Advantages of Vertical Farming-
Vertical farming has many advantages such as that it allows maximum crop yield. This means that vertical farming can allow crops to be grown at all times throughout the year, as it is not weather dependent. It can also be grown throughout the entire day and night as it uses L.E.D. lights since photosynthesis can occur at all times. Another advantage is that it reduces transportation costs as it will be cheaper for transportation since you can build vertical farms in cities, so you don’t need to import the crops from other regions. It is eco-friendly as decreased need for transportation means less pollution. Another advantage is that it uses very minimal water. Since the water is used in a controlled manner, water losses are very minimal. Vertical farming only uses 10% of the amount of water that traditional farming methods use. The water from transpiration is also re-used so most of it doesn’t get wasted. Also currently 70% of all accessible potable water is used for agriculture this can be decreased using vertical farming. Another advantage of vertical farming is the area required to grow crops/plants. land is much less than when using traditional farming methods since vertical farms can be expanded upwards. Vertical farming also grows food organically since no pesticides will be required as there are no pests to damage the crops. So it is healthier, safer and more eco-friendly. Finally the price is another advantage of vertical farming. In the start vertical farming may be very expensive ($100 million for a 60 hectare vertical farm) but after the first few years it will become a cheaper form of farming. Also the price for the crops/plants grown in vertical farms will also decrease.
Vertical farming has many advantages such as that it allows maximum crop yield. This means that vertical farming can allow crops to be grown at all times throughout the year, as it is not weather dependent. It can also be grown throughout the entire day and night as it uses L.E.D. lights since photosynthesis can occur at all times. Another advantage is that it reduces transportation costs as it will be cheaper for transportation since you can build vertical farms in cities, so you don’t need to import the crops from other regions. It is eco-friendly as decreased need for transportation means less pollution. Another advantage is that it uses very minimal water. Since the water is used in a controlled manner, water losses are very minimal. Vertical farming only uses 10% of the amount of water that traditional farming methods use. The water from transpiration is also re-used so most of it doesn’t get wasted. Also currently 70% of all accessible potable water is used for agriculture this can be decreased using vertical farming. Another advantage of vertical farming is the area required to grow crops/plants. land is much less than when using traditional farming methods since vertical farms can be expanded upwards. Vertical farming also grows food organically since no pesticides will be required as there are no pests to damage the crops. So it is healthier, safer and more eco-friendly. Finally the price is another advantage of vertical farming. In the start vertical farming may be very expensive ($100 million for a 60 hectare vertical farm) but after the first few years it will become a cheaper form of farming. Also the price for the crops/plants grown in vertical farms will also decrease.
Image showing the advantages of a vertical farm compared to traditional farming methods.
Disadvantages of Vertical Farming-
There are also some disadvantages to vertical farming such as that there will be less jobs as there is not a need for people transporting the crops. This will cause a lot of people to be left jobless and there will also be job losses for farmers. Another disadvantage is pollination costs since there are no insects to pollinate the crops it will have to be done manually. Wages will also be very high since pollination has to be done by hand. Finally the dependence on technology is a big disadvantage to vertical farming. If a vertical farm loses power for one day then it will be a big loss in production. Also if the power stops all the crops growing will die since they are dependant on the artificial atmosphere, which maintains a constant temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and constant humidity.
There are also some disadvantages to vertical farming such as that there will be less jobs as there is not a need for people transporting the crops. This will cause a lot of people to be left jobless and there will also be job losses for farmers. Another disadvantage is pollination costs since there are no insects to pollinate the crops it will have to be done manually. Wages will also be very high since pollination has to be done by hand. Finally the dependence on technology is a big disadvantage to vertical farming. If a vertical farm loses power for one day then it will be a big loss in production. Also if the power stops all the crops growing will die since they are dependant on the artificial atmosphere, which maintains a constant temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and constant humidity.