Commercialising vertical production systems for the sustainable intensification of UK agriculture

将垂直生产系统商业化以实现英国农业的可持续集约化。农业面临的一个关键挑战是在资源日益有限的环境中，到2050年增加70%的粮食产量。土星生物科技为可持续集约化开发了一种创新的垂直生产系统，通过将生长延伸到垂直维度来提高作物生产率，同时将资源投入降至最低。该技术是完全可扩展的，使其适用于家庭/城市种植应用，直到塑料/玻璃下的大规模作物生产。与该行业的任何其他竞争技术相比，这项技术具有明显的商业优势：“适当的技术”--模块化、可扩展、健壮且易于操作；优化可用日光的利用；安装和运行成本低廉。到目前为止，试验结果显示，绿叶沙拉的种植密度是绿叶沙拉的3倍，每平方米增加了高达327%的千克/米-2。绿色项目将通过专注于袋装沙拉、整个生菜和草莓，为高价值品种的大型种植作物部门的商业化提供成果。目前，这些市场在英国每年的总价值超过6.667亿英镑，在全球前三大生产商中达到122亿美元。土星仿生公司将利用一个由顶尖学者组成的财团(来自兰开斯特环境中心和诺丁汉大学)、一名农学家(以及零售商/买家/种植者)以及他们自己的工程、商业和农业专家的专业知识，以确保Greenius提供最佳的商业化速度和成功的成果。Greenius使土星仿生公司能够解决商业化的关键障碍，并提供详细的证据，证明该技术达到了所需的水平。重点领域是产品生存能力(资本成本、劳动力成本和资源效率/可持续性)和作物生存能力(为最终用户市场生产所需的质量规格和数量)。Greenius的第一阶段将使我们能够在足够大的规模上使用快速生长的、适合生菜和袋装沙拉部门的季节性作物来评估所有上述情况，并因此明确需要什么发展才能实现产品和作物的生存能力。第二阶段将根据第一阶段的S评估采取行动，以优化产品并开发作物特定技术以满足规格，最终实现最终产品和特定品种的“说明手册”的商业化“一揽子”。该项目将在提高生产水平、节约用水和营养、能源效率、最佳人工照明(包括LED)和成本/效益以及最佳劳动效率方面取得成果。土星生物仿生学的目标是为商业种植者/农民带来显著的好处，在相同的占地面积上增加产量，同时降低生产成本，从而为种植者带来更大的利润率和/或为消费者提供更低价格的最终产品。该技术还使小面积覆盖地区和城市地点在经济上适合作物生产，帮助小农户(特别是在冬季)，并为食品生产部门的新中小企业初创企业创造机会。通过Greenius项目，土星生物仿生公司将提供一个增加粮食产量、减少对环境影响的系统，从而为英国农业的可持续集约化做出重大贡献。

Commercialising Vertical Production Systems for the Sustainable Intensification of UK Agriculture.A key challenge for agriculture is to produce 70% more food by 2050 in an environment where resources are increasingly limited. Saturn Bioponics has developed an innovative vertical production system for sustainable intensification, increasing crop productivity by extending growth into the vertical dimension whilst minimising resource inputs. The technology is fully scalable making it suitable for domestic/urban growing applications through to large-scale crop production under plastic/glass. The technology has distinct commercial advantages over any other competing technologies in the sector: “Appropriate technology” – modular, scalable, robust and easy-to-operate; Optimises use of available daylight; Inexpensive to install and run. Trial results to date have a density of 3x the number of plants per footprint for leafy salads and shown kg/m-2 increases of upto 327%.The Greenius project will deliver results for commercialisation in large, growing crop sectors of high value varieties by focusing on bagged salads, whole lettuce and strawberries. These markets have a current combined value upwards of £666.7m per year in the UK and $12.2bn in top 3 producers globally. Saturn Bioponics will utilise the expertise of a consortium of leading academics (from Lancaster Environment Centre and University of Nottingham), an agronomist (and retailers/buyers/growers) in conjunction with their own engineering, business and agriculture specialists to ensure results are delivered by Greenius for optimal speed and success of commercialisation. Greenius enables Saturn Bioponics to tackle the key hurdles to commercialisation and provide detailed evidence that the technology delivers to the required level. Focus areas are product viability (capital costs, labour costs and resource efficiency/sustainability) and crop viability (producing the required quality specification and quantity for the end-user’s market). Phase 1 of Greenius will enable us to assess all the above on a sufficiently large scale using fast growing, seasonally appropriate crops for the lettuce and bagged salad sector, and consequently specify what development is required to realise product and crop viability. Phase 2 will act upon Phase 1’s assessment to optimise the product and develop the crop specific know-how to meet specifications, culminating in the commercialisation "package" of final product and variety specific "instruction manual". The project will deliver results on increased production levels, water and nutrient conservation, energy efficiency, optimal artificial lighting (including LEDs) and the costs/benefits, and optimal labour efficiency. Saturn Bioponics aim to deliver signficant benefits to commercial growers / farmers providing increased production on the same footprint with reduced production costs resulting in a greater profit margin for the grower and/or a lower priced end product for the consumer. The technology also makes small covered areas and urban sites economically viable for crop production, helping small farmers (especially in winter) and creating opportunities for new SME start-ups in the food production sector. Through the Greenius project , Saturn Bioponics will deliver a system for increased food production with reduced environmental impact, and so make a significant contribution to the sustainable intensification of agriculture in the UK.