| Senior Lecturer, HAS Den Bosch

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Panel Discussion: Vertical Farming

 

Ir. Jasper den Besten (1956) graduated from Wageningen University in 1981 and started to work as a lecturer in the horticulture department at HAS University of applied sciences, Den Bosch, The Netherlands (https://has.nl/en/) and nowadays as professor (Dutch: lector) in new cultivation systems. The vertical farming expertise started 10 years ago and resulted in a lot of knowledge and experience in a wide range of crops. HAS University has climate cells in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and HAS is co-founder of BrightBox Venlo (http://www.brightbox-venlo.nl/en/). Jasper den Besten is manager of BrightBox Venlo, member of the honorary board of the Association for Vertical Farming (https://vertical-farming.net/) and board member of Duurzame Kost (https://duurzamekost.nl/).

 

HAS University of Applied Sciences is the best educational and expertise Centre in the South of the Netherlands in the fields of Agro, Food and Environment at 2 locations in the Netherlands, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Venlo. HAS universities offers full-time bachelor courses, education/training of company staff and applied research for/with the industry.

| PhD on plant biology, University of California Davis

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Topic: Upcoming Trends in Vertical Farming

Asst. Prof. Dr. Siriwat Sakhonwasee, PhD on plant biology from University of California Davis in 2009. Lecturer and researcher in faculty of agricultural production at Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.  

A new form of farming, called vertical farming, has emerged and disrupted traditional agriculture. Vertical farming is normally characterized by strict environmental control systems with multiple layers of cultivation surface on top of each other. This system allows the grower to produce agricultural products at the highest quality regardless of climatic condition. Vertical farming has been receiving a lot of attentions from investors. Many vertical farming startup companies have been established. In my talk, I will explore the current trends of vertical framing technologies and business.

I received my PhD on plant biology from University of California Davis in 2009. I’m now a lecturer and researcher in faculty of agricultural production at Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.  I’ve been researching on plant factory (a type of vertical farming) for almost 8 years. Currently, I’m working with private company to develop plant factory system for seed production and ornamental purpose. I have a very broad interest in all types of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, genome editing and robots. I believe that the integration of these technologies will shape the future of agriculture.

| Chartered Marketer and Consultant Strategist, Association of Agriculture Machinery Manufacturers and Suppliers Association, Sri Lanka

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Topic: Agricultural Mechanization Leasing, Rural Finance and Investment

Lasantha Wickremesooriya, Chartered Marketer and Strategist, is a Senior Fellow of the INSS, Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka.
He has served, both, in the export marketing of agricultural produce and agri- mechanization in Sri Lanka. He has wide experience in introducing appropriate mechanization in diverse applications, throughout the complete supply chain, from manufacturer to the end user.
He is currently the President elect of the Agriculture Machinery Association of Sri Lanka and is actively engaged in the industry providing advisory services. Through the association, he works closely with the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture Mechanisation, of the UN-ESCAP.

Trade and Investment policies in the Asia-Pacific region have been progressively formulated to enhance the mechanisation of agriculture. However, one of the major challenges is the lack of capital availability to purchase such machinery, particularly by small scale farmers. At present most of the funding is through private banks or leasing firms, whose commercial interest rates are prohibitively expensive. Thus, a strategy for easing the cost of financing through low cost funding and or cooperative scheme where machines can be rented on a need basis, could be a viable option going forward.

| Managing Director/ CEO, AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants GmbH

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Topic: Crucial factors for financing investments in agricultural machinery and the impacts of subsidies

Johannes Buschmeier is a multi-faceted leader and agricultural economist managing projects in agriculture, agribusiness, and financial sector development.

He is currently the Project Manager and Managing Director of AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants (AFC). Under his helm, the company is mainly working with the agricultural finance sector supporting banks to develop new credit products required by different actors in agricultural value chains.

In his projects, he successfully took up challenges related to: the promotion of agricultural finance for agri-based enterprises; the analysis of capacities and expertise of financial institutions; and addressing financial issues related to mechanization and the process of machinery invention, specifically in the Demonstration and Training Projects of the German Ministry of Agriculture and “Green Innovation Centre” of GIZ.

Mr. Buschmeier, through the German Ministry of Agriculture, EIB, GIZ, KFW, ADB, and EC, has been active in numerous countries for AFC. In Asia, he handled projects in China, India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Tadjikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Lastly, he is a member of different professional working groups such as the DLG Foreign Committee and German Agribusiness Alliance.

 

Abstract:

AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants has been active in the agricultural sector for more than 45 years and has developed a strong department for agricultural finance and financial sector development in the past 15 years. With the combination of knowledge in agriculture and finance, AFC was able to implement a variety of projects worldwide.

Financial consulting becomes more important because of the increasing mechanization in countries such as China and India. Thus, AFC applies her experience in both fields to implement different projects in these countries. The project in India, through the GIZ, successfully adapted potato-planting machines for emerging and small farmers.

The interest of banks to operate in agricultural finance systems and government subsidies may have a crucial impact on financing issues and have to be considered when present.

The lack of knowledge in agriculture of bank employees is a major factor in terms of agricultural finance and hinders their capacity to give out loans in this field. Credits and loans for long-term investments in machinery are therefore often more problematic than credits for working assets. Thus, training and consulting of bank employees are crucial to increase capacities in agricultural finance and long-term investments for machinery. However, the bank management must be interested and convinced right from the beginning about agricultural finance products.

AFC, in cooperation with DLG International, supported Demonstration and Training projects with private business partner (on behalf of BMEL) for the last 10 years in China. Since then, a number of German machinery producers have invested in China to produce or assemble on site. Naturally, the local subsidy system influences the decision of the private firms.