Scientists Meet Scientists –TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk by Prof. Senthold Asseng: “Growing Wheat in Vertical Farming”
Events, WCT |
On November 9, 2022 at 13:00, Prof. Senthold Asseng (Digital Agriculture, TUM) will talk about “Growing Wheat in Vertical Farming.”
Abstract: An alternative for growing crops in the field has emerged in recent years with vertical farming. Growing crops in vertically stacked layers was enabled with the invention of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the 1960s. The breakthrough was perceived in the last 10 years with LEDs becoming affordable and so efficient that they are redefining the economics of indoor and vertical farming. In vertical farms, all growth factors including light (intensity and spectrum), temperature, humidity, CO2 level, ventilation, water and nutrients can be controlled, recycled and optimized, with no weeds, pests and diseases, hence no herbicides and pesticide use and no nutrient leaching to the environment. Vertical farming is an emerging new industry, but mostly producing at small-scale, fast-growing, high-value leafy greens. Given the facility costs and particularly high energy costs for artificial lighting and climate control, growing wheat in a vertical farm is currently economically not competitive with current market prices. However, growing wheat in vertical farms under fully-controlled and -optimized growing conditions could achieve grain production several thousand times higher than in the field per unit land due to high yields with several harvests per year and vertically stacked layers. Vertical farms can generally be built anywhere, but are especially valuable in places inhospitable to agriculture, like deserts and where land is limited, like mega-cities.
Related TUM press relase: More wheat for global food security
Date: November 9, 2022
Time: 13:00 (until approx. 14:00)
Location: online
Registration: The TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee talks are currently held online via Zoom. To register and to receive the Zoom link, please send an email to events@ias.tum.de.
THE TUM-IAS WEDNESDAY COFFEE TALKS
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