How vertical farming helps prevent yield loss from disease

What Is Vertical Farming?

Vertical farming is the act of growing crops stacked vertically in trays or towers, rather than traditional farming where crops are planted in long low rows on the ground. One major benefit of this method is that you can grow more crops in a smaller space. Another is that you can grow crops indoors, away from many factors that cause crop loss.

Common Crop Diseases

Most common crop diseases are fungal, but some are viral or caused by other sources. Here are a few of the most common crop diseases that may lead to crop yield loss.

Fungal

• Black Spot - This common fungus causes black spots to develop on leaves, eventually turning them yellow and causing them to drop off. While it won't typically kill the plants it infests, it will ruin their foliage.
• Damping-Off Disease - Soil-borne fungi are to blame for this one. It attacks seedlings, keeping them from taking root and causing them to collapse and die. It's most common in soil-growing greenhouses.
• Fusarium Wilt - Also a soil-borne fungus, this one rots the roots of a plant, causing stunted growth and sometimes black stems.
• Powdery Mildew - the dusty white coating you may see on leaves is a telltale sign of this fungal disease.
• Rust - This fungus causes orange spots on the leaves and stems of the plants it infests. Eventually, the spots will turn black, causing the leaves to die and drop off.
• Sooty Mold - Many insects that infest crops feed on the sap inside the leaves and stems of the plant. This leaves behind a sticky substance that can then be host to a fungus that turns the leaf black and prevents it from photosynthesizing sunlight. 
• Verticillium Wilt - Soil-borne fungi that enter the plant through the root can cause verticillium wilt. This causes branches to weaken and wilt suddenly on otherwise healthy plants and can stunt overall growth.

Viral

• Mosaic Virus - Rather than being a specific virus, this is actually a collection of different viruses which attack various types of plants. They cause yellowed leaves, stunted plant growth, and reduced yield overall.

• Various Plant-Specific Viruses - There are many varying viruses that attack specific plants or plant families. Some of the most common are plum pox virus, tomato yellow leaf curl virus, and potato virus X.

Continue reading.

Photo by Petr Magera on Unsplash

Source: Eden Green