NovelFarm is the event dedicated to indoor cultivation, vertical farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, and integrated cultivation, which presented new materials and technologies for the agriculture of the future. It was held at the Pordenone fair in a small pavilion and was attended by around thirty companies and a good number of visitors.
Thanks to the products displayed and the topics discussed that focused on soilless crops, the event presented scientific and technological innovations aimed at perfecting crop methods to increase and improve yields while maintaining quality levels high and keeping organoleptic and nutritional qualities stable.
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It emerged from the various conventions that soilless cultivation techniques, vertical farming in particular, guarantee a lengthy series of advantages. High productivity, low water and nutrient consumption, no need for pesticides, total control of the product characteristics, no influence of climate conditions, and a drastic shortening of logistic chains.
On the other hand, especially when it comes to the most rigorous versions capable of guaranteeing the maximum advantages, there are the high capital costs, high energy costs, and sophisticated management needs. The answer of producers was to invest a lot of resources on technology. The Cyber Agriculture session at NovelFarm provided an overview of some of the solutions developed to make soilless cultivation and vertical farming the most efficient solution for the production of good part of the vegetable varieties.