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Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically and horizontally stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics. Some common choices of structures to house vertical farming systems include buildings, shipping containers, underground tunnels, and abandoned mine shafts.
The modern concept of vertical farming was proposed in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University. Despommier and his students came up with a design of a skyscraper farm that could feed 50,000 people. Although the design has not yet been built, it successfully popularized the idea of vertical farming. Current applications of vertical farming coupled with other state-of-the-art technologies, such as specialized LED lights, have resulted in over 10 times the crop yield as would be received through traditional farming methods. There have been several different means of implementing vertical farming systems into communities such as: Canada,UK (Paignton), Israel, Singapore,USA (Chicago),Germany (Munich), UK (London), Japan, and UK (Lincolnshire).
The main advantage of utilizing vertical farming technologies is the increased crop yield that comes with a smaller unit area of land requirement. The increased ability to cultivate a larger variety of crops at once because crops do not share the same plots of land while growing is another sought-after advantage. Additionally, crops are resistant to weather disruptions because of their placement indoors, meaning fewer crops lost to extreme or unexpected weather occurrences. Lastly, because of its limited land usage, vertical farming is less disruptive to the native plants and animals, leading to further conservation of the local flora and fauna.
Vertical farming technologies face economic challenges with large start-up costs compared to traditional farms. They cannot grow all types of crops but can be cost-effective for high value products such as salad vegetables. Vertical farms also face large energy demands due to the use of supplementary light like LEDs. The buildings also need excellent control of temperature, humidity and water supplies. Moreover, if non-renewable energy is used to meet these energy demands, vertical farms could produce more pollution than traditional farms or . An approach to ensure better energy-related environmental performance is to use agrivoltaic-powered vertical farming in an agrotunnel or similar CEA. In this way crops can be grown beneath outdoor agrivoltaics and the solar electricity they provide can be used to power the vertical farming.
Despommier's concept of the vertical farm emerged in 1999 at Columbia University. It promotes the mass cultivation of plant life for commercial purposes in skyscrapers.
Freight Farms produced the "Greenery" that is a complete system outfitted with vertical hydroponics, LED lighting and climate controls built within a 12 m × 2.4 m shipping container. Podponics built a vertical farm in Atlanta consisting of over 100 stacked "growpods", but reportedly went bankrupt in May 2016.
In 2017, TerraFarms offered a system of 40-foot shipping containers, which included computer vision integrated with an artificial neural network to monitor the plants; and were remotely monitored. It was claimed that the TerraFarm system "has achieved cost parity with traditional, outdoor farming" with each unit producing the equivalent of " of farmland", using 97% less water through water recapture and harvesting the evaporated water through the air conditioning.
The Armenian tower hydroponicums are the first built examples of a vertical farm, and are documented in Sholto Douglas' Hydroponics: The Bengal System, first published in 1951 with data from the then-East Pakistan, today's Bangladesh, and the state of West Bengal. (1975). 9780195605662, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195605662
Later precursors that have been published, or built, are Ken Yeang's Bioclimatic Skyscraper (Menara Mesiniaga, built 1992); MVRDV's PigCity, 2000; MVRDV's Meta City/ Datatown (1998–2000); Pich-Aguilera's Garden Towers (2001).
Ken Yeang is perhaps the most widely known architect who has promoted the idea of the 'mixed-use' Bioclimatic Skyscraper which combines living units and food production.
Although many of Despommier's suggestions have been challenged from an environmental science and engineering point of view, Despommier successfully popularized his assertion that food production can be transformed. Critics claimed that the additional energy needed for artificial lighting, heating and other operations would outweigh the benefit of the building's close proximity to the areas of consumption.
Despommier originally challenged his class to feed the entire population of Manhattan (about 2,000,000 people) using only of rooftop gardens. The class calculated that rooftop gardening methods could feed only 2% of the population. Unsatisfied with the results, Despommier made an off-the-cuff suggestion of growing plants indoors, vertically. By 2001 the first outline of a vertical farm was introduced. In an interview Despommier described how vertical farms would function:
Architectural designs were independently produced by designers Chris Jacobs, Andrew Kranis and Gordon Graff.
Mass media attention began with an article written in New York magazine, followed by others, as well as radio and television features.
In 2011, the Plant in Chicago was building an anaerobic digester into the building. This will allow the farm to operate off the energy grid. Moreover, the anaerobic digester will be recycling waste from nearby businesses that would otherwise go into landfills.
In 2013, the Association for Vertical Farming was founded in Munich, Germany.
As of 2014, Vertical Fresh Farms was operating in Buffalo, New York, specializing in salad greens, and sprouts. In March the world's then largest vertical farm opened in Scranton, Pennsylvania, built by Green Spirit Farms (GSF). The firm is housed in a single-storey building covering 3.25 hectares, with racks stacked six high to house 17 million plants. The farm was to grow 14 lettuce crops per year, as well as spinach, kale, tomatoes, peppers, basil and strawberries. Water is scavenged from the farm's atmosphere with a dehumidifier.
Kyoto-based Nuvege (pronounced "new veggie") operates a windowless farm. Its LED lighting is tuned to service two types of chlorophyll, one preferring red light and the other blue. Nuvege produces 6 million lettuce heads a year.
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) operates an 18-storey project that produces genetically modified plants that make useful in .
Plenty has designed a new AI-controlled modular grow system for multiple crops; they are opening a farm in Chesterfield, Virginia that will grow more than of strawberries each year. The farm uses 97% less land and 97% less water than traditional farming.
In August 2025, United States-based vertical farm company '80 Acres Farms' merged with Soil Organics. The company operates seven vertical farms in the United States with an estimated hydroponic produce production up to 20 million pounds per year.
A 2018 study estimated that the value of four ecosystem services provided by existing vegetation in urban areas was on the order of $33 billion annually. The study's quantitative framework projected annual food production of 100–180 million tonnes, energy savings ranging from 14 to 15 billion kilowatt-hours, nitrogen sequestration between 100,000 and 170,000 tonnes and stormwater runoff reductions between 45 and 57 billion cubic metres annually. Food production, nitrogen fixation, energy savings, pollination, climate regulation, soil formation and biological pest control could be worth as much as $80–160 billion annually.
Furthermore, as the crops would be consumed where they are grown, long-distance transport with its accompanying time delays, should reduce spoilage, infestation and energy needs. Globally some 30% of harvested crops are wasted due to spoilage and infestation, though this number is much lower in developed nations.
Despommier suggests that once dwarf versions of crops (e.g., dwarf wheat which is smaller in size but richer in nutrients), year-round crops and "stacker" plant holders are accounted for, a 30-storey building with a base of a building block () would yield a yearly crop analogous to that of of traditional farming.
VF productivity is mostly independent of weather, although earthquakes and tornadoes still pose threats.
The issue of adverse weather conditions is especially relevant for arctic and sub-arctic areas like Alaska and northern Canada where traditional farming is largely impossible. Food insecurity has been a long-standing problem in remote northern communities where fresh produce has to be shipped large distances resulting in high costs and poor nutrition. Container-based farms can provide fresh produce year-round at a lower cost than shipping in supplies from more southerly locations with a number of farms operating in locations such as Churchill, Manitoba and Unalaska, Alaska As with disruption to crop growing, local container-based farms are also less susceptible to disruption than the long supply chains necessary to deliver traditionally grown produce to remote communities. Food prices in Churchill spiked substantially after floods in May and June 2017 forced the closure of the rail line that forms the only permanent overland connection between Churchill and the rest of Canada.
Vertical farming would thus reduce the amount of farmland, thus saving many natural resources. Deforestation and desertification caused by agricultural encroachment on natural could be avoided. Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, protecting soil and reducing emissions.
Traditional agriculture disrupts wild populations and may be unethical given a viable alternative. One study showed that wood mouse populations dropped from 25 per hectare to 5 per hectare after harvest, estimating 10 animals killed per hectare each year with conventional farming. In comparison, vertical farming would cause nominal harm to wildlife.
/ref> Thus the facility would have to lower costs or charge higher prices to justify remaining in a city.
Similarly, if power needs are met by fossil fuels, the environmental effect may be a net loss; even building low-carbon capacity to power the farms may not make as much sense as simply leaving traditional farms in place, while burning less coal.
The initial building costs would exceed $100 million for a 60-hectare vertical farm. Office can be high in major cities, with office space in cities such as Tokyo, Moscow, Mumbai, Dubai, Milan, Zurich, and São Paulo ranging from $1850 to $880 per square metre.Pocket World in Figures, The Economist, 2011 ed. pg 64
The developers of the TerraFarm system produced from second hand, 40 foot shipping containers claimed that their system "has achieved cost parity with traditional, outdoor farming".
As "The Vertical Farm" proposes a controlled environment, heating and cooling costs will resemble those of any other tower. Plumbing and elevator systems are necessary to distribute nutrients and water. In the northern continental United States, fossil fuel heating cost can be over $200,000 per hectare.
Jones Food Company in Gloucestershire, England opened a farm in 2024 with of growing space, powered only by renewable electricity. The company failed to make a profit and in April 2025, was placed into administration.
Greenhouses commonly supplement Carbon dioxide levels to three–four times the atmospheric rate. This increase in CO2 increases photosynthesis rates by 50%, contributing to higher yields. Some greenhouses burn fossil fuels purely for this purpose, as other CO2 sources, such as those from furnaces, contain pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and ethylene which significantly damage plants. This means a vertical farm requires a CO2 source, most likely from combustion. Also, necessary ventilation may allow CO2 to leak into the atmosphere.
Greenhouse growers commonly exploit photoperiodism in plants to control whether the plants are in a vegetative or reproductive stage. As part of this control, the lights stay on past sunset and before sunrise or periodically throughout the night. Single-storey greenhouses have attracted criticism over light pollution. (2026). 9781402026652, Springer. ISBN 9781402026652
Hydroponic greenhouses regularly change the water, producing water containing fertilizers and pesticides that must be disposed of. The most common method of spreading the effluent over neighbouring farmland or wetlands would be more difficult for an urban vertical farm.
In 2009, the world's first pilot production system was installed at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in the United Kingdom. The project showcased vertical farming and provided a physical base to research sustainable urban food production. The produce is used to feed the zoo's animals while the project enables evaluation of the systems and provides an educational resource to advocate for change in unsustainable land use practices that affect global biodiversity and ecosystem services,
In 2010 the Green Zionist Alliance proposed a resolution at the 36th World Zionist Congress calling on Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael (Jewish National Fund in Israel) to develop vertical farms in Israel.
In 2012, the world's first commercial vertical farm was opened in Singapore. Sky Greens Farms developed it, and it is three stories high. They currently have over 100 nine-metre-tall towers.
In 2013, the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) was founded in Munich (Germany). By May 2015, the AVF had expanded with regional chapters across Europe, Asia, the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This organization unites growers and inventors to improve food security and sustainable development. AVF focuses on advancing vertical farming technologies, designs, and businesses by hosting international info days, workshops, and summits.
The world's largest vertical farm opened in Dubai in 2022. It produces more than one million kilograms of leafy greens per year, using 95% less water than traditional cultivation and saving 250 million litres of water per year.
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