Davis, California-based agriculture technology firm, GreenVenus, has announced the development of fast-growing lettuce varieties designed for controlled-environment farming.
The company claims that it is developing healthy, nutrient-rich specialty vegetables, fruits, and grains and has now created faster-growing lettuce cultivars. This lettuce cultivar, according to the company thrives in controlled environment, grows nearly twice as fast and with larger biomass compared to traditional varieties.
The vertical farming industry is struggling with high costs because it takes a lot of energy to maintain the growing conditions leading to the failure of new ventures. Additionally, most plants are not designed to grow well under artificial light and controlled climates, making it hard to get the best yields from traditional crops. Currently, indoor farms mainly grow leafy greens and herbs, but even these struggle to produce high yields in artificial environments, as they were originally bred for traditional agriculture and are not well-suited to the unique conditions of indoor farming, such as specific light, humidity, and CO2 levels.
Read more: Direct Seeding of Rice A Game-Changer for Water Conservation: Malu Nachreiner of Bayer
According to the company, an estimated $3.3 billion worth of lettuce is wasted each year and consumers are dissatisfied with the shelf life and quality of their lettuce.”
GreenVenus aims to address these issues by not only enhancing lettuce growth but also by developing a diverse range of high-value crops suited for indoor environments. The company is actively working on specialty berries, tomatoes, spinach and other vegetables that perform well under artificial conditions.
“The lack of plant varieties specially developed for controlled environments—ones that retain flavor, nutrition, and exhibit early flowering—remains a major hurdle for the vertical farming industry. With our new, faster-growing lettuce varieties and ongoing efforts to develop additional crop cultivars, GreenVenus is committed to reduce indoor cultivation costs and making a sustainable, positive impact on the indoor farming sector.”
GreenVenus’s latest innovations not only promise to enhance the efficiency of vertical farming but also to drive forward the development of agriculture technology tailored for modern, controlled-environment agriculture.
