In recent years, the issue of food security has generated a lot of debates around the world. Thanks to technological advancements, vertical farming has started to take place in several countries and yield satisfactory results. However, another school of thought are in the view that such solution poses a threat to traditional agriculture.
Firstly, vertical farming plays a central role in boosting the production of crops in high density metropolitan areas such as Hong Kong and Singapore where fertile lands are limited. To elaborate, it allows people to make good use of urban space by transforming rooftops into greenhouses. Apart from that, this practice has strategic importance. With the implementation of this novel way of farming, they could supplement imported fresh fresh produce like vegetables and fruits and even stand on their own feet and reduce the reliance on foreign countries, hence gaining more flexibility, independence and leverage.
On the other hand, there are concerns that conventional agriculture is losing its values. For centuries, people hold on to a belief based on lessons learnt from traditional agriculture, namely if people are determined, they will eventually succeed. Food on the table carry deep meanings and is often the fruit of labors of farmers working tirelessly behind the scenes. Needless to say, traditional farming is representative of cultural identities of a society particularly among the older generations. Yet, modern farming, characterised by automation and artificial intelligence seeks to change it as crop yields are seemingly immune to external factors.
Climax change, regional conflicts and skyrocketing population are putting one of the necessities of humans, food, at risk. All in all, I firmly believe that we should be more pragmatic when it comes to this issue in face of food shortages. The benefits of vertical farming clearly outweigh the disadvantages and should be given more attention by policymakers and all walks of life.