Indoor Farming: Wheat And How Big A Difference It Can Make

Many fear that we are going to suffer a food shortage due to the growing population worldwide. It has gotten to the point that some believe we need to reduce the number of people if humanity is to survive.

This viewpoint does not take account the fact that we keep making great technological advancement in the area of food production. Over the last few decades, technology enabled us to increase crop yields in traditional farming.

As they say, you ain't seen nothing yet.

A recent paper discusses the gains made in wheat by using climate controlled (indoor) farming. Wheat is the world's most important crop, one that billions depend upon for survival.


Source

Researchers put out a paper detailing their experiments using this method of crop growth and the results were outstanding.

Such yields would be 220 to 600 times the current world average annual wheat yield of 3.2 t/ha. Independent of climate, season, and region, indoor wheat farming could be environmentally superior, as less land area is needed along with reuse of most water, minimal use of pesticides and herbicides, and no nutrient losses.

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/07/21/2002655117

You read that properly. The wheat yields are seen to be 220-600 times the current annual done now. That will go a long way to ensuring the food production of the planet.

As of now, the cost is not competitive with the traditional method of wheat production. This is something that will likely change over time. The key, for the time being, is the fact that we are seeing that the capability exists.

In the meantime we now have a system that can withstand disruptions to the wheat supply whether it is climate, geopolitical, or any other factor. At the same time, we can strategically place farms around the world to ensure it is available where it is needed.

This is a topic that holds great fascination to me. Advanced methods of production are affecting every industry. It is no longer relegated to just manufacturing. Food production is obviously one of the most important topics humanity has to deal with. Having the resources to feed everyone should be a baseline goal for the planet.

Climate controlled farming is already helping to localize food production. The present system is highly centralized with massive agriculture systems dominating. We are seeing the ability to grow food closer to where it is consumed, regardless where that is located. This will really help urban areas which are now dependent upon food being shipped in.

Over the next decade and a half, we are going to see radical advancement in the way we manufacture food. Farming uses a lot of resources and isn't going to change too much more from where it is now. Technological advancements remove the cap on production, meaning we will see more food for less money.

Here is another example where bio-tech is altering the way we do things.

With a 200-600 times increase in production, we will one day find ourselves in an abundance of wheat. Other crops are most likely going to follow a similar path.

We now are seeing some idea of what the increase in production can truly be. The research here shows how exponential it can be.

The next 15 years are going to be really exciting.


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600 times more? That's really massive. Food is very essential especially with the world's growing population. Population will keep increasing, I'm not seeing depopulation happening soon. So, the best thing to do is to embrace technologies that would increase exponentially increase food availability.

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Latest study a found says it will peak around 2065.

From now until then, it will keep increasing but will head lower going into 2100. Nigeria will grow significantly while China will decrease. The Western countries will also see a big drop due to non replacement birth rates as we head into 2100.

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I hope Nigeria increases in technology as well and not in terms of population alone.

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