Commercial Farming (Indoor?) (organic?)

Hello everyone,

My reason for this post is general enquiry to communicate with anyone who has a similar level of interest in the topic of commercial farming hydroponically, and possibly have much more knowledge and experience than me!

Basically I want to convert a few acres of land which is currently being traditionally farmed into soil-less greenhouses. The reason I want to do this is because we have a lot of farm land in Punjab, India which is currently being farmed traditionally and I believe that converting it all, whatever the expense, will in turn deliver a much better rate of productivity / profit margin in the end and make more efficient use of the resources which are there for any crop being grown.

I am indeed diving into a world which I am just scratching the surface of, however, I have had interest in the topic of growing bud for a very long time and have a good background knowledge of plant biology and growth in general (loved it in school).

The reason for this post is just to clear up a few general questions I have about running hydroponic farms, indoor or outdoor.

- Firstly, is commercial farming INDOORS feasable?

Most people I have spoken would keep reminding me that electric costs will be extremely high and that solar panels are a waste of time because they are expensive and need to be replaced ever 5 years or so.. and that if it was all better for farmers they would be doing it already.

I understand that there are limitations such as the market price of crops in India being significantly lower but I was thinking in long term to set up export operations such as those who export flowers from India, or the Netherlands, for example. Saffron is the worlds most expensive crop i believe- wouldn't it be better to grow such things vertically instead of general abundance crops which we are farming traditionally now?

I'm troubled with all these questions! Somebody help!

They do some hydroponic lettuce farming here. It is all greenhouses tho'. No lights.

lookin to windset farms, yes its feasible already happening here in the central coast =)

but surely they just cover all the electric expenses and equipment expenses by charging a higher price for the harvested produce? I want to use methods like windset farms in the cheapest most effecient way possible to produce the best results at those limitations so that I can sell crops locally in India on a mass scale without having to worry about losses.

so if hydroponic produce works out more expensive to produce per kg of given crop, then it will be harder to sell to the general population unless produce is exported, which increases costs and natural freshness is also lost. products like saffron would be ideal to export but would it be fool-proof to grow at any size / scale hydro operation? hmm where can i find out from the experts?! im knowledge hungry

Does HI have an agricultural extension service? Most are hooked up with local colleges or universities. They can be a wealth of information.

I believe the only way to grow commercially indoors in a sustainable and cost-efficient way is through vertical hydroponic farming. Using a sort of high-rise greenhouse to grow crops. You could go so far as to run wind turbines on the roof to generate practically all the electricity needed for pumps, generators and environmental control.

thc&me said:

I believe the only way to grow commercially indoors in a sustainable and cost-efficient way is through vertical hydroponic farming. Using a sort of high-rise greenhouse to grow crops. You could go so far as to run wind turbines on the roof to generate practically all the electricity needed for pumps, generators and environmental control.

Click to expand...

Talk about taking grow houses to a whole new level.
Oh, that building there? That's the Lettuce Tower. Over a hundred different types of lettuce live there!

look up sepp holzer
[video=youtube;Bw7mQZHfFVE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7mQZHfFVE[/video]

Herbzman.......i would grow in rows, under hoop houses. a row of half-circles made of pipe, covered in plastic/fabric. but why not grow outdoors?