Researchers Look At Challenges to and Solutions for Growing Crops Under Cover
Across the globe, people are increasingly turning to greenhouses and indoor farms to grow commodities. The systems use far less land than conventional farms, thereby drastically reducing some environmental impacts, University of Florida researchers say.
Also known as controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) — the systems can help boost food production in urban and drought-prone regions.
In Florida, indoor farms can be found in metro areas of Tampa, The Villages, Jacksonville, and Miami, says Ziynet Boz, a UF/IFAS Assistant Professor of agricultural and biological engineering.
On the flip side, indoor farms and greenhouses cost a lot of money to start and maintain. You need $50 to $150 per square foot to build a greenhouse. For a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse, that’s $500,000 to $1.5 million, UF/IFAS researchers say.
That doesn’t include electricity, which accounts for 20% to 30% of your operational costs.
Boz led a newly published paper that examined research on the sustainability challenges faced by those growing crops and ornamental plants through CEA.
As outlined in the paper, the main obstacles to these indoor operations are:
- High electricity use, relative to traditional farming.
- Geography-related tradeoffs after the indoor farm is built. For example, extreme temperatures impact the effectiveness of your climate control system and your cost. Rural areas also may be cheaper but may require more transportation.
- Unfavorable public perception of CEA in comparison to field production. Consumers perceive “plant factories” as unnatural systems, and they want transparency.
“These issues are now being addressed by optimized lighting and sensor technology, decision-support tools to reduce electricity use, and communications tactics to educate people about the benefits of CEA,” Boz said. “By addressing challenges, farmers and researchers can improve the sustainability, efficiency, and yield of CEA operations.”
For more, continue reading at blogs.ifas.ufl.edu.
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