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Harvesting plants produced inside greenhouses
are set to greatly increase over the next several
decades. This is in response to advancements in LED
technology.
Annual growth rate projections for urban farming
exceed twenty-five percent (25%). Europe is the
continental leader in this field. It is expected that
the Asia Pacific region, which is undergoing a faster
rate of urban development, will ultimately become
the global leader over the next generation. Growing
plants through urban farming eliminate the need for
long-haul transportation, placing it closer—urban
farm to table. As issues related to lighting, power,
and runoff are successfully dealt with, the adoption
of urban farming methods will quicken.
FIGURE 1: Flowers growing with LED light on an indoor farm. (Source: Adobe Stock)
Color LEDs Enable Growing Opportunities
Urban farming typically employs artificial light
as opposed to natural sunlight. LEDs are rapidly
becoming the light source of choice (Figure 1).
For indoor horticultural applications, LEDs can
customize the light spectra to meet the growth
and nutritional needs of the plant of interest—
something that legacy horticulture light sources
don't do. LEDs also have superior lifetimes, greater
energy efficiency than fluorescent tubes used in
vertical farms and plant factories, require little
to no maintenance and emit less heat. With the
development of a wide variety of color LEDs, the
urban farmer is no longer dependent on natural
light sources. Electronically controlled, LEDs can
