b'International Year of Plant Health /SustainabilityThinking Outside the Box Indoor ag brings consumers closer with controlled-climate growing.Melissa ShipmanSUSTAINABLY FEEDING Agrow-ing population in the midst of climate change and other global challenges requires innovative thinking and out-of-the-box approaches. But when faced with this substantial goal, growers and researchers often start to look inside the box, or inside the building at least. 2020 was designated as the International Year of Plant Health, and one of the goals mapped out by the International Plant Protection Convention from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is No. 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, which may mean looking closer at indoor agriculture options that help bring production closer to consumers.Both greenhouses and vertical agri-culture operate indoors, offering benefits such as year-round growing in colder PHOTO: UA-CEACclimates, and the opportunity to achieve pesticide-free growing practices and reduced transportation between crops and consumers. However, with a wide- Professor Pat Rorabaugh and student Chris Patzke work in the greenhouses at the range of technologies to consider, thereUniversity of Arizona. are many differences along the spectrum of protected agriculture.added during the growing period, such asoutput per resource input, must be the water, electricity, labor and other inputs,metric when considering and comparing Costs to Consider Giacomelli says.various production approaches, technolo-Gene Giacomelli is a biosystems engi- Murat Kacira, professor of biosystemsgies, and strategies for economic viability. neering professor at the Universityengineering at UA and director of theAnytime supplemental or sole-source of Arizona (UA) and the former andCEAC, notes that its about selecting thelighting is needed, the costs are important founding director of the Controlledbest option with the production technol- to consider.Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC).ogy to meet the expectations for theGrams per kilowatt-hour [g/kWh] is He is a fervent believer in controlledproduction quantity, quality, consumerthe big expense for sole-source lighted environment agriculture, but he knowsand market. production facilities, Giacomelli says. the only way it can become a successfulEvery agricultural system has costsNeal Barto, research specialist at business is if the crop has a sale price thatassociated with it for capital investmentsthe Controlled Environment Agriculture allows companies to make a profit. and operations, and these depend onCenter, prefers greenhouses over vertical Think about salable production pertechnology selected, environmentalagriculture for that reason, although he unit area of growing space, kilogram percontrol strategies, expected productionsees a place for both. square meter [kg/m2]. Then think aboutoutcome and other factors, he says.A vertical farm would make perfect salable production per unit of resourcesResource use efficiency, defined as yieldsense for a vacant warehouse in a con-58/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2020'