Chinese agronomists and engineers from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Urban Agriculture (IUA) have recently completed the world’s first artificial intelligence powered 20-story vertical farm.
The unmanned plant factory based in Chengdu, Sichuan province, is considered a breakthrough for a country with persistent food security concerns and unpredictable weather conditions.
China’s 2022 grain harvest reached a record 686.53 million tons but the world’s second-largest economy, home to more than 1.4 billion citizens, is still a net food importer.
Seasonal floods as well as the ever-growing threat of droughts and other natural disasters brought on by the climate crisis means China is in a constant battle to bolster its fragile food security.
Although the industry is relatively new, vertical farming is widely considered a practical method that could supplement traditional agricultural techniques, particularly in arid regions with climates ill-suited to farming or heavily populated urban environments where space is at a premium.
Scientists representing IUA revealed the vertical farming tower, serviced by a team of robots that can grow and cultivate lettuce crops from seed to harvest in just 35 days.
Unlike conventional farming practices, critical variables such as water and light exposure, soil fertility and pest control can be meticulously controlled, resulting in a quality product with no nutritional difference to foods grown outdoors.
The complex uses sophisticated plant light formulas to improve the facility’s energy consumption during the operation, according to IUA researcher and project member, Wang Seng.
The team achieves such remarkably short harvest turnarounds by exposing the crops to various lights such as blue, yellow, near-ultraviolet and near-infrared, at different times during the plant’s life cycle.
The IUA team created a database of 1 300 light combinations designed for 72 crop varieties, including wheat, lettuce, soybean and cotton.
The vertical farming method allows for an average of 10 harvests of green vegetables throughout the year, helping ensure a stable food supply in urban areas or arid regions of the world with low rainfall, or polar regions where the sun can disappear for weeks at a time.
The state-of-the-art facility also serves as a breeding accelerator for several crop varieties, such as soybeans and cotton, according to the technology publication, Interesting Engineering.
The multi-story plant factory has already attracted considerable interest from companies like Foshan NationStar Optoelectronics, which is considering commercialising the innovative agricultural farming system.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-unveils-vertical-farm-ai
