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Koo, Sey Nee (2018) Indoor hydroponic farming business plan. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]

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Abstract

Indoor hydroponic farming (IHF) business is starting to draw tractions recently in Malaysia. As of today, there are already a number of players in the market have been involved and started to commercialise the business. Studies have suggested that IHF will be the solution to the urban food security driven by the growth of urban population. Hence, the rise of urban farming.

Malaysia, one of the developing countries in Asia is currently experiencing massive urbanisation. One of the effect of urbanisation is that, it has brought attention to higher food demand and consumption. Based on the monthly household consumption on vegetables from 1993 to 2014, the consumption of vegetables have been constant over the years and it shows that market is not substituting vegetables to other food item. The growth of urban population will then mean higher vegetables consumption which grows in tandem to the population. As per the import and export statistics of vegetables, it reveals that the import percentage is higher than export which Malaysia has been importing vegetables from countries like China. This means that the total quantity from the local production and import are underserving the need of the domestic market.

Another effect of urbanisation is that, it has led to scarcity of natural resources such as lands which are being used for commercial purposes such as commercial building and residential, and result in soil erosion. Agricultural land such as Cameron Highland which is one of the agricultural hub is facing water quality issue where water is polluted due to heavy pesticides usage. There are growing concern on food safety among the consumers and are starting to demand for much safer vegetables for consumption. As a result, many consumers are more aware of their health and have had a paradigm shift to adopt food that is pesticides free, fresher and healthier option such as organic food.

Therefore, urban IHF is the future of agriculture because crops are grown within a controlled environment where it limits the exposure to soil-borne pathogens that may cause food-borne illnesses and there is no need of pesticides usage. The IHF system operates in a sustainable manner where it enables water to be recycled, thus reduce water usage. Some hydroponic farmers are creating clean-room environment to prohibit pathogens to infect the crops. Tracking mechanism to track the health of the plant and source of contamination will be swiftly be identified, therefore result in safer produce for the consumer to be consumed (Capital, 2015).

Item Type:	Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User:	Bujang, Rosini
Date Deposited:	12 Sep 2018 04:23
Last Modified:	08 Feb 2019 13:00
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/54330

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