Sensors & transducers


TECHNOLOGY WILL BE CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF VERTICAL FARMS


Vertical farming is increasingly being regarded as one of the solutions to the problems faced by global food production systems, and in the following article Antti Viitanen from Vaisala explains why measurement and control technology will be key to the success of this rapidly growing sector.


increased food volumes at relatively low prices. According to the World Bank, agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity, and feed a projected 9.7 billion people by 2050. However, it has been estimated that around 768 million people were hungry in 2021. Furthermore, agriculture, forestry, and land use change are responsible for about 25 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming, and agriculture uses about 70 per cent of fresh water supplies. These challenges are of course exacerbated by climate change.


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In recent decades, growth in agricultural production has come with a heavy price; causing unsustainable harm to the environment and biodiversity. Intensive livestock farming causes higher levels of pollution and increases the risk of disease proliferation, and increasingly large areas of mono-cropped fields have reduced biodiversity and are frequently treated with fertilizer and agrochemicals that inflict further environmental damage. There are also increasing concerns about the effects of agriculture on soil health, with detrimental effects including erosion, pollution (nutrients and pesticides), compaction, desertification and salinisation.


Outdoor agriculture has to operate according to the seasons, which means that most crops are only


May 2023 Instrumentation Monthly


utdoor agriculture (pasture and cropland) occupies around half of the planet’s habitable land, and so-called modern agricultural practices have enabled the production of


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