LED lighting drives boom in vertical farms in China

LED lighting is having a major impact on the way plants are grown commercially in greenhouses.

As a result the horticultural lighting market reached almost $3.8bn in 2017, according to market data from Yole Développement.

But changes to the horticultural LED lighting market indicate that greenhouse applications may only be the tip of the iceberg. Emerging applications, including urban farming, are likely to make the horticultural lighting market boom with a 16.4% CAGR between 2018 and 2023, predicts Yole.

Examples of this trend are the growing number of vertical farms projects in China, and some of these are being supported by Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos and Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt.

Pierrick Boulay, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole, writes:

“Vertical farms, especially developed in cities, is probably the most relevant solution we found to produce fresh food and vegetables. The world population is growing and almost 80% of the world’s population will live in cities and megacities by 2050. As a consequence, vertical farms will clearly be part of our future.”

It is expected that indoor farming will develop strongly in the largely urbanised Asian areas, especially in China, as this region faces severe soil and water pollution.

According to Yole and PISEO, the horticultural lighting market is expected to reach $17bn by 2027due largely to this boom in indoor and vertical farming applications.

The Horticultural LED Lighting report.