“In winter, vegetables in grocery stores in most parts of Canda are transported by truck from southern US and Mexico,” says Cha. “In addition to saving money, locally grown vegetables from vertical farms are more nutritious and taste better.”

As the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables worldwide, Canada spends around $4 billion importing fresh vegetables. Cha and other researchers now envision a better way to supply Canada’s vegetables, an automated vertical farming system to lower prices and address dietary-related health issues.

Smart Vertical Farms

Inside the Smart Vertical Farm.

Today there are no vertical farms with AI control systems anywhere in the world. Cha expects to bring the Smart Vertical Farming System to market within the next two years to optimize value and nutrition for local markets.

“We anticipate that smart vertical farming will play a significant future role in our winter food supply using big warehouses for cities like Winnipeg and shipping containers for smaller Northern communities,” says Cha.

With AI assisted vertical farms, producers can automatically adjust conditions including temperature, lighting, ventilation and nutrient supply to provide the best environment and yield at the lowest cost. The lighting period for plants at night to take advantage of lower electricity rates outside of peak hours.

“For example, if the market price of lettuce goes up, our AI system will adjust production conditions to boost the yield,” says Cha. “Optimization is the key here. We are currently focused on AI optimization of crop yield and quality, and resource usage to maximize value.”

Lower price and improved nutrition

Aside from saving money, freshly grown produce is also much more nutritious. Vegetables grown in a vertical farm can be sold at the grocery store the same day they are picked, by contrast imported foods often sit in containers for days or weeks before we buy them at the store.

In the next phase of the Smart Vertical Farming project Cha is working with Dr. Miyoung Suh, who has already made progress growing nutrient-enriched vegetables in AI monitored vertical farms. Suh co-leads the community-driven SMART-VF vertical farm in Opaskwayak Cree Nation which is showing potential to supplement the diets of more than 98,000 people annually.

“Providing a sustainable source of fresh produce to northern and isolated communities is a key component in the UM strategic research priority for Water and Food Security,” says Dr. Mario Pinto (Vice-President Research & International).

“I congratulate Dr. Cha and the Smart-VF team on this important partnership with Efficiency Manitoba following decades of dedicated research. While Manitobans stand to benefit greatly from this breakthrough, the smart vertical farming system is sure to positively impact food security across Canada, and indeed, around the world.”

The kind of people who want to make a difference, whose passion drives them to push back against what seems dire.

Joe Ackerman is one of those people.

He is the Manager of the Sustainability in Action facility at the University of Manitoba and he spoke with CBC about how UM is taking sustainable action.

To listen to the entire conversation, please follow the link to CBC Weekend Show. 

To read the entire article, please follow the link with Top Crop Manager. 

The theme of the conference, “Engineering Responses to Wicked Problems,” emphasized the difficulty of issues in our current world. It aimed to focus attendees’ on problems that are seemingly impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory and changing requirements. The four-day conference welcomed engineering students, researchers, academics, industry professionals and other experts in biosystems and agricultural engineering. The CSBE/SCGAB conference aimed to create discussion between these attendees in order to promote collaborative solutions to these wicked problems. Students and CSBE/SCGAB members were able to attend the conference for a reduced fee to encourage more membership and student participation.

The Price Faculty of Engineering’s own Dr. Danny Mann, PhD, P.Eng., Chair of this year’s conference, highlighted the importance of this year’s theme and why it is so important to bring biosystems engineers together. He stated, “Wicked, or extremely complex problems, are almost impossible to be solved by a single person or single disciplinary perspective. They require the input of many people and many disciplinary perspectives. There is a need to think at a “systems” level to try to understand how all of the factors fit together. I believe biosystems engineers have an advantage because the educational program already provides exposure to several disciplines; students gain some level of understanding of how different disciplines approach problem solving. It might even be said that biosystems engineers are best equipped to lead the attempts to solve wicked problems because they bring the “systems” understanding that acknowledges and appreciates the important contributions that are necessary from multiple disciplines”.

Student perspective

Many of the attendees of the conference included undergraduate biosystems engineering students. Conferences like these can be a great opportunity for undergrads to network and find areas within the field that interest them. As biosystems engineering students must complete an undergraduate thesis as well as a capstone project in their last year, getting to meet and talk to experts in a wide variety of fields within biosystems can spark inspiration for what the student may want to do a project in, or even the area in which they may want to work or study in after graduating. Fiorella Amenta, a final year undergraduate biosystems engineering student as well as attendee and volunteer at this year’s conference, shared how the conference impacted her as a student in the field, “attending the CSBE conference was a pivotal experience that significantly broadened my understanding in bioengineering topics. Engaging with experts and fellow researchers allowed me to explore current global challenges, highlighting the critical need for interdisciplinary collaboration. Throughout the entire conference, I often found myself deeply immersed in inspiring discussions, exchanging ideas during technical sessions and poster presentations with graduate students and postdocs across Canada. I am so thrilled to have experienced my first CSBE conference at my home university, the University of Manitoba”.

Conference highlights

The conference days began with morning plenary sessions, where experts highlighted some of the wicked problems prevalent in their research. Topics included plastic pollution, healthcare engineering, sustainable agriculture, generative AI and engineering’s role in reconciliation. Attendees were able to participate in open discussions and Q & A sessions, gaining insights from the experts.

In the afternoons, biosystems and agricultural engineering researchers showcased their current work through concurrent technical sessions and poster presentations. Over 100 presenters had the opportunity to share their research, giving them the opportunity to create more conversation surrounding their passion projects with likeminded researchers.

The conference ended with a memorable award ceremony, recognizing outstanding researchers in the field. Attendees also enjoyed a city tour, as many travelled to Winnipeg from other provinces. The tour highlighted some of the city’s interesting spots including Innovation Farms, Lower Fort Garry, and The Canadian Grain Commission.

Overall, the conference was a great success, especially thanks to its sponsors and dedicated volunteers.

“We’re focused on leafy greens right now at the U of M, but that’s just because we’re just getting the first farm started,” Semenchuk said. “It’s easier to validate that your systems are working correctly with leafy greens because they have a faster growth rate.”

The university is also pursuing a second hydroponic system that will feature larger plants like tomatoes and peppers. Eventually, they hope to expand to other crops and berries.

To read the full story on vertical farming, please visit the Western Producer.