Cuesta Roble Consulting.
"I predict that greenhouse construction will double in the next decade, completing a paradigm shift worldwide in the way mankind produces commodity fruits and vegetables," Tim Madden, president of BiodynamicsCEA , told TechNewsWorld. "Instead of altering the genetics of the plants to provide the ability to grow in harsh environments, we change the environment to provide the best growing conditions for the plants."
"Vertical systems for hydroponic grow rooms are an adaptive application of a very old idea," said Greengro CEO James Haas. "Vertical stacking units produce higher yields per each square foot of growing space because space is conserved for plant growth in many directions. Vertical stackers are rotated or rearranged to promote the best configuration for light coverage."
Few earthly ag tech environments -- at least in the United States -- come more controlled than the Houweling's Tomatoes Ultra-Clima greenhouse facility in Camarillo, Calif., where the company produces a broad range of tomatoes and cucumbers grown hydroponically under glass across 125 acres.
Houweling's is a family-owned company that operates a total 175.5 acres of high-tech hydroponic greenhouses in Delta, British Columbia, and Camarillo, where it runs California's preeminent large-scale, energy-neutral vegetable greenhouse.
Houweling's collaborated with the Dutch company KUBO in the development and construction of the US$53.25 million Ultra-Clima greenhouse, a 23-ft.-tall, closed, pressurized, tempered-glass greenhouse structure designed specifically for use in hot and arid climates. Among its features are optimized humidity and temperature control, light-enhancing design, diminished pest pressure, higher CO2 levels inside the greenhouse, greater air buffer due to building height, and minimal water and nutrients usage through recirculation.
In 2012, Houweling's Tomatoes installed a GE combined heat and power greenhouse project that captures CO2 for use in plant fertilization. The heat-and-power cogeneration system captures traditionally wasted heat, water and CO2 for use within the greenhouse. The system -- which provides 8.7 MW of electrical power and 10.6 MW of thermal power for heating the greenhouse -- was the first greenhouse CHP project in the U.S., the companies said.
Houweling's Camarillo operation also features five acres of photovoltaic solar panels that provide one megawatt of electricity.
Would Houweling's consider its Camarillo greenhouse operation to be the state-of-the-art in controlled environment agriculture, or CEA?
"Yes," concurred David Bell, Houweling 's chief marketing officer. "The integration of Ultra-Clima semi-closed greenhouse design in conjunction with tri-generation CHP energy production puts our Camarillo farm operation at the top."
Smart Greenhouses
The heart of CEA is the "intelligent greenhouse" -- a sophisticated, precision engineered, solid-state, controlled climate growing space that provides optimum conditions for crop growth. There are numerous examples of the "brains" behind Einstein greenhouses.
Climate Control Systems, for instance, has been manufacturing greenhouse automation systems since 1985. The company's product lines include the Climate Manager, Fertigation Manager and Fertigation Water Treatment Systems. These products are designed to help growers with commercial greenhouse operations maximize crop yields and help with water conservation and energy savings.
The PC-based Growtronix System, meanwhile, is an all-in-one grow room controller. It enables growers to monitor their growing climate with the option of continuously graphing the data from temperature and humidity sensors. Also on hand are a Web interface for remote monitoring and control plus an iPhone app that enables growers to get emails and text messages to alert for real-time smoke and flood detection, motion detection, open doors or windows, out-of-range temperature or humidity, low CO2, low nutrient reservoirs, too high or too low pH, and more.
Then there's the IntelliClimate from Autogrow Systems -- represented by American Hydroponics in the U.S. -- that will run multiple light banks, multiple fan banks, air conditioners, heaters, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, CO2 injection, intruder alarms and more.
Go Vertical, Young Man
"Vertical farming" -- a pillar of the Urban Ag movement -- is a process that controls space and light to increase plant yields. The idea is to use an entire space rather than just horizontal and upward planes, for cultivating plant (or animal) life on vertically inclined surfaces or in buildings. Within the buildings, growers build tall structures with several levels of growing beds lined with artificial lights.
Indoor vertical grow rooms can be designed for any space, from as small as a closet to as large as an entire enclosed edifice. In an indoor environment, the space must have growing efficiency and maximum light coverage. Growing plants have changing light needs and a good lighting system maximizes the amount of light coverage for each stage of plant growth. An advantage of vertical grow systems is that the plant is not forced to grow in one direction. Light reaches more plant surfaces, creating higher crop yields.
"Vertical farming technology systems reduce the physical footprint of cultivating, while reducing energy costs and improving crop yields," said James Haas, CEO of Greengro Technologies . Greengro provides eco-friendly green technologies and indoor and outdoor agricultural science systems for both the consumer and commercial farming markets. The company's customers include restaurants, community gardens, and small and large scale commercial clients.
"Vertical systems for hydroponic grow rooms are an adaptive application of a very old idea," Haas told TechNewsWorld. "Vertical stacking units produce higher yields per each square foot of growing space because space is conserved for plant growth in many directions. Vertical stackers are rotated or rearranged to promote the best configuration for light coverage. Space is reserved near the top of the grow tent, box, or room for exhaust and cooling systems."
'Whatever-ponics '
There are no "clear bests" in the world's CEA systems, only ones that are designed to fit the needs of the plant within the grower's production practice and within the local climate conditions and greenhouse system, said Gene Giacomelli, director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center and a professor in the Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona.
Greenhouses, like growth chambers or other indoor production systems, provide for the aerial environment (temperature, humidity, CO2, light, etc.) required for the production of the plants and crops.
"Hydroponics, aquaculture, aquaponics, aeroponics or 'whatever-ponics' are technologies that provide for the water and fertilizer nutrition needs of the plant," Giacomelli told TechNewsWorld. "They can be used with or without CEA, although they perform best when in CEA. Obviously both the root zone and the aerial climates are controlled for the potentially best growth."
An optimum greenhouse and hydroponic system offers a computer-monitored and controlled climate; an automated and recirculating fertigation system; and a labor-efficient management strategy and plant-based management control, he said.
"In essence, there are many ways to grow a crop, in many types of greenhouses, with some easier, cheaper and more productive, while others may be less so," Giacomelli said. "You pay a price for quality of product and production yields."
Urban Ag Tech Only Part of the Equation
Technology alone does not fully drive the CEA business -- it is a component of the business, according to Danilo Lopez, principal at Novelle Consulting .
"The location, the market, the microclimate, land availability, city or county regulations, competition, etc., will have to be part of the total economic equation," Lopez told TechNewsWorld. "Here, overall competitiveness in the U.S. market -- versus Florida and Canada in winter, and versus other U.S. producing areas and Canada for the balance of the season -- would drive the producer's decision on what technology to use."
AG Kawamura, founding member of Orange County Produce and manager of the 114-acre Orange County Great Park Farm, welcomes any ally in the grower's endless struggle for control.
"Throughout the history of agriculture, the farmer has had to deal with the various aspects of unpredictability," Kawamura told TechNewsWorld. "CEA greenhouse technologies and the business models that they offer move towards bringing more predictability into the process of reliably growing and marketing a crop."
Business Considerations
Indeed, "there is energy required to grow food in a controlled environment structure, but if the growing system is designed properly, the output of food is much higher than outdoor soil production and with staggered planting, you can harvest every day of the year," Rebecca Nelson, co-owner of aquaponic technology vendor Nelson and Pade told TechNewsWorld. "Plus, you can set it up close to marketplaces so that you eliminate the cost of long distance trucking."
Yet despite the promise of modern technology, sometimes it just isn't enough, suggested Melissa Brechner, director of the CEA Hydroponic Technology Transfer Center in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University .
"There are situations with respect to CEA where all of the technology is appropriate, but many are very energy-intensive, and I might not recommend undertaking such a project even though it may be possible with the technology we have," Brechner told TechNewsWorld.
"The thing we struggle with the most is to convey to potential CEA owner/operators that one must consider the business aspect of the venture with as much care as the engineering aspects of the project," she added.
Relationships over Technology
Tim Madden follows a strategy of using the best technology available at the time of a CEA project his company is undertaking because new developments always overtake whatever designs and systems that are currently considered "state-of-the-art."
"No one wants to invest in technology that has not been proven viable on a commercial scale for several years," said Madden, president of BiodynamicsCEA, which specializes in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture business solutions.
"Nor do they want to invest in obsolete technology," Madden told TechNewsWorld. "So, it is difficult for investors to be comfortable with the proven success of the technology weighed against its current competitive advantages and how long they may be competitive in the commercial markets," explained Madden. "In the end, it all comes down to the proven success and reputation of a company and people the investors are working with -- not the technology."
Still, "the most important thing to keep in mind about all this technology is that you are not turning on a widget machine that stamps out the same widget, time after time," Peter Overgaag, CEO of Hollandia Produce , told TechNewsWorld."You are dealing with temperamental living plants that require constant attention and adjustments."
“Your website is perhaps the single most important marketing tool you have,” wrote Jane Eckert, founder of Eckert AgriMarketing. “A website has replaced your local newspaper classified advertising and yellow page listings to become the — and I mean, THE — informational source of choice for local and distant prospects to be attracted to visit your farm.”
“Growing crops is only half the job.”
The other half is marketing.
“And if you don’t do that right, you will probably go out of business,” explained AG Kawamura, founding member of Orange County Produce and head of the 114-acre Orange County Great Park Farm.
Taking a crop directly to farmers’ markets, grocery stores and restaurants to sell is only a small part of the marketing job for producers and growers. To succeed, they also have to embrace the full scope of agri-marketing services, including brand strategy, online/digital strategy, creative development, media planning, direct marketing, public relations and market research.
Some large California growers are showing the way in their “agri-branding” efforts to promote and sell their hydroponically grown crops.
Tanimura & Antle, for example, is one of the largest independent U.S. lettuce growers. The company’s Artisan family brand of fresh, field-grown produce is complemented by its Living Lettuce brand grown hydroponically in a state-of-the-art greenhouse in Tennessee.
Houweling’s Tomatoes, meanwhile, is a leading North American greenhouse grower. In 2012, Houweling’s Tomatoes launched a branding and marketing effort that features CEO Casey Houweling and his signature as a symbol of his commitment to a new slogan, “Mastery Under Glass.”
Then there’s Hollandia Produce, a multifaceted agricultural concern specializing in greenhouse-grown vegetables. The company produces and markets Live Gourmet brand butter lettuce, upland cress and 3-n-1 lettuce.
Go Green Agriculture, on the other hand, is a family farm that grows its Happy Living brand of green and red butter lettuce and bloomsdale spinach hydroponically in urban “mini-farms” using cutting edge technologies.
‘Your Billboard to the World’
“Your website is perhaps the single most important marketing tool you have,” wrote Jane Eckert, founder of Eckert AgriMarketing. Eckert AgriMarketing helps farmers sell directly to consumers, diversify operations and become tourist destinations.
“A website has literally become your billboard to the world,” Eckert explained.“A website has replaced your local newspaper classified advertising and yellow page listings to become the — and I mean, THE — informational source of choice for local and distant prospects to be attracted to visit your farm.”
Clean Tech
“Clean” tech innovations can help large-scale agriculture increase efficiencies, reduce waste and address concerns about toxicity, safety and the environment, according to “Companies and Breakthroughs Most Likely to Help the World Produce More Food with Less,” a 2012 report from research and advisory firm Kachan & Co.
“Agricultural technology innovation hasn’t been as high profile as other clean-tech sectors like renewable energy or transportation, but it potentially has more immediate importance to us as a species, particularly if we start seeing crisis events around food availability,” said Kachan analyst Shannon Payne, who was primary author on the report.
“While attracting only a fraction of the capital of other clean-tech segments, there’s an active exit climate, with innovative companies consistently being acquired by leading firms,” Payne explained.
Community Supported Agriculture
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is an alternative, locally based economic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows city residents to have direct access to high-quality, fresh produce grown locally by regional farmers.
A CSA season typically runs from June through November. However, some farmers offer winter shares that come with a variety of root vegetables and greens. Members of a CSA purchase a “share” of vegetables from a regional farmer. Weekly or bi-weekly, from June until October or November, the farmer delivers that share of produce to a convenient drop-off location in the member’s neighborhood.
Since the 1980s, community supported farms have been organized throughout North America — mainly in New England, the Northwest, the Pacific coast, the Upper Midwest and Canada. North America now has at least 13,000 CSA farms, of which 12,549 are in the U.S., according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
Share prices vary from CSA to CSA, according to LocalHarvest, an organic and local food website. Shares are sold as full shares — which feed two to five people — and half shares, which feed one to three. Prices range from US$200 to $500.
Share prices are mostly determined by overhead costs of production, but are also affected by share prices of other CSAs, variable costs of production, market forces and income levels in the community. Many CSAs have payment plans and low-income options.
Medical Marijuana
One crop that sells well year-round without standard marketing or branding is medical marijuana.
Marijuana growers were early pioneers in the art of the indoor cultivation and grow rooms. Growing marijuana hydroponically indoors gives growers a yield-boosting opportunity they don’t have when they grow outdoors: They get to control the environmental and input factors that influence how big their buds become and how much THC they contain.
Associated with medical marijuana are new jobs, and not just in production: A national survey of the medical marijuana market listed “hydroponic equipment” and “software development” as being among “significant business opportunities that have emerged in ancillary businesses” related to the market.
Amounting to some $1.7 billion in 2011, the medical marijuana market is on its way to reaching $8.9 billion by 2016, according to a report from See Change Strategy, which based its findings on information obtained through 300 survey responses and multiple interviews with people involved in the medical marijuana industry.
Marijuana Business Daily, the leading industry news outlet, puts today’s legal national medical marijuana market at between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion.
Think tank Cato Institute, meanwhile, estimated U.S. total illicit marijuana expenditures at $18.1 billion in 2010 report and projected a future legal U.S. marijuana market of $13.61 billion.
Medical marijuana is being used across the nation to treat people with qualifying medical conditions like AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, chronic pain and a lot of other ailments. Recent studies have shown that about 24 million people in America are using (or are eligible to use) medical marijuana.
During the past 15 years, led by California, 15 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted laws permitting some form of marijuana consumption or distribution for medical use. These laws have been adopted by public referendums as well as legislation.
Two states, California and Colorado, dominate this nascent industry, combining to represent 92 percent of the wholesale and retail sales across the country.California still has the largest medical marijuana market in the country, with roughly $700 million to $900 million in annual retail sales, according to the Marijuana Business Factbook 2013. Colorado hosts the fastest-growing and most business-friendly market.
Despite the attractive numbers, cannabis growers face a number of challenges.Most notably, the possession and distribution of marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
Many businesses operate with the ever-present risk of being shut down or experiencing a property seizure without notice. Many businesses cannot make standard deductions for business expenses and have difficulty securing standard banking and financial services.
Greengro Technologies, a provider of eco-friendly green technologies and indoor and outdoor agricultural science systems, recently signed an agreement to provide facility design and consulting services for a major planned Arizona medical cannabis cultivation facility.
The company expects the deal to be worth $300,000 plus ongoing maintenance services amounting to several hundred thousand dollars per year. The parties will announce the full scope of design services, equipment and service contracts after final approval under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.
“It is an exciting time to be part of this emerging market,” said James Haas, CEO of Greengro Technologies. “As medical cannabis comes to the forefront of discussion in our society, it is imperative that we create good models that work for regulatory authorities, patients and businesses,” Haas told TechNewsWorld.“As legal guidelines become clearer, businesses will invest, patients will have safe access and governments will gain billions in new tax revenues.”
Success Without Shortcuts
Success in a CEA business requires market security to ensure financial sustainability and for obtaining the financing for greenhouse development, according to Gene Giacomelli, director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center and a professor in the Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona.
“Greenhouse crop production is a real and knowledge-driven, biologically based venture, and as such it requires learning, experience, patience and an entrepreneurial nature to succeed,” Giacomelli told TechNewsWorld. “There are few shortcuts to success and, as such, the fundamentals of plant needs for growth must be understood and applied for success.”
Regulation and Funding
Aquaponics — the sustainable food production system that mixes vegetable and herb crops and aquatic life in a closed-loop, recirculating symbiotic environment — is the leading CEA technology, but there are two primary hurdles in the U.S. to its wide-scale development.
One is regulation, and the other is funding, according to Rebecca Nelson, co-owner of Nelson and Pade, which markets its Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems for commercial ventures and other applications.
“When you combine raising and selling fish and vegetables, you fall under many regulatory umbrellas that were never written to exclude aquaponics, but in some cases they either exclude it or make it very difficult to get started,” Nelson explained. “In addition, every state, city, county and municipality can have different rules and regulations, so it is a challenge to figure out what you need and who you need to talk to from a regulatory point of view.”
Regarding funding, aquaponics is a fairly new industry and producers don’t have hundreds of models to show a bank, said Nelson.
“Also, there are currently a plethora of new websites that suggest that you can start an aquaponics business with no background or investment,” she told TechNewsWorld. “To be successful in the aquaponics business, you need a proper business plan, the right aquaponics and enough funding for the startup.”
David Bell, chief marketing officer for Houweling’s Tomatoes, points to regulation and a stifling system that does not provide businesses enough opportunity to innovate efficiently as the major obstacles to success in CEA.
“Additionally, competing interests among various levels and within governments creates a bureaucratic tug of war,” Bell told TechNewsWorld.“Making it easier for business to take leaps of innovation is the biggest opportunity.”
‘It Costs a Lot of Money’
CEA is no panacea, cautions Danilo Lopez, principal at Novelle Consulting.
“It has provided superior-quality products — albeit still a limited range, but growing — at competitive market prices,” Lopez told TechNewsWorld. “It has enabled production under difficult environmental conditions; it has created wealth for entrepreneurs and risk-takers. It has favorably impacted agriculture.
“However, just like any new technology, one must carefully weigh the benefit, cost and adoption rate,” Lopez warned. “The producer that masters the complete supply chain is the one who would most likely succeed.”
Indeed, “the real obstacles to this form of farming, just as much now as back when hydroponic farming was first conceived, are related to capital,” suggested blogger Alex Tiller. “It costs a lot of money to start a farm — but it costs even more to start a farm inside a building.”
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