United Kingdom Indoor Farming Market Size, Share, Opportunities, And Trends By Growing System (Hydroponics, Aeroponics, Aquaponics, Soil-based, Hybrid), By Component (Hardware, Software And Services), By Facility Type (Glass Or Poly Greenhouse, Indoor Vertical Farm, Container Farm, Indoor DWC System), By Crop Type (Fruits And Vegetables, Herbs And Microgreens, Flowers And Ornamentals, Others) - Forecasts From 2023 To 2028

Indoor framing can be defined as the practice of growing plants in soilless environments, using technologies such as aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics, or it can refer to controlled-environment agriculture, which focuses on maximizing plant growth. An indoor farm commonly consists of shallow trays piled inside a structure and illuminated by LED lights on each level. These farms have to provide everything, including water, fertilizers, sunlight, and perhaps pollinators and pest control as well. Others may be constructed in enormous greenhouses to maximize the Sun's heat and light while also managing other inputs like fertilizer and water.

Indoor farming approaches have arisen in recent years to meet the confluence of difficulties such as food production, community sustainability, and resource efficiency. Indoor farming allows for the production of nutrient-rich food near home while conserving resources. Such creative agricultural approaches that produce what we need where we need it might help to address some of the UK's food production, storage, distribution, and loss concerns. Food production challenges due to land scarcity, a growing population, workforce shortages, pressing food security problems, Brexit, and climate change are putting enormous pressure on United Kingdom’s agricultural sector. These factors are boosting indoor farming approaches as governments in this country encourage farmers to grow more while using fewer resources to enhance food output. The country's market is predicted to increase rapidly throughout the projection period because of the requirement for better output with fewer resources and land. World Bank figures indicate that the UK has 67.3 million people in 2021 with 55.91 million people living in urban cities. As a result, indoor farms offer a significant potential to feed the UK's growing urban population while using abandoned factories, buildings, and other urban dead zones. Meanwhile, climate change is having an impact on agricultural productivity by raising temperatures and making rain more erratic. Simultaneously, significant soil erosion, acidification, pollution by chemicals and heavy metals, and extensive pesticide usage have all lowered soil quality. As a result, the country is embracing indoor agricultural methods.

Lack of workforce in the agricultural sector driving growth for indoor framing techniques in the country during the projection period.

Vertical indoor farms have become extremely popular in the UK. The absence of farmworkers, such as harvesters, is, nevertheless, the issue that the British agricultural sector is most concerned about. According to official data only 301 thousand people were employed in the agricultural sector with only 67 thousand them being permanent full-time farmers in 2022. This accounts for almost 1 percent of the total percentage of employment. As a result of new laws and limits imposed on the right to work in the nation following Brexit, the situation for UK farmers became much worse. Due to the shortage of agricultural employees, British farmers frequently suffered catastrophic losses in their industry. Since plants are grown under controlled conditions, every aspect of their growth is controlled by sensors, and only a small number of highly specialized employees are needed to run and operate the farm, highly automated vertical farms offer an excellent solution to the shortage of agriculture workers in the UK. Additionally, the use of robotic arms in vertical farming has automated labor-intensive tasks like harvesting, which eliminates the need for a sizable workforce in the agricultural industry. For instance, the Jones Food Company employs just six people and runs 365 days a year. This leads to an increase in the use of indoor farming techniques throughout the projection period.

Market Key Developments

• In January 2023, Vertically Urban, a leader in horticultural lighting, and LettUs Grow, a leader in aeroponic farming, have been working together to expand York's award-winning vertical farm's capacity for research. The building, known as "Grow it York," is the workplace of a research group led by Professor Katherine Denby from the University of York's Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP).
• In June 2022, the world’s largest vertical farm is being built in Gloucestershire UK by Jones Food Company. The farm is called “Skyscrapper Farm”. The area will reportedly be equivalent to 96 tennis courts piled on top of one another. Very, very impressive. The idea is ambitious, but not only for its own sake. By producing it locally instead of importing it, the vertical farming technique aims to dramatically decrease Britain's carbon impact. Approximately 46% of all food consumed in the nation is imported. Additionally, compared to conventional production techniques, these farms require 94% less water and can be run entirely on renewable energy.
• In August 2022, As part of a new vertical farming initiative, an English jail is employing convicts to cultivate lush greens. Inmates will plant salads and herbs in a high-tech farm on the property of a jail in Worcestershire under a program operated by the British business LettUsGrow, which specializes in agricultural technology. Aeroponics, a technique that substitutes an air or mist environment for soil, is used to produce vegetables in small towers.

United Kingdom Indoor Farming Market Scope:

Segmentation:

• By Growing System
  • Hydroponics
  • Aeroponics
  • Aquaponics
  • Soil- based
  • Hybrid
• By Component
  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Services
• By Facility Type
  • Grass or Poly Greenhouse
  • Indoor Vertical farms
  • Container Farms
  • Indoor DWC System
• By Crop Type
  • Fruits and Vegetables
  • Herbs and Microgreens
  • Flowers and Ornamentals
  • Others