Indoor Aeroponic Farms Go Native
According to the NAPC'S Nativebiz.link portal for native business, Native Indoor Farms, a subsidiary of Indoor Farms of America, recently delivered its first vertical aeroponic farms to Native American Communities, one in New York and one in Kansas. These are also the first such vertical farms ever sold for use and operation by Native Americans.
Aeroponics, or airponics, is a NASA developed variation on hydroponics in which nutrients are delivered to plants through a fine mist. The technique can increase plant growth by getting more oxygen to plant roots. It also means greater plant density at lower cost and a sterile disease and pest-free environment.
Aeroponic growing systems can provide clean, efficient, and rapid food production. Crops can be planted and harvested in the system year round without interruption, and without contamination from soil, pesticides, and residue. Since the growing environment is clean and sterile, it greatly reduces the chances of spreading plant disease and infection commonly found in soil and other growing media.
While not all food crops are suitable for aeroponics, most plants can be grown to maturity in air with a sufficient supply of oxygen, CO2, water and nutrients.
As climate change, inadvertent spread of GMOS and environmental contamination takes its toll on conventional industrial and organic agriculture, intensive indoor farming is expanding and providing an alternative way to feed at least a portion of the world.
Aeroponics can also be very profitable but must be done right.
According to NASA research, the nutrients must be delivered by a high pressure hydro-atomized mist of 5-50 micrometres micro-droplets for long-term aeroponic growing. Nutrients must be free of contaminants and delivered at precise intervals.
With the advance in LED lighting and aeroponics technology, indoor farming is now a viable solution to large-scale climate change adaptable food production.