Vertical Farming Market – Ever-Increasing Urban Food Demand Due to High Population Growth

The ever-increasing demand for food due to population increase as well as changing customer preferences have led towards the concept of vertical farming. In vertical farming, leafy green vegetables are grown in vertical piles of plant beds and that too without sunlight, soil and water. The great advantage of vertical farming compared to conventional agriculture is higher space efficiency. Especially for dense urban areas, this key advantage plays a decisive role and has led substantially towards the emergence of the vertical farming market on a global level.

Market of vertical farming is expected to have a value of USD 5.80 billion by 2022

This market mainly consists of growth mechanisms, fixtures and components that are useful for the operations of vertical farming. Growth within the market can be associated with the overall technology cost-effectiveness, rising demand for food on a global level as well as to the optimized option given to the users.

Experts have emerged from different sources like NASA, Dutch bioengineers growers of indoor marijuana …

According to a recently published study, the international market of vertical farming is expected to have a value of USD 5.80 billion by 2022, with a CAGR growth rate of 24.8% between 2016 and 2022. Alongside this, hydroponic components and lighting devices will also dominate the hardware segment of the market. The reason behind this is that the traditional lighting system is being replaced by the LED lighting system which is capable of producing dual-band color spectrum in a given time which is very efficient and generates very low heat. This has led growers and farmers to shift their operational practices to LED lighting systems.

90% of water consumption is saved

The growth of vertical farming market can be associated with the increasing urbanization, increased demand for high-quality food without any herbicides and pesticides as well as an innovative farming technique with low climatic impacts. The advantages associated with this type of farming includes,

1. Optimal space usage for higher yield and suitable for urban surroundings where there is limited space.
2. Operational costs can be reduced and the use of available resources improved.
3. Incorporation of hydroponic components and climatic control that attains high-quality produce.
4. Minimized usage of pesticides along with year around harvest.
5. 90% of water consumption is saved.

Largest share in vertical farming is expected to be grabbed by Asia-Pacific

Experts in the vertical farming market have emerged from different sources like NASA, Dutch bioengineers growers of indoor marijuana, staff at the Antarctica research stations and Professor Dickson Despommier at Columbia University.

The largest share in vertical farming is expected to be grabbed by Asia-Pacific (APAC) by 2022. The reason is because of the increasing level of population and limited availability of fertile agricultural land. Among key countries, China and Japan emerged out to have the most potential in this market where efforts are being made to develop vertical farming market. In Japan, there have been installed more than 150 plant factories that are equipped with artificial lights for operations.

Currently, the vertical farming market is operating at its initial stages however; this segment holds great potential in the near future as has been indicated in several research and development programs. Today, vertical farming is mainly used to produce leafy green vegetables along with green salads, tomatoes, lettuce and many other vegetables as well.

In order to develop this concept further, there are several other players as well who are playing an important role. These include FarmedHere (U.S), Aerofarms (U.S), Sky Greens (Singapore), Illumitex, Inc. (U.S.) and Koninklijke Philips N.V. (The Netherlands) along with many others.