In 2008, globally the number of people living in cities exceeded the number of people living in rural areas for the first time in history. The number of city dwellers is expected to continue to skyrocket, and the UN predicts that urban populations will grow by more than one billion people by 2025.

Urban farms now produce 1/5 of the world's food

Although urban farming might have originated out of a “darker” past, and has definitely scaled past being a side hobby practised in balconies; today it is a thriving industry and multiple mainstream food types are being produced in urban farms ranging from:

Several universities, schools, corporate campuses and hotels have also adopted urban farming to supply their own cafeterias and in-house restaurants, which partially reduces their sourcing needs from otherwise far rural locations, essentially shortening the food-to-table distance.

Urban farms also help with experiential learning for urban kids who otherwise do not have such access in their concrete jungles.

Urban farming techniques also support higher food production in regions with scarcity of arable land and water.

Application of automation and IoT sensors using AI based platforms such as BoweryOS helps in optimising and streamlining operations.

However, urban farming does come with its own drawbacks. Urban farming does require power and hence becomes an increased load on the already strapped city power supply, quite similar to EV; although many urban farms have invested in renewable energy as well.

Seeds in the city, the pros and cons of urban farming

That said, food grown in urban farms can be as nutritious and perhaps even fresher (due to short delivery distances) and cleaner (no soil) and always available (as opposed to seasonal). Many cater to hyper-local needs and are non-GMO, and chemical pesticide-free. Additional nutrients in the form of supplements or fortifications can also be added.

ARE HYDROPONIC VEGETABLES AS NUTRITIOUS AS THOSE GROWN IN SOIL?

Here is a deeper dive into some of the related areas …

Hydroponics is a gardening method that allows for plants to be grown without the use of soil. This is done using techniques such as Nutrient Film Technique (NFT), Drip, Ebb and flow.

Nutrient film technique (NFT) is a hydroponic technique where in a very shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant growth is re-circulated past the bare roots of plants in a watertight gully, also known as channels.

Aquaponics involves growing fishes and plants together within the same environment.

A sustainable green model

Techniques such as NFT, Media Bed, and Deep Water Culture (DWC) are utilised.

The Media Bed form of aquaponics uses containers filled with rock media such as gravel or expanded clay (hydroton) to support the roots of plants. The bed is flooded and drained of nutrient rich water to give the plants the nutrients and oxygen they need. Media Bed technique is considered best for small scale, but can get challenging to scale, and has a clogging issue with high fish densities.

THE MEDIA BED TECHNIQUE

Here is a comparison between these techniques:

A variety of fish such as Tilapia, Catfish, Perch, Carp, Hybrid Striped Bass, Trout, Salmon are grown in urban fish farms, along with prawns, crabs, lobsters.

Types of farms include hybrid aquaponic farms and dedicated fish farms.

Urban and peri-urban farms are attempting to supply the local dairy, eggs, poultry and meat needs.

Building better brands and lives through peri-urban dairying and smart crop-dairy farming

Then there is urban snail, cricket, rabbit farming … and caviar.

As new regions such as South East Asia, Africa, Middle East adopt urban farming and new urban farms are being setup all over, existing ones are scaling up as well.

These ideas are now extending to gardens at sea as well as into space.

The Urban Farming market is forecasted to grow at a brisk CAGR to reach $236 billion by 2025.

Although urban farming is not without its drawbacks and challenges, it contributes significantly to solving the global food puzzle and making the world a greener place.