Latest Research on Indoor Farming Now Just a Click Away

Posted by Brian Sparks|May 19, 2021

Greenhouse growers now have access to a new online resource to help make their indoor farming businesses more productive and profitable. OptimIA is a web site featuring research results from six horticulture, engineering, and agricultural economics professors and Extension specialists, and their graduate students and technicians, at Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, and the University of Arizona. Born from a four-year, USDA grant-funded project, the web site is one tool researchers are making available to anyone interested in overcoming the technological, environmental, and financial challenges common to indoor farming.

In addition to the latest published research, the web site offers trade articles authored by OptimIA project scientists, indoor production research highlights, recorded webinars presented by top national and international indoor farming experts, upcoming events related to indoor farming and the OptimIA project, and FAQs.

The OptimIA project’s ultimate goal is to define the environmental parameters within which leafy greens such as lettuce perform best in indoor vertical farms. While the work of each project researcher is unique, it all centers around the effects of light, carbon dioxide, humidity, temperature, air movement, and economics (operating, labor, equipment etc.) on the sustainability and profitability of using indoor farms to produce leafy greens and microgreens.

The site will be frequently updated with new research results, as they become available. To access the OptimIA project web site, click here.

OptimIA is funded by the USDA‘s Specialty Crop Research Initiative.