July 2021 - 5

VERTICAL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
While growers often focus on
increasing yields, and decreasing
inputs, energy costs remain
unavoidable for indoor growers.
Geography can affect the cost of
energy, and climate influences the
amount of energy needed to control
the plants' indoor environment relative
to the weather outdoors, Lopez said.
To remain relevant to growers, the
team is limiting its research to main
crops grown indoors: red and green
lettuce, kale, arugula and microgreens.
A growth industry
The number of indoor farms across
the county are growing leafy greens has
increased in recent years with the opening
of some large, warehouse-type vertical
farms in addition to other smaller, modular
units set up in shipping containers.
" Indoor farming, which is also known
as vertical farming, using LEDs has a
lot of advantages, " MSU's Erik Runkle
said in a news release. " It takes much
less space, there is a more efficient use
of water and nutrients, production is
year-round, and there are virtually no
pesticides. But there is little sciencebased
information about best growing
practices and very little economic data
around indoor farming. "
The research will support this young
MSU's CELL laboratory has large indoor
windows allowing students and visitors
to look in from a corridor - potentially
sparking their curiosity about the
emerging vertical farming industry.
and growing sector of agriculture with
public, unbiased information.
" The overarching goal of our SCRI
grant is to make the industry more
profitable and sustainable, " Lopez said.
" Right now, you see a lot of indoor
farms, but you know, there's also been
many that have not survived. "
Easy access
Small indoor greens growers often
don't have access to production
information.
" Most research that's conducted for
indoor farms is in-house, " Lopez said.
" And so, for a new, small venture, it's
The research team
Principal investigators on the grant include:
Erik Runkle of Michigan State University
(MSU) will research the impacts of different
light qualities, picking combinations of different
wavelengths of light from UV to far-red.
Roberto Lopez, MSU, will research light
intensity, carbon dioxide and temperature -
how they impact flavor and other postharvest
qualities.
Simone Valle de Souza, MSU, will research the
economics of managing an indoor leafy greens
farm operation, answering questions such as
" What are the costs?, " and " How can they add
value? "
Chieri Kubota of Ohio State University will
research issues relating to tip burn and nutrition.
Cary Mitchell of Purdue University will research
" phasic lighting " - tailoring light to the plant's
growth stages.
Murat Kacira of the University of Arizona will
research airflow and engineering aspects of
indoor farms.
MURAT KACIRA
ERIK RUNKLE
pretty difficult, because there's not a lot
of unbiased research-based information
out there to get started. And information
that is out there is primarily from people
wanting to sell products, right? Our goal
is science-based, unbiased research. "
Updates on the research, including
YouTube videos, research highlights,
frequently asked questions, trade
articles and scientific papers, are being
posted to www.scri-optimia.org as
research proceeds.
" We're also developing an online
course on indoor production that will
be available on the website within the
next year, " Lopez said. " We're also
going to have annual stakeholder
meetings and open houses. " VGN
Meet Your Editorial Team
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
              
                   
                 
   
Learn more about them at

VGN | JULY 2021 | 5

http://www.scri-optimia.org

July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2021