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Vertical Farming: A Vertical Solution to Cebu's Urban Agriculture Challenges TCN705 Assignment 2
Raizza Mae Moldovan rmmoldovan@myseneca.ca
Contents Introduction: Invest in something fresh ............................................................ 3 Problem: Cebu is land hungry .......................................................................... 3 A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically ................................................................. 4 What is vertical farming? .............................................................................. 4 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 6 References .................................................................................................... 6
TCN705
Vertical Farming: A Vertical Solution to Cebu's Urban Agriculture Challenges
Introduction: Invest in something fresh Worldwide trends show that investing in the agriculture sector is perhaps the freshest and best investment option an investor can make. Global population is fast growing, especially in urban areas. This means that a lot of the arable land is being used for commercial, non-agricultural purposes. A simple fact: global agriculture must double in the next 30 years to sustain this type of population growth. Investing in the Philippines agriculturally is a good idea since the country is ideally geographically and climatically positioned to meet these opportunities.
Problem: Cebu is land hungry Cebu is an island that has narrow coastlines, limestone plateaus and coastal plains. It also has rolling hills and rugged mountain ranges traversing the northern and southern lengths of the island. It is blessed with a nice tropical climate and only gets typhoons once a year or none at all, compared to the rest of the country. Cebu City (Photo by Megz Garcia)
Although Cebu's steep mountain reach over 1,000 meters, the island lacks substantial forest cover. Fifty two percent of Cebu’s land has a higher than 18% slope. This leaves less than half of its land potentially arable. Less arable land, coupled with great demand for housing, commercial and other non-agriculture uses limits the ability of Cebu to supply its own food requirements. Likewise, the highly sloping nature of Cebu’s terrain makes it highly susceptible to soil erosion, landslides and flash floods, which is also aggravated by climate change. This is the first challenge newly elected leaders in Cebu must consider. Does the island have the resources to meet the needs of our fast growing population?
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Vertical Farming: A Vertical Solution to Cebu's Urban Agriculture Challenges To top this, the existing farmers are getting older over the years, while young individuals who have the potential to be the new breed of farmers are actually more inclined to the advent of technology and migration to the city for work, thus, the scarcity of farmers. This lack of farmers is an offset to the huge and increasing demand for food by consumers. If this cannot be solved, the province and the country might suffer from food shortage.
A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically Around the world people are growing food in cities. Cebuanos already grow crops and raise animals in urban households. There is great potential for the production of food and more within urban areas that is not being realized. The idea is to bring more people back to the land. The challenge of feeding a growing population, lack of land and lack of interest in agriculture is pushing the concept of urban farming to new heights. A super efficient vertical farming system will be producing greens for millions of residents within the city.
What is vertical farming? Vertical farming is cultivating plant or animal life within a skyscraper greenhouse or on vertically inclined surfaces. The idea of a vertical farm is not new, going back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The modern idea of vertical farming uses techniques similar to glass houses, where natural sunlight can be augmented with artificial lighting. An entirely new approach to indoor farming are being invented, employing cutting edge technologies. Vertical farms relies on various physical techniques or methods like hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics, Folkewall or living wall, and composting. These methods have minimal or no impact to the soil.
Hydroponics - is a subset of hydroculture and is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Aquaponics - is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. Aeroponics - is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium. Folkewall - is a structure with dual functions of growing plants and purifying waste water.
Highly urbanized cities like Tokyo, Singapore, Chicago, Linkoping in Sweden all have functional vertical farms.
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Vertical Farming: A Vertical Solution to Cebu's Urban Agriculture Challenges The Vertical Farms are efficient (cheap to construct, safe to operate consumes less energy). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming, and the protection of ecosystems that are vulnerable to climate change.
Advantages
No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests All vertical farm food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers Vertical farms virtually eliminate agricultural runoff by recycling black water Vertical farms can be built on less arable land Vertical farms are energy efficient Vertical farms create new employment opportunities
Plantagon in Sweden
Pasona Group of Tokyo's urban "office farm"
Singapore's Sky Greens
TCN705
Vertical Farming: A Vertical Solution to Cebu's Urban Agriculture Challenges
Conclusion Filipinos who pursue dreams of economic independence need to look at the country's agriculture sector that has long been ignored but otherwise shows significant opportunities for prosperity. Vertical farming can become a streamlined operation that is not hard to understand. The vision of vertical farming can help in making an agriculture degree more attractive and convince the Filipino youth to become agriculturists. It's not just about attracting investments in order to resuscitate the sector; it's also about improving many impoverished Filipinos' lives and contribute to the overall national economic development. The sustainable innovation of vertical farming is a concept that restores our common knowledge of a cyclic system of life and its necessities. Humans cannot distance ourselves from the resources we need or the waste we produce.
References Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. How to Feed the World in 2050. Cebu Provincial Agricultural Profile, Department of Agriculture Dickson Despommier (2010). The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century. Fernando Fajardo (2013). Cebu today and some of its development challenges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroponics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folkewall http://www.inspirationgreen.com/vertical-farms.html http://verticalfoodblog.com/category/vertical-farming/ http://www.thecity2.org/stories/world-s-first-vertical-farm http://www.wilderutopia.com/sustainability/japan-office-farming-greens-tokyosurban-jungle/ http://inhabitat.com/aeroponic-vertical-farm-high-yield-terraced-rice-paddies-forthe-philipines/
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