Indoor vertical farming (IVF) has expanded exponentially over the last couple of years and is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.9% from 2022 to 2029. IVF has enormous potential to ensure food security for the increased world population and other socio-economic benefits than traditional agricultural systems. However, the high energy demand, capital costs, and limitation in crop variety to be grown are major challenges to achieving the triple pillars (planter, people, and profit) of sustainability. The scholarly article comprehensively analyzes the current technologies, methodologies, and challenges in indoor thermal environment control (temperature, humidity, lighting, air circulation) and their integration with sustainability objectives. Space conditioning is achieved using heating, ventilation, air conditioning, dehumidification (HVACD), artificial lighting, and air circulation, which are energy-intensive due to the sealed envelope of IVF. Previous studies indicate energy consumption for lighting and space conditioning is the primary barrier to achieving sustainability. Minimal research activities have been reported for investigating the pathway to reduce the energy costs for lighting and HVACD systems for IVF. Integrating the air-side economizer and localized air supply for indoor climate control could save a significant amount of energy. The shifting electric demand and dynamic control also have enormous potential to reduce energy costs for lighting and HVACD. Integrating the transient model for heat gain/loss from plants and lighting heat gain is essential for precise energy simulation, which is critical for designing and sizing the right HVACD equipment and completing energy analysis. The research also shows that integrating green energy sources for HVACD and lighting reduces the environmental impacts on a large scale. Therefore, future research should focus on integrating renewable energy (geothermal, solar, wind, hydro) for HVACD, energy-efficient lighting technologies, and digital twin platforms for precision controls to reduce the energy and labor costs for thermal environmental controls in IVF. 

A critical review on efficient thermal environment controls in indoor vertical farming

Rewilding is a restoration approach that aims to promote self-regulating complex ecosystems by restoring non-human ecological processes while reducing human control and pressures. Rewilding is forward-looking in that it aims to enhance functionality for biodiversity, accepting and indeed promoting the dynamic nature of ecosystems, rather than fixating on static composition or structure. Rewilding is thus especially relevant in our epoch of increasingly novel biosphere conditions, driven by strong human-induced global change. Here, we explore this hypothesis in the context of trophic rewilding — the restoration of trophic complexity mediated by wild, large-bodied animals, known as 'megafauna'. This focus reflects the strong ecological impacts of large-bodied animals, their widespread loss during the last 50,000 years and their high diversity and ubiquity in the preceding 50 million years. Restoring abundant, diverse, wild-living megafauna is expected to promote vegetation heterogeneity, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling and biotic microhabitats. These are fundamental drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem function and are likely to gain importance for maintaining a biodiverse biosphere under increasingly novel ecological conditions. Non-native megafauna species may contribute to these effects as ecological surrogates of extinct species or by promoting ecological functionality within novel assemblages. Trophic rewilding has strong upscaling potential via population growth and expansion of wild fauna. It is likely to facilitate biotic adaptation to changing climatic conditions and resilience to ecosystem collapse, and to curb some negative impacts of globalization, notably the dominance of invasive alien plants. Finally, we discuss the complexities of realizing the biodiversity benefits that trophic rewilding offers under novel biosphere conditions in a heavily populated world. 

Trophic rewilding as a restoration approach under emerging novel biosphere conditions

Lettuce is one of the most important crops of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) due to their small size, fast growth rate, low energy demand and high marketing value. High-end adjustable LED-based lighting environments, as well as controlled environment smart solutions enable producers to fine-tune leafy crop production according to consumer demands. However, knowledge about light quality, quantity and duration related underlying mechanisms influencing the production-biological traits of lettuce is still incomplete. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date comprehensive picture about the interrelations of light parameters and lettuce vegetative development and phytochemical content based on available experimental results with special emphasis on existing knowledge gaps, the impact of spatial PPFD variation, as well as variations in R/B and R/FR ratios. Besides light duration, the effect of pulsed lighting, interlighting and upward lighting is also discussed. Smart PFAL systems are knowledge-demanding in terms of automated light recipes, growth predictors, machine vision and automated controlling systems. The future development directions and perspectives visible from international studies are also summarized for supporting PFAL growers in future investments and to inspire researchers to conduct studies in this field. Among light parameters, the effect of PPFD, light duration, and spectral compositions and ratios was in the focus of most studies in the last decade; less attention is paid for the analysis of the impact of light pulsation and of light parameters uniformity so far. The development of sensing technology enables a cutting-edge shift from 2D light characterization to 3D sensing, which is optimized to the multi-layer system of plants. 

Effects of LED lighting environments on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in PFAL systems – A review

Abstract Background The phenotypic traits of leaves are the direct reflection of the agronomic traits in the growth process of leafy vegetables, which plays a vital role in the selection of high-quality leafy vegetable varieties. The current image-based phenotypic traits extraction research mainly focuses on the morphological and structural traits of plants or leaves, and there are few studies on the phenotypes of physiological traits of leaves. The current research has developed a deep learning model aimed at predicting the total chlorophyll of greenhouse lettuce directly from the full spectrum of hyperspectral images. Results A CNN-based one-dimensional deep learning model with spectral attention module was utilized for the estimate of the total chlorophyll of greenhouse lettuce from the full spectrum of hyperspectral images. Experimental results demonstrate that the deep neural network with spectral attention module outperformed the existing standard approaches, including partial least squares regression (PLSR) and random forest (RF), with an average R 2 of 0.746 and an average RMSE of 2.018. Conclusions This study unveils the capability of leveraging deep attention networks and hyperspectral imaging for estimating lettuce chlorophyll levels. This approach offers a convenient, non-destructive, and effective estimation method for the automatic monitoring and production management of leafy vegetables. 

A hyperspectral deep learning attention model for predicting lettuce chlorophyll content

Urban horticulture cropping systems offer a promising solution for food security and sustainable agriculture in rapidly urbanizing areas. This paper explores their evolving landscape, emphasizing trends and challenges shaping their development and impact on urban environments. Vertical farming, rooftop gardens, hydroponics, aeroponics, Internet of Things (IoT), integration of optimized space, resources, and year-round cultivation are considered as key trends in urban horticulture. These innovations reflect the growing interest in sustainable urban agriculture and technology's role in boosting productivity and resilience. However, urban horticulture faces challenges that demand attention. Limited space requires creative land-use solutions, while soil quality and contamination concerns necessitate remediation strategies for crop safety. Similarly, access to water is crucial, driving the adoption of water-saving technologies. The urban heat island effect poses another challenge, urging heat stress mitigation for crop health. Zoning and regulations play a vital role, requiring supportive policies and secure land tenure. High costs must be managed with innovative financial approaches to ensure urban farming's viability. Finally, public perception and awareness play a critical role. Advocacy, education, and community engagement are vital to dispel misconceptions, garner support, and encourage involvement in urban horticulture. Even with challenges, urban horticulture helps to provide food for the growing population, creates business opportunities, and contributes to a greener environment for sustainable development. 

Exploring the evolving landscape: Urban horticulture cropping systems–trends and challenges

Maintaining uniform photon irradiance distribution above the plant canopy is a fundamental goal in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Spatial variation in photon irradiance below the light saturation point will drive differences in individual plant development, decreasing the economic value of the crop. Plant growth is also affected by the spectral composition of light. So far, little attention has been paid to the quantification of the spatial variability in horticultural lighting applications. This work provides a methodology to benchmark and compare lighting installations used in indoor cultivation facilities. We measured the photon irradiance distributions underneath two typical grow light installations using a 10 × 10 measurement grid with 100 mm spacing. We calculated photon irradiance values for each grid point for 100 nm-wide blue, green, red and far-red wavebands covering the 400–800 nm range. We showed that the generally used uniformity metric defined as the minimum to average ratio of PPFD is not appropriate for the characterization of light uniformity in horticultural lighting applications. Instead, we propose to normalize photon irradiance to the maximum, analyze the histograms constructed from relative photon irradiance values and consider the light response of the cultivated crop while comparing the performance of CEA grow systems.

/pdf/characterizing-the-spatial-uniformity-of-light-intensity-and-7dkj1nqp.pdf

Characterizing the Spatial Uniformity of Light Intensity and Spectrum for Indoor Crop Production

In nature conservation today, there is a global problem with the aggressive expansion of invasive plant species and the conservation of valuable grassland vegetation. Based on this, the following question has been formed: Is the domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) appropriate for managing various habitat types? How does grazing by water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) affect on grassland vegetation? This study was carried out in four areas of Hungary. One of the sample areas was in the Mátra Mountains, on dry grassland areas where grazing had been applied for two, four and six years. The other sample areas were in the Zámolyi Basin, where wet fens with a high risk of Solidago gigantea and in a typic Pannonian dry grassland were investigated. In all areas, grazing was carried out with domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). During the study, we carried out a coenological survey, examining the change of cover of plant species, their feed values and the biomass of the grassland. According to the results, both the number and cover of economically important grasses (from 28% to 34.6%) and legumes (from 3.4% to 25.4%) increased in Mátra as well as the high proportion of shrubs (from 41.8% to 4.4%) shifted toward grassland species. In the areas of the Zámolyi Basin, invasive Solidago has been suppressed completely, the pasture has been converted completely (from 16% to 1%) and the dominant species has become Sesleria uliginosa. Thus, we have found that grazing with buffalo is suitable as a habitat management method in both dry grasslands and wet grasslands. Therefore, in addition to its effectiveness in the control of Solidago gigantea, grazing with buffalo is successful in both nature conservation and economic aspects of grassland vegetation.

https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/11/2184/pdf?version=1685527650

Examination of the Effects of Domestic Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Grazing on Wetland and Dry Grassland Habitats

Closed plant production systems are generally considered sustainable. Such systems are capable of minimizing externalities due to resource recycling. There are two systems, apparently diverging, recently considered as the counterparts of today’s conventional agricultural practice: organic farming (OF) and plant factories (PFs). With a strong regulatory background, OF integrates plant production into natural ecosystems by minimizing agrochemical use, while PFs create an artificial environment where all factors can be fine-tuned according to the needs of the crop. In this study, both systems are investigated based on their similarities and constraints; for this, three pillars of production were selected as indicators and reviewed for sustainability based on literature data: I. regulatory background, II. growing media use, III. species use, along with certain socio-economic factors. The reasons for co-existence were highlighted in every aspect. Alternatives for sustainable growing media use are introduced. PF-targeted species selection and variety breeding are necessary to maximize facility utilization. The main barriers to system interoperability are identified in growing media use and regulatory restrictions. The present global processes envisage the trends of the future, such as threats of living ecosystems, plant species allocation, urbanization impacts, agricultural intensification, economics of PFs, local supply chains, education about OF and PFs, consumer acceptance of OF and PF products, and discrepancies in global regulations. These aspects will certainly trigger further research in the scientific community. 

Sustainability Perspectives of Organic Farming and Plant Factory Systems—From Divergences towards Synergies

Potentially toxic trace elements in bee bread, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly - A review of the literature and dietary risk assessment.

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

László Sipos

Author Tools

Chat about Author