Vertical Farming, the practice of cultivating plants on a stacked layer to optimize space
Citations
Altmetric:
Keyword
Location research
Date
2021-06-10
Language
ISSN
ISBN
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Abstract
Vertical Farming, the practice of cultivating plants on a stacked layer to optimize space, is a rising trend being implemented mainly in urban areas to boost local and sustainable food production. Aruba does not fall under a developing state, however due to its size similar constraints with Small Island
Developing States (SIDS) regarding the environment, economics and societal structures are the same. Nowadays Aruba has a limited capacity to raise domestic resources and depends on a small number of economic sectors. This makes the island very sensitive to economic shock as we have seen during the
recent COVID19 pandemic, so growing vertically and indoors is a great opportunity to become more self-sufficient, and partly independent of agricultural import.
This project is a collaboration between the University of Aruba and the University of Leuven (Belgium) and focuses on indoor vertical farming, optimizing growth conditions with respect to climate and light quantity
and quality to grow plants in a controlled space. In addition, a specialty crop (strawberries with a short storage life will be grown), this to diverge from local product and to show proof of concept of independence of import. A local crop (comcomber chikito), whose growth conditions meets the short time span and close relative to cucumbers will be investigated. The goal is to translate knowledge on plant physiology and photobiology, to agricultural and innovative vertical farming applications for real-life situations. Eventually providing locally produced fruits and vegetables, which will add to an economically sustainable food production on Aruba.
Citation
Facun, Kryss (2021, June 10). Vertical Farming, the practice of cultivating plants on a stacked layer to optimize space. Sustainable Island Futures II-symposium. SISSTEM/MOL. Aruba/Waterloo/online.
Sponsorship
Publisher
Journal
Sustainable Island Futures II symposium
Target group
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1467