Feeding the world has always been a challenge. With ever-growing populations and a limited supply of food, innovations are needed to make food better, cheaper, and more abundant. From the early days of agriculture to the mass farming of today, new technologies have arisen to meet the challenge of providing food for the world.
Today, the challenges may be more pressing than ever. While the global population explodes, the food production system is failing to keep pace. At the same time, climate change and excessive pesticide use threaten to devastate arable land–particularly near coastal areas. The end result could be a food crisis unlike any seen in modern times.
Although society is extremely fragile when basic needs are not met, it’s remarkably adaptable when we come together to solve the problems we all face. Many of the problems we face today can be addressed, through innovative solutions that focus on cost, quantity and resource availability.
Vertical farming is one such solution
Vertical farming takes agriculture to the next level by lessening the dependence on land. By farming produce in vertically stacked layers, the need for vast swaths of farmland is reduced. Vertical farms can operate indoors, even in crowded urban areas. And with sealed environments, vertical farms provide protection against pests without the need for pesticides and herbicides.
But, until now, there has been one problem in the vertical farming industry:
Enter Growcer
Growcer is a technology suite for a fully autonomous urban farm. Combining artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and proprietary recipes, it provides a complete foundation for profitable indoor growing operation.
Growcer systems are designed to run in autonomously inside indoor farms. Built with urban farms in mind, they can operate large-scale vertical facilities in multi-story buildings. Thanks to our mix of software, hardware and proprietary recipes, we have achieved the highest level of automation in the vertical farming industry.
We partner with retailers to redesign supply chains, creating environmentally friendly, profitable urban farms. Our systems free farmers to do what they do best, while minimizing the costs that can eat up an indoor farming operation. We consider environmental factors to predict the efficiency and productivity of our farm. We only build one if it makes sense economically. Therefore we consider three main factors: Yield per sqm, Capex per sqm, Opex per sqm.
Growcer farms rely on three main pillars:
AI and robotics
AI and robotics help to reduce costs at vertical farms by minimizing the need for human involvement. Every farm has labour costs. Doubly so with vertical farms, which require extensive human input to function properly. AI and robotics can automate processes that would otherwise need to be done by people, which saves money. AI can be used to monitor and systematize farming operations, while robotic components can perform physical tasks. Together, they can perform much of the otherwise costly labour needed at a vertical farm, by substituting computing power for labour hours.
Substitute computing power for other commodities which might run short and get expensive
Enclosed production facilities
Enclosed production facilities are crucial to a vertical farming operation. By keeping your grow operations indoors, you not only take advantage of climate control–leading to more consistent yields–but also shelter your crops from pests and invasive species that plague traditional farms. Finally, indoor facilities can be housed in urban areas, for a farming operation that has direct access to a large customer base.
The Growcer system is designed to work inside enclosed production facilities, giving farmers all the benefits of enclosed farming with the operational efficiency of AI-based systems. They also ensure that every farm has an ecologically positive footprint.
Energy-efficient balance; every farm leaves an ecologically positive footprint
Cost-saving distribution centers
Cost-effective distribution is one of the keys to any successful farming operation. It doesn’t matter how high your yields are if you can’t get your crops to buyers on time, at an acceptable profit margin. This poses a problem for traditional farms, because the the longer your produce has to travel, the greater your transportation costs. Another problem is yield that deteriorates while being transported long distances.
The solution to both problems is centralized distribution centers in urban areas. With vertical farms located indoors in major population centers, you can get your produce out to large numbers of people quickly and efficiently. Transportation costs are lower, because you’re already in a major center with buyers nearby. And because you’re growing local at the point of distribution, less of the produce goes bad during transportation–ensuring happy buyers and repeat business.
Grow local at the point of distribution
When starting a farming operation, the first choice you face is what type of farm to start. The options are many: indoor vs. outdoor; arable vs pastoral; intensive vs. extensive.
Growcer is the world’s first fully automated, low-cost vertical farming system with centralized distribution.
Vertical farming is nothing new. What is new is a fully automated, centralized system to make vertical farming operations more profitable. AI and mechanized systems eliminate labour, management and compliance costs. Centralized distribution cuts transportation costs, helping to create a greener world. And indoor farming itself paves the way for a sustainable future, by lessening the world’s dependence on increasingly scarce farmland.
The benefits–to farmers and the world–are innumerable. Up to 95% of water is saved compared to conventional farming. Transportation costs are slashed. C02 emissions are cut. Costs are both lower and more consistent. Yields are made more consistent by the controlled indoor environment. And the need for pesticides and herbicides is totally eliminated, as the controlled indoor environment prevents any outside contaminants from getting in. The end result? Higher quality produce, zero residues, better flavour and a longer shelf life. => results in higher quality produce, zero residues, more flavorful by nature and longer shelf life
By fully automating vertical farming, Growcer amplifies its already-considerable benefits. For the first time ever, farmers can fully automate their indoor farms, sparing themselves the expenses that often become the demise of agricultural enterprises.
The world is changing. And in a world being rapidly transformed by population growth, climate change and the loss of farmland, the need for vertical farming is more pressing than ever. Vertical farming has already changed the world. And now, with Growcer, starting a vertical farm is easier and more economical than ever. The farm can be opened anywhere in the world where enough water is available and energy can be supplied from sustainable resources. Our first farm, which operates in Switzerland, is already a resounding success.
Our first farm is operating in Switzerland. High prices and limited availability of space, water and labor; access to cheap and sustainable energy; high prices for food in retail; depending at 50% on imports, even relying on flight transports at the moment.
The future of farming is vertical. Together with Growcer, you can be part of it.
If you’re an up and coming talent and want to make an impact on the world of agriculture, send us an email at: jobs@growcer.com
