Recent Trends in Agriculture: Vertical Farming and Organic Farming

Abstract

Advancements in the field of science and technology along with the global urbanization are the major factors driving the course and evolution of agricultural research. Rise in per capita income in developing nations, occupational changes and global linkages hace changed the food preferences. These trends along with the increase in population pose a challenge to agriculture for producing more & better food. Increase in the productivity of agriculture by employing techniques of conventional (20th century) agriculture is posing a limitation. The threat to environment, due to dependence on chemical fertilzers and pesticides for increasing productivity and pest management respectively is major constraint affecting the global food production. These trends suggest that new innovations in agriculture are inevitably needed and these innovations should be integrated with the main stream agriculture (the big agriculture as we may call). Vertical farming and organic farming are the research areas to fight these constraints. Vertical farming employs vertical stacking of the farms therefore small land can be utilized for more production. In addition, this technique is well suited for the rapidly growing global urban population as the demands of food supply can be met from within the cities and thus reducing the transportation cost and environment deterioration caused by fuels in the process. organic farming on the agriculture and hence is environment friendly. Thus, these techniques can be utilized for increasing the production and productivity to meet the growing food demands.