2018-19

TOWER FARMING
Prepared By
T Aswini Patro
Faheem Khan
To produce high yield food crops in minimal
space with less use of resources solving the
problems of hunger and starvation due to
over-population.
 By 2025, the world’s population will increase
from 6.6 billion to 8 billion people.
 There is exponential rise in population which
often termed as population explosion.
 This over- population crisis affects the demands
and quantity of natural resources and also
affects the requirement of food.
 Large population demands large need for food.
 Due to insufficient agricultural lands, as it is
been used by the people to meet their needs
there rises a glut of food
 Glut of food will cause subsequent hunger drives
and will lead to starvation.
 Total World Population in billions (mid-year figures)
10

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Projected Projected Projected Projected
 Due to rapid urbanization and
industrialization, arable land under
cultivation is decreasing consistently, so
thoughts arose that tower farming can cope
up these challenges.
 Tower farming or vertical farming is a
method of farming where food is produced in
vertically stacked layers by the help of soil-
less culture.
 Soil less culture mainly refers to the
techniques of ‘Hydroponics’.
 In 1860, Julius von Sachs, a prominent
German botanist, demonstrated, for the first
time, that plants could be grown to maturity
in a defined nutrient solution in complete
absence of soil.
 Hydroponics was derived from the Greek
words ‘hydro’ means water and ‘ponos’
means labor.
 Hydroponics is a method of growing plants
using mineral nutrient solutions.
 Towers are constructed and the farms are
transplanted.
 Initially, the seed should be grown in soil then
after when it turns to seedlings it would be
shifted to hydroponic system.
 Hydroponic solution contains all the required
nutrients by the plants which plants intake from
soil. They are mixed with water in the ratio
1:10.
 Placing LED lights of blue and red wavelengths
would fulfill the plants requirement for light.
 LED lights are monochromatic lights which
provide exact wavelengths for growth and
development of crop and also lessen the cost.
 As all plants not respond to hydroponic methods.
 So plants such as potatoes and citrus trees can
be put off at the top floor of the tower by
planting them in soil in presence of sunlight.
 Liquid and solid human waste collected from
public toilets can be used for the betterment of
crops.
 Solid human excreta can be diverted for
treatment through anaerobic digestion.
 Anaerobic Digestion occurs in bio digester and
produces a fuel called bio gas.
 Bio-gas is used as a fuel and also used for
generating electricity.
 The slurry leftover in the bio-digester can be
used as manure.
 Human urine are rich in nitrogen, potassium and
phosphorus , which the crop’s love.
 The vertical farm is more than just a produce
factory.
 The tower farm is designed to minimize the
use of valuable resources: it requires only
20% of water, space and energy compared to
traditional ways of growing.
 There is high density maximum crop yield
production and there are more crop rotations
per year than open- field agriculture.
 Human waste is disposed in a safe manner.