Imagine walking into a skyscraper with layers upon layers of leafy greens, fruits, and herbs—all blooming under LED lights, nourished by closed-loop systems like hydroponics or aeroponics, and untouched by pesticides. Welcome to the world of vertical farming, where agriculture meets innovation to tackle some of the planet’s biggest challenges.

Why Vertical Farming?

As the world’s population is projected to attain 9.7 billion by 2050, conventional agriculture is experiencing growing challenges. Cultivable land is dwindling, urbanization is speeding up, and global warming is disrupting growing periods. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), employing vertical stacking systems, offers a resource-efficient and scalable solution for urban food production.

What is Vertical Farming?

Vertical farming is the cultivation of crops in layers stacked vertically, usually within converted buildings, cargo containers, or indoor high-tech farms. It is based on Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) with artificial light, climate control, and soil-less culture such as hydroponics, aeroponics, or aquaponics to grow food year-round using minimal land and water. This technique minimizes land and water requirements, does away with toxic pesticides, and significantly shortens the food chain—all essential in an era of quick urbanization and environmental degradation.

Historical Background of Vertical Farming

The contemporary definition of vertical farming was established by Dr. Dickson Despommier in 1999 as high-efficiency, multi-layered plant production in controlled environments. Although ancient systems such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and terrace agriculture utilized vertical space, modern vertical farming combines soilless growth methods (hydroponics, aeroponics) and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). The technological innovations in LED lighting, climate control, and sensor-driven automation in the early 21st century enabled its commercial application, mainly in Japanese, Singaporean, and American urban cities.

Role of Biotechnology

Biotechnology is transforming vertical farming in several ways:

Plant Breeding for Indoor Conditions

Plants in vertical farms don’t experience natural sunlight, wind, or soil. Advances in biotechnology allow scientists to develop plant varieties specifically adapted to thrive in controlled indoor environments, such as reduced growth duration, compact root systems, and enhanced nutrient uptake, making them ideal for indoor cultivation systems. For example, gene-editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 were utilized to modify genes responsible for plant architecture and light sensitivity, enhancing crop performance in indoor farming systems.

Microbial Biofertilizers and Biopesticides

Rather than depending upon chemical inputs, vertical farms increasingly turn to engineered microbes to enhance plant growth and defend against disease. Microbes like Bacillus subtilis and Trichoderma spp. can be added to hydroponic crops for stable nutrient cycling and disease resistance.

Intelligent Monitoring and Synthetic Biology

Real-time sensors and AI systems are now integrated with biosensors and genetically modified plants to sense stress, nutrient deficiency, or disease before they become problematic. Synthetic biology is also allowing plants that shine if stressed or change colour in case of nutrient imbalance.

Water, Energy, and Carbon: The Sustainability Debate

Vertical farming requires as much as 95% less water than traditional farming and eliminates agricultural runoff. However, it requires high energy consumption. Artificial light and climate control systems require a lot of power, usually from non-renewable energy sources. Biotech may assist here as well—by developing low-light-efficient crops and algae-based bioenergy systems embedded in farm infrastructure.

Applications

Genetic Engineered Crops for Controlled Environment

Developing genetically modified lettuce (spinach) varieties that grow fast, need less water, and have better nutritional content using CRISPR-Cas9. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and RNA-interference (RNAi) create climate-resilient crops for vertical farming.

Microbiome Engineering

Researching and enhancing useful plant growth-promoting bacteria or fungi known as rhizosphere or phyllosphere microorganisms. Implementation of PGPR (Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria) to ease nutrient acquisition in hydroponic systems.

Biotech-Enabled Sensor Integration

Application of biosensors for monitoring nutrients, disease diagnosis, or gene expression analysis in vertical farming systems. Calorimetric or fluorescent sensors incorporated in plants or plant growth systems to identify nutrient stress or deficiency.

Plant Molecular Farming

Employing plants to manufacture pharmaceutical materials (vaccines, antibodies, enzymes) in clean, controlled vertical farm environments. Generation of therapeutic proteins such as insulin or monoclonal antibodies in tobacco or lettuce cultivated in vertical farms. Biotechnological approaches involve genetic modification of host plants and cultivation under controlled bioreactor-like systems.

Future Outlook

Future opportunities for vertical farming driven by biotechnology are encouraging in light of increasing urbanization and climate pressures. Synthetic biology, AI biosensing, and genetic engineering progress will allow next-generation crops tailored to indoor growth conditions, cutting energy consumption and increasing productivity. The integration of renewable energy and light-adjusting plants may render vertical farms carbon-neutral. Plant molecular farming might also reorient these farms as twin-use systems for food and biopharmaceutical production.

In conclusion

vertical farming is a revolutionary meeting of biotechnology and agriculture. By making possible year-round production in small urban areas with few resources, it provides an efficient and scalable answer to food requirements in the future. As gene editing, microbial engineering, and smart monitoring systems continue to evolve, biotechnology will be the foundation upon which the success of vertical farming will continue to build, leading towards resilient, healthy, and intelligent farming systems.

References

• Kozai, T. (2013). Resource use efficiency of closed plant production system with artificial light. Acta Horticulturae, 1004, 23–30. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.1004.1
• Despommier, D. (2011). The vertical farm: Controlled environment agriculture carried out in tall buildings would create greater food safety and security for large urban populations. Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, 6, 233–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-011-0694-3
• Benke, K., & Tomkins, B. (2017). Future food-production systems: vertical farming and controlled-environment agriculture. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 13(1), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2017.1394054
• Harada, T., Okamoto, H., & Yoneda, M. (2020). Development of genome-edited crops for controlled environment agriculture. Plants, 9(11), 1511. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9111511
• Saad, M. M., Eida, A. A., & Hirt, H. (2020). Tailoring plant-associated microbial inoculants in agriculture: A roadmap for successful application. Journal of Experimental Botany, 71(13), 3870–3885. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraa111
• Rischer, H., et al. (2020). Plant molecular farming of biopharmaceuticals: Towards new production platforms. Biotechnology Advances, 40, 107534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2019.107534

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What is vertical farming?

Vertical farming is the cultivation of crops in stacked layers within controlled indoor environments.

Q2. How does vertical farming save water?

It uses up to 95% less water than traditional farming through closed-loop hydroponic or aeroponic systems.

Q3. What are hydroponics and aeroponics?

They are soil-less farming methods using nutrient-rich water or mist to grow plants.

Q4. Who coined the modern concept of vertical farming?

Dr. Dickson Despommier introduced the concept in 1999.

Q5. How does biotechnology help vertical farming?

It improves crops for indoor conditions, enables biofertilizers, and supports smart monitoring systems.

Q6. What crops are commonly grown in vertical farms?

Leafy greens, herbs, strawberries, and genetically modified lettuce or spinach are popular choices.

Q7. What is Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)?

CEA refers to growing crops under optimized indoor conditions like temperature, humidity, and light.

Q8. How is gene editing used in vertical farming?

Gene-editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 are used to enhance crop traits for indoor farming.

Q9. Can vertical farming produce medicines?

Yes, plant molecular farming enables vertical farms to produce biopharmaceuticals like insulin.

Q10. What are the main challenges of vertical farming?

High energy consumption and dependency on non-renewable power are major challenges.

Authors:

Ms. Yogini Bakal (B. Tech. Biotechnology, Third year student) and

Dr. Ashwini Puntambekar (Assistant Professor), Protein Biochemistry Research Center,

Dr. D. Y. Patil Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institute,

Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune - 411033, Maharashtra, India.

Email: ashwini.puntambekar@dpu.edu.in