Cons: Vertical Farming

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Challenges and Considerations

Vertical farming is one of the most promising technologies of our time. However, in addition to many advantages, vertical farming also brings with it some disadvantages. We have summarized these for you here:

• Experts wanted

Since vertical farm is quite a complex system, an expert person is usually needed to set up this farm.

• High investment cost

Due to the high complexity of building a profitable plant, the upfront investment is quite high. Therefore, when planning the farm you must be careful about what decisions you make. Once you have decided on a concept, it is difficult to change it after the construction of the plant and can lead to an unexpected financial burden.

• High running costs

The running costs should be calculated before the plant is built.

Expert personnel is needed to take care of the plant as well as the health of the plants. The resulting high personnel costs can jeopardize the economic profitability of the company.  

• High power consumption

If you run a vertical farm completely indoors, 100% of the light must be artificially fed. So the cost of electricity, even with LED lamps, will be very high.

• High maintenance

But it is not only electricity and personnel costs that need to be considered when it comes to the cost model for a vertical farm.  Due to the high complexity, as well as the continuous operation of the plant, components will break down over the useful life and need to be replaced or serviced.

• Inattention can lead to pest infestation

Although a vertical farm is a closed system, i.e. no foreign organisms enter, it can still happen that employees unknowingly bring in pests. This usually leads to infestation of all plants.

• Problems with pollination

The closed system of a vertical farm at best ensures that no pests get in. This leads to a big problem, pollination. In nature, a wide variety of insects take on this job and fly from flower to flower, packed with pollen.

Conclusion: 

Our exploration of vertical farming has unveiled a world of innovative solutions and promising possibilities for the future of agriculture. The challenges associated with this emerging technology, including high initial investment costs, energy consumption concerns, and the need for continued advancements in technology and resource utilization.

Compiled by: Arjun, Data Scientist