According to one recent report, the aeroponics segment will experience growth of over 21 percent from 2017 to 2024—the largest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of any vertical farming segment. The report explains the reason for this growth: “Nearly any plant can be successfully grown using aeroponic systems, especially vegetables. The plants grown by using aeroponics grow faster, yield more, and are generally healthier than those grown in soil.”
Investors are looking to agricultural technology as the next hot space. With populations growing and arable land shrinking, farmers are looking for tech fixes to the challenges of modern agriculture, and venture capital is bolstering a range of creative startups in the sector.
Many experts believe small-scale agriculture is the future of growing. For those who choose that path, success may be closely tied to controlled environments and the use of agricultural technologies.
To understand how ag-tech drives success in small-scale farming, it's important to first take a closer look at small-scale agriculture: what it is, how it works, and why some envision it as the logical next step for the agricultural industry..
Commercial growers looking for productivity and predictability have long turned to the greenhouse as the best means to establish a stable growing environment.
Greenhouses “offer higher efficiency and lower operating costs, allow for the sun as a primary light source, and are designed for better precision technology controls,” experts note.
Wide open spaces are no longer an agricultural necessity. While the rolling prairies with their endless acres of corn and soy have served American farmers well for generations, there’s a new kind of farming taking hold that promises to change the shape of how we grow.
Retailers who support the agricultural community provide a vital service. They deliver a range of goods that are key to growing success; the best will often form a consultative relationship with their clients, keeping them advised of key trends and developments in agriculture.
Many growers take a manual approach to water use, irrigating without systems or controls in place to ensure consistency. This can be problematic: Too little water, and plants will wither; too much, and they wallow, with root damage, mold, and other negative effects.
When people talk about agriculture, sunshine and rain seem like basic ingredients. That’s typically true—but only up to a point. Increasing numbers of growers are finding indoor farming to be a powerful and profitable alternative to tilling the soil outdoors.
Growers looking to boost productivity can leverage hydroponics to enhance their operations. Automation can help them take it a step further, improving yields while simplifying operations and adding new levels of efficiency.
To understand how technology can enhance a hydroponic growing system, it’s best to start with the basics: What is hydroponic farming and what advantages does it offer?
For many startup cannabis growers, a grow tent offers an agile and economical way to get a crop under cultivation quickly and easily. To make the most of a grow tent, though, it makes sense to adopt the latest technologies.
In order to understand just how sensors and automation can leverage a grow tent’s inherent advantages, it is important to start with the basics. Let’s take a look at what a grow tent is and why you might want to use one. Then we can dig into the how and why of monitoring technologies and agro-management tools.
