World’s First Vertical Strawberry Farm Uses AI to Compliment Mother Nature

September 29, 2024 journo

Strawberries growing on Plenty’s 30-foot vertical towers – credit Plenty, via SWNS

In Richmond, a company has opened the world’s first indoor strawberry farm.

Plenty Unlimited Inc. says their AI-based system makes it possible to grow produce with peak-season flavor, year-round, almost anywhere in the world.

AI analyses more than 10 million data points each day across 12 grow rooms, adapting each grow room’s environment to the evolving needs of the plants.

Plenty says the farm itself uses 97% less land and up to 90% less water than conventional farming, while their patent-pending pollination method, using controlled airflow across strawberry flowers, offers “more efficient and effective pollination than using bees”.

The Richmond, Virginia-based company further claims their farms are the most technologically advanced in the world and remove “the unpredictability of Mother Nature,” predicted to become all the more unpredictable as the climate changes.

The Plenty Richmond Farm facility is designed to produce more than 4 million pounds of strawberries annually in less than 40,000 square feet by growing vertically on 30-foot-tall towers.

The farm will exclusively grow Driscoll’s brand strawberries, with the first produce from the farm set to be available in early 2025. It follows on their leafy green vertical farm that recently went up in Compton, California.

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“While most vertical farms are limited to lettuces, Plenty spent the past decade designing a patent-pending, modular growing system flexible enough to support a wide variety of crops—including strawberries,” the company said in a statement.

“Growing on vertical towers enables uniform delivery of nutrients, superior airflow, and more intense lighting, delivering increased yield with consistent quality.”

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“This farm is a model for the positive impact climate-agnostic agriculture can have, and proof that vertical farming can deliver the crop diversity, scaled and local production needed to future-proof the global food system,” said Arama Kukutai, Plenty CEO.

“The Plenty Richmond Farm is the culmination of 200 research trials over the past six years to perfect growing strawberries with consistent peak-season flavor indoors year-round.”

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