How to integrate vertical farming into urban agriculture

Why choose SMART farming

What made the girl make a bold decision, left the traditional farming family?

And started her urban farm through the vertical farming journey with HAVVA.

So, before we get started, I’d like to introduce you our new colleague who have just joined our company, Shu Hua ! She worked as an intern at our company before and her performance was very impressive

Story of Shu Hua

I still remember when she shared about her farming experience with us. She will help her family to plant and harvest in the farm during holidays since she was little girl. Over time she developed her strong interest in growing vegetable

During the time she was looking for an internship, she came across HAVVA – a company that specializes in vertical farming on urban farm. Although urban farming was definitely different from the conventional farming, she was familiar with. And she also felt it was an opportunity for her to gain new experience and this is how the beginning of her journey in HAVVA.

It was a mind blowing when she saw how HAVVA carry out the use of natural processes perfectly. Through the combination of human, fish, bacteria and vegetables. A symbiotic relation has been successfully achieved.

What is vertical farming

So, how? When human raise fish

, it will excrete waste. And this is where bacteria convert the waste into nutrients for the vegetables through natural process. In the end, human not only can get fresh and non-toxic vegetables. But also the fish they raise at the same time

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In addition, combined with the vertical farming and planting technology. It is possible to grow vegetables without using soil or watering, which greatly reduce the labor costs.

Daily routine as a conventional farmer before

Speaking of labor costs, she also told us about her daily routine as a conventional farmer. Everyday she had to get up early in the morning just to water the vegetables

Not two or three rows of vegetables, but a big space like football field that needs watering! So, she can’t finish it without two or three hours. Also, in the afternoon, she had to cover all the vegetables with black netting under hot sun

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The real tough part is the tilling

, she needs to turn all soil to loosen state before she can start planting the next batch of vegetables. If there is a lot of weeds growing on the farm, she need to clean them up while tilling, which is quite physically demanding.

Why choose HAVVA

Finally, even after graduation, Shu Hua chose to return to HAVVA not only because of her passion in vertical farming. But also the fact that she saw the potential of urban farming methods.

Anyone who has experience in growing vegetables will acknowledge there are many factors that can affect the yield of vegetables. Therefore, she once encountered a situation where the poor weather condition

. It caused a poor crop and the price of vegetables suddenly became very expensive due to high demand. So, many people who were not capable could not even afford to buy vegetables at that time.

Besides, limited space and loss of nutrients from the land are often tricky problems for farmers. But with urban farming, it is possible to achieve stable supply of vegetables and at the same time maintain the quality. As long as you have a HAVVA system, you can grow a large amount of vegetables even if you only have small space.

Good news for you

In addition, another good thing about the system is that it can be used constantly. Unlike conventional farming that soil may lose its nutrients, urban farming utilizes the recirculation and reuse method to sustain nourishment and allow the vegetables to get the nutrients all they need .

It doesn’t matter if you want a stable yield or a variety of vegetables, the system can easily help you to achieve that.

Well, its time to wrap-up our sharing. Again, we hope this post has let you know a little more about difference between conventional and urban farming. And also vertical farming.

So, if you’re also curious about what kind of technologies that she is currently playing with. Then, be sure to mark your calendar as the Farm By The Quay – The first ever Malaysian urban farm in mall is officially launched in the Quayside Mall now!

We’ll then take all the various systems that HAVVA researched and make available in Farm By The Quay as well! If you wish to know more about urban farming, don’t forget to pay us a visit, we’ll see you there!