Scottish education first as college fires up £1.8 million ‘vertical farm’ in Edinburgh
The ribbon has been cut on a £1.8 million “vertical farming” innovation centre in a first for Scotland’s higher education sector.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) said it was stepping up its commitment to global and local food production and security as it officially opened the centre at its Edinburgh campus. SRUC, which gained taught degree-awarding powers in October, will use the commercial-sized facility to carry out research, as well as educating the food and horticulture scientists, growers and industry experts of tomorrow.
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Hide AdIt said students will learn how to grow crops more quickly, or with higher nutritional value, as well as how to grow food using less water. Some 250 times more water is required to grow a lettuce in an open field than in a so-called vertical farm - a method of growing plants and vegetables in layers indoors, using lighting and controlled systems for water, nutrients and temperature.


The SRUC Vertical Farming Innovation Centre, which has received £200,000 from the Scottish Government, will be available to students and researchers, particularly those students studying advanced horticultural production. It will support the “acquisition of new skills and knowledge” of growing a range of plants under controlled growing conditions, including water, nutrients and light, in order to enhance food production in the presence of climate change, the SRUC noted.
The vertical farm is one of SRUC’s “collaborative innovation hubs”, designed to drive economic growth and “create new jobs and opportunities”.
Professor Wayne Powell, principal and chief executive of SRUC, which was established in 2012 through the merger of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) with Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge colleges, said: “The Vertical Farming Innovation Centre enhances SRUC’s ability to address the major challenges facing the world, both now and in the future. It provides us with an innovative learning and research platform to advance our understanding and practice of growing crops under controlled environmental conditions and the design of climate resilient crops.
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Hide Ad“Our researchers will utilise this advanced technology to progress solutions to issues such as more nutritious and energy efficient crops, matching demand to supply, supporting locally produced fresh produce and year-round production.”
Scottish agriculture minister Jim Fairlie, who officially opened the centre, said: “Making farming as efficient as possible is vital to the sustainability of the sector. The development of vertical, low carbon farms will be a boost both to researchers and our ability to produce more fruit and vegetables in Scotland.
“The research that will come from this and the access students will have to cutting-edge horticultural technologies will be invaluable to them and our farming sector,” he added.
Featuring technology designed by Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), the new facility is coming into use at a time when the world’s population is projected to increase to ten billion by 2050, while agricultural land is lost to urbanisation. The SRUC said that in this global context, providing education and new knowledge in how to use vertically layered space under precisely controlled environmental conditions was an “important part of our future sustainability”.
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