Research on vegetable farming in vertical hydroponic system

Abstract

Vertical farming is the practice of growing plants in a multi-layer system. This often includes agriculture in a controlled environment, whose purpose is the optimisation of plant growing, together with soil-free agricultural techniques, such as hydroponics, acquaponics and aeroponics. Some of the structures used for setting-up the vertical farming systems are: buildings, ship containers, underground tunnels and mine shafts. This paper presents the study of several vegetable cultivars grown in a vertical hydroponic system, with a vegetation period of 7 to 18 days. The analysed species were: green mizuna, red mustard, green pak choi, red radish, green peas. At the end of the established vegetation period, the plants were cut, then mixed in a tasty fresh salad. Besides the explosion of tastes and special nutritional intake, this relatively new agricultural concept was proven to have a higher yield compared to the conventional farming techniques. This yield is given by the following factors: high productivity, water consumption reduced up to 70%, decrease of pesticides consumption by creating an ideal growing environment, perfectly controlled according to the requirements of each species, possibility to use such a system anywhere, even in non-agricultural areas (areas with disused agricultural land, mountain areas or even directly within shops).