Vertical Farm Daily: AmplifiedAg builds University of Georgia research containers around trial flexibility
"Research conducted on systems that reflect what growers use has a more direct path into practice"
The University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences is now operating four AmplifiedAg container farms on its Griffin Campus, giving its CEA researchers indoor space for plant breeding and entomology work. The units also join a new high-tech greenhouse on the same campus.
Our Chief Engineer, Matt Daniels, talked with Vertical Farm Daily to share the different types of research being conducted in and the AmplifiedAg farm customizations made to help CEA scientists balance research and production in one system.
We are committed to improving the vertical farming landscape, and research partnerships like this are crucial to the future of the industry.
Academic partnerships are particularly important because there are still plenty of practical questions that need good research behind them. Commercial growers are focused on running their operations, and they often do not have the time or resources to conduct controlled trials alongside production. Universities can study those questions in depth. For us, this is an opportunity to learn how our equipment performs under different crops, conditions, and operating practices. We can then use that information to improve our systems... The value is in what comes out of the work that a grower can actually use, whether that is a better irrigation strategy, improved pest management, more effective climate control, or a simpler way to operate the equipment. Research conducted on systems that reflect what growers use has a more direct path into practice.