Vertical farming is a hot topic during the coronavirus pandemic, due to supply chain problems and food security concerns.
The nascent sector, in which crops are grown in stacked indoor systems with artificial lighting and no soil, has seen a lot of activity this year.

Highlights include the construction of the largest vertical farm in Europe, plans to build the world's largest indoor farm in the Abu Dhabi desert, and a $ 140 million fundraising round sponsored by SoftBank-backed startup Plenty.

Norway's Kalera announced this week a $ 100 million private placement ahead of its listing on the Oslo Merkur Market. Nordic Harvest, a Danish startup that has teamed up with Taiwan's YesHealth Group to build the largest vertical farm in Europe in Copenhagen, claims it will be...

profitable in its first year in 2021.
Technology represents the future of agriculture, delivering efficiency and environmental benefits to the food industry, and nearly $ 1.8 billion has been invested in the sector since 2014, according to the Dealroom Group.

Agronomy entrepreneurs and analysts warn that hype and high promises could undermine confidence in the sector, scaring away consumers and investors. The sector remains largely unprofitable and tiny due to negative factors such as the impossibility and impracticality of growing...

tree crops or the cheapness of growing corn outdoors.
According to Rabobank analyst Cindy Ridgswick, vertical farming covers an area equivalent to 30 hectares worldwide, compared to about 50 million hectares of open field cultivation and 500,000 hectares for greenhouses.

Because many retailers only pay by volume,“manufacturers think 'I'm not getting extra money for quality,' so they don't pay too much attention to it,” he said. Vertical farms can follow the same path if and when they reach the scale and price points of competitors in greenhouses.

For now, however, the industry's reputation is for producing more expensive products with better taste.

Titan.