iFarm to build a robotic vertical farm in Switzerland

The vertical farm will have a 1,031 m² cultivation area, and will produce green crops, amounting to several tons of ultra-fresh greens per month. The yield will be distributed to the country’s major retail chains.

Farm layout:

The farm will utilize iFarm StackGrow technology, a fully automated system with mobile trays for growing plants on vertical farms. Compared to semi-automated vertical farms, this technology increases plant density by 67% and doubles monthly yield and revenue.*

The vertical farm will use mineral wool as a substrate for the plants. In the future, Hygrow plans to replace it with synthetic foam made from biodegradable biopolymers and natural additives.

The robotic farm will have automated systems for planting, washing trays, and cutting plants. The only production processes that require manual labor are equipment maintenance and disinfection. Automation significantly reduces the number of farm staff and, therefore, operating costs. The annual savings on workers' salaries amount to approximately 370 thousand dollars.

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