A Look into New-Age Farming

-And how the Taylor’s Urban Farm uses it to promote sustainability

Innovation is extremely important in ensuring that industries’ efficiencies are maximized to accommodate the growing population. This is especially true for agriculture where the industry as a whole faces huge challenges: from rising costs of supplies and labor shortages to changes in consumer preferences for transparency and sustainability, there is increasing recognition from agriculture corporations that immediate solutions are needed for these challenges. Thankfully, new, unconventional methods of farming are constantly being introduced and developed to tackle these rising issues. Introducing, ag-tech.

Ag-tech incorporates the latest technological developments to maximise efficiency. (Source: AgDaily)

Agriculture Technology (ag-tech): the use of technology in farming and agricultural practices to increase efficiency, productivity, and sustainability in food production.

Over the past decades, ag-tech has been greatly incorporated into farming procedures around the world. According to the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia, evolved forms of it such as digital ag-tech which utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been promoted as part of government initiatives to empower the local agricultural sector. These initiatives include the provision of technology that would ultimately improve productivity and reduce operational costs. Examples include smart irrigation: an automated form of watering crops; smart barn monitoring: a digitized system of ensuring farm conditions; and smart pest control: a method of using technology to reduce the risk of pest outbreaks.

At Taylor’s University, various methods of ag-tech have been tweaked and improved within our own Taylor’s Urban Farm: a small greenhouse erected in January to provide a multidisciplinary environment for various schools to build a sustainable community.

A variety of fruits and vegetables are grown at the Taylor's Farm (Source: Taylor's University Youtube)

According to the programme director of the biotechnology department of the School of Biosciences, Dr Yap Wei Hsum​, “the Taylor’s Urban Farm aims to introduce new, sustainable farming practices that are likely to become the norm in the agricultural sector to students interested in the field.”

“We have three different systems here actually. The grow bed system, which is the horizontal system; the vertical system, which are the towers, and the autopot system,” says Kelvin Lim, Masters of Science student and the part-time farm manager of the greenhouse.

“We have dwarf Bok Choy, Siew Pak Choy, and Milky Pak Choy within the vertical systems, as well as cherry tomatoes, Japanese spinach, and various fruits such as watermelons and yellow melons,” continues Kelvin.

Even though the space might seem limited, the greenhouse provides ample produce for the School of Food Studies and Taylor’s Culinary Institute, the two major users of the farm.

“Most plants here take only about a month to fully mature so we’re able to provide clients and customers with a steady supply of fresh vegetables and herbs. The fruits do take longer, but we still do see a much faster rate of growth when compared to traditional farming methods,” says Kelvin.

Within the urban farm, plants are grown through a hydroponic system, where nutrient-rich water is provided to the plants that are grown in LECA, nutrient-free clay pebbles that simply provide a surface for roots to anchor to.

The primary growing medium of the plants, LECA, allows for efficient hydroponics. (Source: Taylor's university Youtube)

In hydroponics, plants have continuous access to the nutrients they need which allows for speedy growth, as opposed to soil-based methods where organic matter has to first be broken down by natural means before they can be taken in by the plant’s roots.

Despite this improved productivity, proponents of soil-based conventional farming still remain on the fence on whether or not to make the transition to these methods.

“It’s a bit of a controversial topic here. Some people prefer soil as the growth medium because it’s said that the flavors you get are much more whole and richer,” continues Kelvin

There are studies that have been conducted which actually prove this claim as soil often holds beneficial microbes and a better environment that encourages better flavor development. But overall, this method of farming is definitely better for sustainability reasons,” says the Master’s student.

According to sustainable energy group, Iberdrola, hydroponics is put forward as a solution to combat climate change, to reduce the environmental damage and species extinction caused by overexploitation and intensive farming.

With the added benefits of reducing water consumption and minimizing contamination in the form of soil run-offs, new-age farming methods such as hydroponics are one of the big steps the world has to take to ensure its future in the face of environmental collapse.