IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p7189-d1461006.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A New Approach to Vertical Plant Cultivation Maximises Crop Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Mariusz Ptak

    (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Łukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Sebastian Wasieńko

    (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Łukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Piotr Makuła

    (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Łukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wrocław, Poland)

Abstract

This publication presents an innovative tower cultivation device designed to significantly increase vertical farming’s efficiency. The device divides the cultivation system into separate chambers. One division corresponds to the different growth phases of the plants, while another reflects the daily variation in conditions. Each chamber presents slightly different conditions and cultivation patterns from the others. For the early stages, crops are grown horizontally in trays; once they mature, they are transplanted into mobile cultivation towers. The closed circulation of ventilation and irrigation reduces water consumption by up to 95%. A unique separate day–night division optimises light, temperature, and humidity conditions, mimicking natural growth patterns. This approach not only saves water and energy but also improves cultivation in a three-dimensional space. The presented solution focuses on the often-overlooked aspects of cultivating in vertical farms and makes this method of growing much more cost-effective and feasible to implement on a large scale. Our comparative analysis with other vertical farming solutions is based on publicly available data and provides valuable insights, while acknowledging the potential limitations at play.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariusz Ptak & Sebastian Wasieńko & Piotr Makuła, 2024. "A New Approach to Vertical Plant Cultivation Maximises Crop Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7189-:d:1461006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7189/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7189/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Santini, Alberto & Bartolini, Enrico & Schneider, Michael & Greco de Lemos, Vinicius, 2021. "The crop growth planning problem in vertical farming," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(1), pages 377-390.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yiming Shao & Zhugen Wang & Zhiwei Zhou & Haojing Chen & Yuanlong Cui & Zhenghuan Zhou, 2022. "Determinants Affecting Public Intention to Use Micro-Vertical Farming: A Survey Investigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-26, July.
    2. Delorme, Maxence & Santini, Alberto, 2022. "Energy-efficient automated vertical farms," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7189-:d:1461006. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.