Farming scientists in rural Berkshire are cultivating crops indoors in highly controlled environments, moving away from traditional outdoor fields. This approach, which involves growing plants on vertical aeroponic beds with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), aims to enhance efficiency in arable farming.
The crops are grown without sunlight or soil, with their roots suspended in the air and receiving nutrients from a fine water mist. Innovation Agritech Group (IAG), which designed and built the grow panels using full-spectrum LED lighting and automated closed-loop irrigation, states this method will use 98% less water than conventional farming. This development comes as Berkshire faces a declared drought, creating difficult conditions for farmers.
Laura Nelson, research manager at IAG, highlighted the control over environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, CO2, irrigation timing, nutrient levels, and lighting. She noted that this allows for consistent crop growth even when outdoor conditions are unsuitable, ensuring yields are unaffected. AI helps predict how changes to plant care will influence yield and can detect issues like disease spread early.
Historically, this style of farming has been criticised for a limited range of produce, mainly non-flowering, non-fruiting crops, as noted in a March 2023 report commissioned by Defra. However, IAG stated that technology has advanced, allowing for successful growth of soft fruits and making protein crops viable. The same report also identified high electricity consumption as a concern, but IAG claims that recent advances in LED lighting and environmental control systems have significantly improved efficiency, reducing electricity per unit of crop.