Incidators all point to 2050 as the estimated year when the world population reaches 9.8 billion. As more people tend to live near cities and arable land slowly gets transformed into residential and commercial areas, is the world ready to supply the food needs of this number of people?
What new technologies can help drive sustainable farming practices and create an urban farming business with commercial urban and controlled environment agriculture?
Also, how has traditional open-air farming been improved by CEA and the current farming sustainability technology as a whole?
This article will discuss the technologies that can help drive sustainable farming practices. It will also tackle how these new technologies allow people to plan their sustainable urban farming businesses.
Finally, this write-up will explain how commercial urban and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) improve urban farms and traditional open-air farming via CEA practices.
Sustainable agricultural practices need an efficient irrigation system to ensure excellent crop growth and yield. For urban agriculture, working watering systems are crucial to managing greenhouses efficiently.
Detecting water leaks and reducing water waste is crucial for sustainable farming practices. The Meraki MT12 Indoor Water Leak Sensor is a prime example of how internet-connected sensors promote resource conservation and more efficient use of resources in agriculture.
If you want to learn more about internet-connected sensors and how they can help in agriculture, click here.
5 New Technological Tools Driving Sustainable Urban Farming Businesses Today
Human ingenuity reveals itself through the tools created to do the job. From simple machines to complicated contraptions, humanity has always been on top of the technology of tool-making, and the ideas of making work easier seem always to be present.
Technology rapidly updates even in farming, so you no longer need to find farmlands to plant crops. You only need the right technology to start a farm and make it your business, even in an urban jungle. Here is the technology you can use to drive sustainable urban farming business:
- Digital soil and water sensors: Sensors help farmers monitor every part of agriculture. Inside the microclimate of urban farming and CEA, these sensors can pick up minute details that can affect the growth of plants, like the soil’s pH levels, moisture, and nitrogen levels. Using sensor technology is a crucial part of urban farming, especially when deciding how to manage crops, like when to add fertilizers to ensure sustainability.
- Water management technology: The University of Michigan has emphasized efficient irrigation as it can increase farm yields. Also, water management software helps farmers avoid wasting water by accurately measuring the soil’s moisture needs. Water management incorporates sensors and automated irrigation systems to maintain the appropriate moisture level in the ground.
- Farm management software: Farms, especially those using controlled environment agriculture methods, can be wired to a system managed by farm software. Using this technology is like having a skillful farmer at your side, ready to watch over your crops 24/7.
- Pervasive automation: Farming has become manageable, even for people in the city, through the help of automation technology. You can now use computer technology to lessen the workload of managing a farm.
- Controlled environment agriculture: CEA is a method of farming that incorporates different technologies that make it possible to raise crops in a controlled environment like greenhouses.
It also makes aquaculture and hydroponics fare better through better computer management. The University of Arizona describes CEA’s ability to manipulate the crop’s environment to make it optimal for growth.
Entrepreneurs can use these technologies to bring farms into the cities and reduce the need for logistics. Farms can now be raised inside urban zones, giving people access to fresh food, which may become scarce if no improvement is made to the traditional farming methods of today.
How Controlled Environment Agriculture Improves Sustainable Traditional Farming
There are many areas of agriculture where CEA technology can improve and ensure the sustainability of traditional, open-air farming. As the term denotes, CEA is a variety of systems enabling a technology-based approach to agriculture.
Controlling the environment on a large scale can be difficult, if not impossible, as many natural factors influence weather. However, managing the microclimate in areas like greenhouses can improve crop production in controlled environments.
Many are looking into hydroponics or raising crops on a bed of a water-based solution of essential nutrients rather than the traditional soil. Businesses can create vertical farms through this innovation in farming, making more space for planting crops.
Gone are the days when farmers needed large land areas to produce the required yields. Now, using vertical farming technology, hydroponics, and controlled environment agriculture can improve the sustainability of traditional farming.
Sustainable farming practices are needed now more than ever, especially with the growing global population. Projections show it will reach 10 billion in a few decades. Indeed, the future of agriculture starts today, and the people who can spearhead these advancements are farming entrepreneurs with a vision of tomorrow.
A paradigm shift should resolve the agricultural demands of billions of people. This shift can become a reality through modern farming technologies that are available today.
References
- World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100
https://www.un.org/en/desa/world-population-projected-reach-98-billion-2050-and-112-billion-2100
- Controlled Environment Agriculture
- What is Controlled Environment Agriculture?
https://caes.ucdavis.edu/research/initiative/controlled-environment-agriculture
- Vertical Farming – No Longer A Futuristic Concept
https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/utm/vertical-farming-no-longer-a-futuristic-concept/
