Optimising the propagation environment in TCEA systems to maximise strawberry yield potential in all production systems

在整个人类历史上，确保粮食和营养安全一直是一项持续不断的斗争，但在全球人口迅速增长(估计到2050年将达到97亿)、新冠肺炎疫情和乌克兰战争带来的当前挑战，以及更局部的英国退欧遗留影响的背景下，这一点或许从未像现在这样突出。传统的生产方式将无法应对这些挑战，因此必须开发新的创新和技术，以确保全球范围内的粮食安全--这是联合国可持续发展目标(SDG2)之一。需要用更少的投入和更小的面积，以更可持续和更具成本效益的方式种植新鲜、营养丰富、保质期有保证的食品，以规避气候、土地使用压力和通胀成本等限制因素。全面控制环境农业(TCEA)是一种前景看好的植物种植方法，不受天气或土地的影响，有助于实现长期的弹性和自给自足目标。全球垂直农业技术市场价值31.2亿GB，预计到2027年将达到167.7亿GB，复合年增长率为23.28%(经过验证的市场研究，2020)。这一增长的驱动因素是高产量潜力、全年生产、超本地化生产、缩短的食品里程和储存要求、更短的供应链、更少的水和化肥的使用以及最低限度的农用化学品。虽然大多数垂直农业公司种植绿叶蔬菜和沙拉，但也有机会将这项技术用于其他高价值的园艺作物，如浆果和移植、较大的蔬菜和根茎作物，以及以植物为基础的药物和蛋白质。我们将开发一种方法，在TCEA生产高质量、无病毒和无疾病的草莓植物繁殖株，确保高种植潜力。由此产生的预先编程的高健康植物材料将能够进口替代繁殖和水果(目前为GB 40M和GB 186M/年)，减少化学投入和浪费(目前为GB 30M/年)，并提供将为种植者提供价值和安全的产品，当种植在传统的综合隧道系统、温室(CEA)或TCEA时。为了实现这些产出，我们与NIAB East Mling(英国最大的园艺应用研究机构)、雷丁大学、领先的草莓种植者休·洛农场和时钟屋农场组成了一个由垂直未来(领先的垂直农业技术和研究公司)领导的多学科合作联盟他们的传播公司(分别是Blaise Plants和Linton Growing)、英国领先的营销部门Berry Gardens Growers Ltd、Delta-T Devices(农业技术传感器制造商)和Cocogreen(专业基材供应商)。

Ensuring food and nutrition security has been a constant struggle throughout human history, but perhaps never more so than now with a rapidly increasing global population (estimated to reach 9.7bn by 2050), the current challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and more locally, the legacy effects of BREXIT. Traditional production methods will be unable to meet these challenges, and so new innovation and technologies must be developed to provide food security worldwide - one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG2). New ways of growing fresh, nutritious, food with an assured shelf-life using fewer inputs and from a smaller area, and in more sustainable and cost-effective ways which circumvent limiting factors such as climate, land-use pressure, and inflationary costs are needed.Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA) is a promising method of growing plants that is not coupled with weather or land, and could contribute to long-term resilience and self-sufficiency targets. The global vertical farming technology market is valued at £3.12bn, and is estimated to reach £16.77bn by 2027, 23.28% CAGR (Verified Market Research, 2020). Drivers of this growth are the high yield potentials, year-round production, hyper-local production, reduced food-miles and storage requirements, shorter supply chain, use of less water and fertilisers, and minimum agrochemicals. While most vertical farming companies grow leafy greens and salads, there is an opportunity to utilise this technology for other high value horticultural crops such as berries and transplants, larger vegetables and root crops, and plant-based pharmaceuticals and proteins.We will develop a method to produce high quality, virus-and disease-free strawberry plant propagules with assured high cropping potential in TCEA. The resulting pre-programmed, high-health plant material will enable import substitution of both propagules and fruit (currently £40m and £186M per year), reduce chemical inputs and waste (currently £30m/year), and deliver a product that will provide value and security for growers, when planted in conventional polytunnel systems, glasshouses (CEA) or TCEA.To achieve these outputs, we have assembled a multi-disciplinary and collaborative consortium led by Vertical Future (a leading vertical farming technology and research company) with NIAB East Malling (the largest UK research institute conducting applied research in horticulture), the University of Reading, leading strawberry growers Hugh Lowe Farms and Clock House Farm, and their propagation companies (Blaise Plants and Linton Growing, respectively), the leading UK marketing desk Berry Gardens Growers Ltd, Delta-T Devices (agri-tech sensor manufacturer) and Cocogreen (specialist substrate supplier).