Climate change, scarcity of fresh water, intensive pesticide use, mineral resource depletion, rapidly urbanising societies all challenge our food system to feed cities. To cope with these issues a farming revolution called vertical farming is starting. Vertical farming is a novel technology where plants are grown on many stacked layers with LED light. It is a secure and sustainable route to provide cities with fresh food. The Netherlands has the potential to become the world leader in vertical farming. Both the fresh food and the high-tech systems represent a very high market value as Dutch export products.

This program develops concepts for design and control of vertical farms that meet all targets on sustainability, yield, and quality, based on a fundamental understanding of the different components of vertical farming. This is achieved by a coordinated effort of researchers from disciplines ranging from genetics, breeding, metabolomics, physiology, horticulture, machine learning, climate control, energy systems and building physics together with a variety of leading companies.