Ten years ago, the first container farms began to appear in the United States, where enterprising startups tried to grow salads and other green crops. They began to install containers at the places of harvest consumption so as not to waste time, effort and money on the delivery of goods. The first to go were the unused containers of the Boston port, which, instead of being recycled for scrap, were given a second life in the form of high-tech hydroponic growing facilities. As a matter of fact, the containers themselves, in the aspect of this innovation, fulfilled only the function of a rather strong and usable shell of a living organism of a farm. It is based on autonomous equipment, the work of which is somewhat reminiscent of the device of musical instruments – with their help, the energy of thought is transformed into a symphony. And in this case, we are talking about agricultural masterpieces, where mechanical actions programmed by a person, aimed at growing vegetables, are performed by robotic equipment of the farm. It brings together the best developments in industrial programming, energy conservation, and agricultural innovations. In other words, a new scientific direction is being obtained, which can be conditionally called “salad studies”. After all, it is salads that have become one of the most successful and therefore popular crops on container farms.
It is interesting that similar projects began to appear in Ukraine as well. One of the first was the Smart Oasis Farm startup, which became famous for the invention of the “oasis” with fresh water, in other words, installations that are able to generate drinking water from the air. This development has even been tested in the United Arab Emirates – in Dubai. Now Smart Oasis Farm is setting up the production of container farms. Founder of Smart Oasis Farm Alex Prikhodko and development director Anatoly Kalantaryan shared information on how entrepreneurs manage to do this.

– How did you select equipment for the farm, where did you find information about what it should be?
– For about six months we have deeply analyzed similar projects in America, Australia, the Middle East – what technologies and equipment they use, methods and materials. After that, an understanding came of how and what to apply. By the way, there are not many container farms in Europe so far. After analyzing competitors, an analysis was made of potential partners who are already engaged in such solutions. Negotiations led us to the fact that we decided to build our greenhouse ourselves. For the next six months, we selected and ordered components for creating a prototype of a container greenhouse, made molds and hardware software, placed orders and agreed on parameters. It turned out that the entire internal layout of the greenhouse – nodes and elements, modules and automation – became our author’s development. The lion’s share of the equipment was manufactured in Ukraine, what they could not do from us was purchased in China, as well as the container for the greenhouse itself.

– Has the greenhouse been commissioned yet?
– Yes. Geographically, it is located in the Cherkasy region. -Plus, now it is possible to place the second and even the third similar box on the first container in order to clearly demonstrate the scaling of the project.
Now we are working on improving the greenhouse hardware. From the fan to each pump in the system, the controls are electronically controlled. Our key task is to drastically reduce water consumption, excluding its losses during evaporation. After all, plant nutrition is carried out by the aeroponic method.

– What was the most difficult thing?
– It was difficult to do this at all stages, there is no one to turn to for advice. But the work carried away. The prospect of the business, the ability to grow a completely ecologically safe product, regardless of the external environment, climatic conditions, as close as possible to the place of its consumption, also inspires.

– What challenges did you face when choosing crops and planting material?
– The cultures that we decided to master in the first place are basil, lettuce, baby bodice. It took a long time to select the optimal variant of the substrate, capable of ideally working with aeroponics technology. We tried both peat and coconut. They also experimented with organic substrates, linen and hemp rugs. Basalt wool came up best of all, since the material does not leave dirt behind, has a high level of absorption, retains moisture for a long time, while being inert to the environment and neutral in structure, that is, it does without oxidation or alkalization.
It was easier to choose planting material – we use Rijk Zwaan seeds. We spent some time experimenting looking for an answer to the question of the economic feasibility of using more expensive pelleted seeds and found that these costs are unnecessary in our case. At least, we did not observe an increase in yield when using pelleted seeds. We use GHE products as a fertilizer supplier. At the moment, we are preparing to grow berries and low-growing vegetables. In order to achieve optimal system settings that will speed up the growing process without losing the organoleptic characteristics of the product, sometimes we even deliberately expose the plants to additional risks, for example, we increase the temperature in order to identify critical indicators based on the results. To calculate the economic component, you need to grow the crop, weigh it, and understand what operating costs accompanied the process.

– What are the yields, do you have experience in their implementation?
– The average weight of lettuce or basil, which we get from one seat, is from 125 to 150 grams. By using a different type of containers, more spacious and oversized, we plan to increase the number of seats from 1440 to 1900 by increasing the number of tiers from four to five. Consumption of seeds per one seat is 3 pieces. The payback of such a greenhouse on salad and spicy crops at their current market price is 3-4 years.
So far we have not been selling the lettuce that we have grown. We were happy to entertain everyone – friends, guests, employees and all those who help us in launching production.

– How are you going to develop the project?
-“We are preparing to launch mass production of such container farms, which can be combined into large greenhouse complexes, where different crops can be grown at the same time. We are going to sell such boxes and technology.

– And what about the financing?
– The project has a strategic investor who has allocated the current round of financing. At the moment, we are also discussing with him further investments to create an industrial complex capable of providing the production of dozens of container-farms per month.

– What can you say about potential buyers of such farms?
– These are educational institutions that are obliged to provide children with fresh produce, and farmers who are already engaged in this business, but cannot get the predicted harvest, as well as the HoReCa segment …
In fact, we have created an electronic technologist, where all agro-technological maps are already included in the software. It is not necessary to be an agronomist to successfully grow crops in such a container.

– Where do you see great prospects in increasing the number of container farms or converting urban facilities into ecosystems for industrial plant cultivation?
– Both options make sense – both have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of re-equipment of existing urban facilities include the availability of communications (water and electricity), partially prepared infrastructure. However, to ensure maximum energy efficiency and due to the specific climatic conditions required for growing plants, the room still needs to be additionally waterproofed and thermally insulated. And also integrate a climate control system into it, which will make it possible to grow crops that need similar climatic requirements.
The advantages of container farms include the absence of the need for capital or repair work, and the readiness to quickly launch such complexes. It is important to note that each greenhouse complex is a closed climate cycle that allows you to grow different crops with a variety of climatic requirements.

– Why, in your opinion, urban farming in Ukraine is not developing very rapidly, when to expect a boom?
– Due to the abundance of natural resource opportunities that Ukraine has. But over time, this segment will begin to develop more rapidly in our country due to economic, logistic and technological factors. Also, this direction carries with it the greening of both production and consumption, which, in turn, also develops and becomes more in demand by people, companies and the state.

based on materials from the magazine Vegetables and Fruits

Growing food at high temperatures with little water is very common for Israeli growers.

“That’s why growers worldwide can use their solutions to adapt to warmer weather conditions,” David Silverman, advisor to Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture, recently told a webinar last week where Israeli companies showcased their greenhouse technologies. 

“Despite its small size, Israel has a dense amount of agricultural and horticultural research institutions. With our diverse topography and climatic zones, we manage to maintain intensive cultivation in the desert.”

According to David, the solution should be threefold: genetics, developing resistant varieties, migration, choosing the right zone to grow certain crops, and implementing technology. Gaining knowledge about these Israeli technologies and cultivation solutions was the aim of the webinar Greenhouse Technologies organized by the Foreign Trade Admission of Israel in the Netherlands. During the webinar, Israeli companies presented their solutions for growing in harsh climates.

Ziv Shaked from DryGair presented their solution for reducing humidity in greenhouses. Because pathogens and fungi thrive in moist air, it is important to lower the humidity. In addition, humidity and energy go hand in hand.

The DryGair solution absorbs water from the air, which is condensed inside the machine. This ensures air circulation in the greenhouse, where the air is also cooled and a homogeneous climate is created.

In the Netherlands, DryGair works together with Royal Brinkman to provide growers with this solution. The water collected in the machine can later be used for irrigation.

Itamar Ziseling of MetoMotion discussed global labor shortages in the horticultural sector. To counter this shortage, the company has developed a system to reduce labor costs. The Greenhouse Robotic Worker (GRoW) is a self-contained device with two robotic arms, a 3D vision system and a camera system with which the crops can be monitored. The robotic arms collect the harvested products, place them on a treadmill, after which they are packed and transported.

Thanks to the camera, GRoW can also harvest at night. “The financial value of GRoW is enormous, and the payback time is less than 2 years, while saving 80% of labor, allowing growers to focus on their product rather than the reliance on labor,” concluded Itamar.

Tal Maor of Viridix noted that it is difficult to figure out what crops actually need. Therefore, they have developed a tool for the analysis of collected data using an artificial root.

“With the right tools, growers can control irrigation in a simple and effective way,” Tal said. The artificial root based on solar energy can remain in the ground for years and can be used both in the open ground and in greenhouses. “All relevant data can be found on one platform, for every crop type and irrigation system. The results are difficult for every grower to interpret. That is why we can link the system to an irrigation control system, creating an autonomous irrigation solution without the hardware in the greenhouse needs to be replaced.”

Israel is known for their drip irrigation systems. However, Erez Gold from Thermo Siv  presented an innovative green heating solution, which can also be called the heating equivalent of the drip irrigation. Their product is a coated yarn that can be heated and provides accurate heating close to the crop. The material can be used for heating the roots or for vertical placement next to the plants. It is interesting to see that this material is also used in the automotive sector. There are many advantages to cooperation between sectors.

Lior Hessels of GrowPonics discussed an entirely different problem: although substrate growers prefer to use organic fertilizers, this is often not enough for their crops, according to the producer who makes smart use of bacteria.

The company has started imitating the production process of chemical fertilizers, but in a natural way. Bacteria are used to absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it into ammonia, since plants cannot absorb the nitrogen from the air.

Hagai Palevsky of Agam Greenhouse Energy Systems highlighted the dangers of excess humidity in greenhouses, which causes the spread of mold, mildew and other pathogens. The Ventilated Latent Heat Converter absorbs the air via a salt solution and then filters it. In this way the greenhouse can be closed and energy is saved. Also, the temperature is regulated if necessary. This can both replace and supplement the existing air conditioning systems in the greenhouse.

Finally, Eytan Heller of Arugga AI Farming spoke about labor shortages as a major problem in horticulture. That is why Arugga has developed an autonomous soil robot for the treatment and monitoring of every plant in the greenhouse. They focused first on tomatoes and in particular on pollination. The robot is based on AI and imitates pollination. Extensions of the robot allow for non-contact pruning, detecting diseases and predicting yield. Because the business model is based on leasing, the robot is more affordable for growers.

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