Sustainable Agriculture is Key for Arizona's Future
Thursday, July 7, 2022
As water levels at Lake Mead – the nation's largest reservoir – continue to drop to historic lows, a hydrological numbers crunch is playing out in the Southwest, with big implications for Arizona agriculture.
Agrivoltaics, which refers to the colocation of agriculture under solar photovoltaic panels, may provide a piece of the puzzle, with recent research led by Gregg Barron-Gafford reporting positive impacts on food, water savings, and efficiency of electricity production. Vertical farming – the process in which crops are grown on top of each other in multitier systems in controlled indoor environments – presents another path forward.
Barron-Gafford will join Murat Kacira, director of the UArizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, to discuss ways these technologies may be deployed to optimize resource use and food production, alongside traditional field agriculture during the UArizona Water Resources Research Center's annual conference that will take place on July 12-14.