Vertical Farming in Urban

Residential Areas

Submitted By
Group 9

Group Members:
Deepti Alla – FT11317
Preethi Srikanth – FT11281
Puneet Singh – FT11344
Purnendu – FT11442
Sena Fatma - FT11277
Sumathi Tirunelveli- FT11269
Contents

Introduction ::.............................................................................................................................3
Potential Solution ::....................................................................................................................3
Advantages of adopting Vertical Farming in Indian residential areas.......................................4
Performance Parameters.............................................................................................................5
Maintenance and Upgradation:..................................................................................................6
Financials:..................................................................................................................................7
Who would invest? :...................................................................................................................9
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................10
References:...............................................................................................................................10
Introduction ::

Research reports suggest the following picture for the year 2050:

 More than 70% of population will be living in urban areas.

 Total population will increase by around 3 billion.
 About 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the
country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them.

This will lead to depletion of resources at a rate faster than that at which they can be
produced. In particular, a significant portion of fertile soil will be lost due to erosion,
desertification.

This problem will result in a severe food crisis across the globe.

Potential Solution ::

This calls for developing a more effective method of agriculture which can use less space and
resources than the traditional agriculture i.e. creating fundamental differentiation through
Value Innovation.

A possible solution has been suggested by Professor of Columbia, Dickson Despommier, in

the form of Vertical Farming.
Advantages of adopting Vertical Farming in Indian residential
areas ::
• Optimum Space utilization-There will be Year round crop production as it is known
that 1 acre indoor land is equivalent to 4-6 acres of outdoor land which also depends
on the kind of crop grown, thus in times when the Indian population is growing at a
fast pace and there is dearth of land, optimum space utilization can be achieved using
vertical farming.

• Efficient source of food supply- weather related crop failure will not occur in vertical
farming, besides no untreated animal waste will be there to transfer disease, Thus
there is less chance of genetically modified strains entering the plant. As the food will
be grown organically, no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers will be used and it would
eliminate agricultural runoff.

• Unaffected Water Supply to households: Vertical farming near societies would not
affect the regular water supply. Besides nearly 85% of water utilization could be
reduced in case of vertical farming as compared to the traditional farming methods.
Water systems engineered for vertical farming are very efficient, pipes feed plants on
all of the levels of the farm, controlling the amount of water that's disbursed for
maximum effects and then the water enters a complex systems of drains and returns
so that it can be recycled and reused again.

• Reduction in costs incurred in transportation and Supply Chain-Since the organic food
is grown in the societies, the transportation costs of the crops from the farmers land to
retailers can be avoided and thus minimizing the supply chain cost by reducing the
cost of holding and distribution.

• Creation of new urban employment opportunities – This would enhance the prospect
of employment in urban areas not just for the semi skilled workers as these workers
usually have a previous background of farming.

 Improved sustainability for urban centers – Many abandoned urban areas can also be
used for vertical farming as it does not require any particular land suitability
conditions. Besides growing food in glass high-rises could drastically reduce fossil-
 fuel emissions and recycle city wastewater that as of now pollutes waterways since it
helps in converting black water to drinking water.

Performance Parameters ::

 Enhanced knowledge sharing and networking among organizers of vertical farming.

• Number of new innovative technologies being used.

• Diversity of knowledge sources and existing knowledge about technologies

used in Vertical farming.

 Improved environment and increased resource mobilization to support innovative

technology.

• Appropriate laws and regulations to use the technology.

• Growth of public, private and donor investments for agricultural R&D and
investment.

 Improved information, communication and infrastructure.

• Informed knowledge on market prices and technologies.

• Decreased physical distance across the supply chain as well as for the end
user.

 Enhanced capacity at per capita or organizational level.

• Improvement in agricultural produce in volumes or per capita when compared

to existing agricultural ways.

• Time and Space used for unit production of agricultural crops.

 Enhanced market opportunities and development in the value chain and supply chain.

• Growth of value added and profit margins in the chain.

• Growth in productivity and services creation.

  Enhanced natural resources and eco system performance.

• Improved management of soil fertility, water and energy.

• Conservation and enhancement of agro diversity.

Maintenance and Upgradation::

 Initially, the project will be started off as a prototype model.

 Once the prototype model is up and running for about 5 years, this can be
implemented in large scale.
 In the beginning, financing will be done by the private giants like Tatas and Birlas
as the initial start up cost is very high.
 With the advancements in the technology, it is expected that the cost will come
down drastically.
 Eventually, the vertical farm will have automated feeders, monitoring devices and
harvesting equipment
 As Despommier described "Each floor will have its own watering and nutrient
monitoring systems. There will be sensors for every single plant that tracks how
much and what kinds of nutrients the plant has absorbed. You'll even have
systems to monitor plant diseases by employing DNA chip technologies that
detect the presence of plant pathogens by simply sampling the air and using
snippets from various viral and bacterial infections.”
 Once the costs are brought down and the profit potential is realized, many
entrepreneurs will look into this as an opportunity
 Farms of various dimensions and crop yields can be built into a variety of urban
settings - from schools, restaurants and hospitals to the upper floor of apartment
complexes
Financials:
Cost Structure
Start Up costs
Since the farm will be superstructure with sufficient structural capacity to hold crops, water,
soil (in the non-hydroponic proposals) humans and machines, the initial costs will be high.
Start up cost is estimated at INR 30 crore per acre
Operational costs
Energy Usage- High
 Lighting - 10-40 watt per square meter
 Heating and Powering- INR 3600000 per land acre
Labor costs – Medium- High
 Skilled labor – to run the machines and maintenance
 Unskilled labor – for agriculture
 Urban wages – Since these farms will mostly be in Urban areas, the
wages may be on a higher side
Transportation costs
The concept of food miles is based on the assumption that the transportation costs to the
market will be significantly lower due to the location of the farms

Cost vs Revenue Model of a Prototype

Total Costs
Consider a 30 storied high building having a total land area of 1 acre in downtown Mumbai.
The costs associated with such a structure will be as follows:
 Start up cost = INR 300000000 (Rs 30 crore)
 Start up cost amortized over 30 years= 10000000 (Rs 1 crore)
 Energy cost @ INR 2.5 / KWh = INR 3600000 (Rs 36 lakh)
 Labor cost @ INR 150 / day - 2 persons per floor per year= INR 3200000
(Rs 32 lakh)
 Material cost = INR 1000000 (Rs 10 lakh)
 Total Annual Costs = INR 17800000
Revenue
Studies show that a 30-story building with a base of a building block (1 acre) would yield a
yearly crop analogous to that of 480 acres of traditional farming.
 Annual Revenue from Corn farming on 1 acre of traditional farming = INR
45000
 Annual Revenue from 480 acres of Corn farming = INR 21600000
This shows that a Vertical farm can actually be profitable moderately in its current structure
and the profits can sufficiently increase if we bring into practice, certain cost saving
measures.

Ways to increase Profitability

 New techniques in agriculture
 Dwarf crops – GM Crops which are smaller in size with the same yield
 High yield crops – Growing high yield crops
 Using Stacker plant holders
 Niche Crops: Growing spices, vegetables, ornamental plants alongside the staple
crops
 All season farming – increases the productivity 4-6 times
 Savings in spoilage, pesticides, herbicides etc
 Harvesting the methane gas for energy using the farm waste
 Using extensive non conventional sources of energy. As we see that the major chunk
of the Operational costs come from the consumption of energy, therefore the costs can
be brought down drastically if we manage to bring down the energy consumption and
will also help in improving the carbon footprints.
 Who would invest? :

Given that the initial setup cost is high, the big question is who would invest? Three options
have been considered.
1. Retail giants & Corporate houses:
One of the options is the investment of private players. Retail giant such as Reliance,
Future group, Aditya Birla group might be interested in Vertical farming to source
their greens. Though the cost is high, vertical farming brings with itself a lot of
advantages such as high yield, supply chain efficiency, reduction in the transportation
cost, optimum space utilization that the benefit overrides the cost.

Role of infrastructure companies and property developers might also be massive.

Vertical farming has the great advantage of optimum space utilization that it can be
set up anywhere. One of the options is for the infrastructure companies to set up
vertical farming blocks in townships and societies. This would be an efficient way of
sourcing the needs of the residents.

Partnership between private players is one of the viable options. If infrastructure

companies can set up the building and the required infrastructure and the retail giants
can own and buy the produce. This kind of a set up is already happening in the United
State of America. Bright Farms, a supermarket chain, together with a firm called
Better Food Solutions, a hydroponics firm, are constructing rooftop glasshouse at the
grocery stores. The supermarket agrees to buy the produce and owns the farm, while
Better Food Solutions builds it and operates it. The first fruit and vegetables are
expected to go on sale in early 2011.
2. Government of India:

To curd the severe food shortage, Government of India has to come up with
innovative solutions and Vertical farming might be one of the options. This
technology is nascent and there are no prototypes in India. However, with relentless
urbanization and diminishing agricultural land would leave the government with no
option but to adopt innovative solutions such as Vertical farming.
 3. Private – Public Partnership:
Private – Public partnership is one of the viable options. Such partnership has been
adopted by the Singapore Government. The Agri-food & Veterinary Authority had
entered into a partnership with DJ Engineering, a private company. A prototype has
been developed and National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan is hopeful that this
will enhance Singapore’s supply of leafy vegetables.

Conclusion:

Relentless urbanization, drastic increase in the rate of growth of population and low yield
being the current scenario, severe food shortage is going to be the major problem that India is
going to face. Innovation and proactive measures are required to counter such calamity and
Vertical farming might just be the answer to such problems. Vertical farming promises to
eliminate external natural processes as the crops are grown in a controlled environment.
Though the initial set up cost is high, the advantages such as high yield, supply chain
efficiency, reduction in the transportation cost, optimum space utilization, year-round crop
production would overrides the cost.
Thus, Vertical farming, if successfully implemented, offers the promise of urban renewal,
sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply and the eventual repair of ecosystems
that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

References:

http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4608028
http://12.000.scripts.mit.edu/mission2014/solutions/urban-agriculture
http://www.brightfarmsystems.com/
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Vertical_farming
http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/abstracts.php?p=2889.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-rise-of-vertical-farms
http://www.verticalfarm.com/