Vertical Farming: Aman Dusun's Future?

Vertical farming may just be the future in farming, and it may even find a home in Aman Dusun. It was first coined by Gilbert Bailey in 1915, but it didn't have the same meaning it has today. Essentially, vertical farming is a process where crops are grown in vertical stacks, saving more space than farming on flat land. With the threat of overpopulation and loss of land, many farmers have considered to adopt this practice. In fact, Aman Dusun might have a vertical farm of its own in the coming future. Moreover, vertical farming doesn't just benefit the future of our environment.

Farming in the tropics presents many difficulties; some plants don't grow well in hot and humid climates (soil's pH, plant stress etc.). Vertical farming is always conducted in a controlled environment with the help of Controlled-Environment Agriculture (CEA) technology. This controlled environment eliminates the effects of outside factors on plant growth. Thus, vertical farming will allow farmers to produce crops year-round-something unthought of in the tropics! With more crops, many farming sub-sectors can improve exponentially: livestock, aquaculture etc.

Fertigation is another process that is closely intertwined with vertical farming. Just like chemigation, fertigation is a process where water-soluble fertilizers are transferred into an irrigation system that goes from plant to plant. It's just another essential mechanism in CEA, and if applied correctly it may benefit plant growth.

Aman Dusun plans to make vertical farming a reality, and we have most of the resources needed to go through with this practice. Experiencing the threats of overpopulation and witnessing the inefficiency of crop production, we think that vertical farming may just solve all these problems.

Stay tuned.