How is Popularity of Organic Foods Fuelling Progress of Global Vertical Farming Market?
The increasing need for organic fruits and vegetables is one of the biggest factors propelling the demand for vertical farming across the globe. Since the last few years, there has been massive rise consumer awareness regarding organic foods and the numerous health benefits offered by these organic fruits and vegetables. In addition to this, the widespread use of chemical feritlizers, pesticides, and insecticides in the conventional farming practices and increasing per capita income have made the people shift toward organic foods, which has in turn, promoted the adoption of fertilizer-free farming techniques like vertical farming.
The rising focus toward environment-friendly modes of fruits and vegetable farming is another important factor responsible for the surge in the demand for vertical farming. Nowadays, people are increasingly focusing on the farming techniques which can produce crops irrespective of the weather conditions which is significantly contributing to the popularity of vertical farming. The soaring number of government incentives and measures supporting the cultivation of organic food in several countries is another key factor boosting the adoption of vertical farming practices across the world.
Powered by the above-mentioned factors, the global vertical farming market is expected to advance at a rapid rate over the next few years. Vertical farming basically refers to the farming method in which the crops are grown in vertically stacked layers. This farming technique incorporates the use of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology in order to optimize plant growth. This type of farming process is also known as urban farming or indoor farming in some regions and it is observing increasing popularity throughout the world.
In vertical farming, different types of hardware components are widely used for improving the yield quality, such as sensors, hydroponics components, lighting, and climate control devices. Amongst these, the lighting devices, which usually consist of grow light reflectors, grow light ballasts, and grow lights, are expected to record large-scale utilization in the coming years. Vertical farming processes are mainly conducted in two types of structures- shipping containers and building-based. Of these, the building-based vertical farming processes are expected to observe huge rise in popularity over the next few years.
Across the world, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is predicted to observe rapid growth in the adoption of vertical farming in the coming years. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the availability of farming land is decreasing rapidly in several APAC countries such as India and China, owing to the soaring population levels and increasing urbanization in these countries. In addition to this, the surging per capita and disposable income of the people in various APAC countries are expected to further fuel the surge of the vertical farming market in this region in the years to come.
Therefore, it can be undoubtedly said that due to the rising need for organic fruits and vegetables and decreasing availability of agricultural land, the demand for vertical farming will shoot-up in the coming years.