> Judging vertical farming based on the performance of wheat is not valid. When I saw the test crop was wheat, I scrolled to see if there were any other crops, saw that there weren't, and abandoned the article because wheat has among the worst yields per area (in terms of kg of edible product per sq meters).

I want to stress this point. Crops like wheat, rice, and corn are not suitable for vertical farming. No vertical farms today are growing these.

And claiming “vertical farming does not save land” based on a single 1msq art installation makes a tenuous argument at best.

And even worse, from the article:

> When wheat is planted in the ground next to each other, instead of above, the sun provides free energy and the clouds free water.

No, no, no, no. Water from precipitation is a fraction of the water needed in areas like the American central plains where the Ogallala Aquifer has been pumped out for decades. Irrigation is a must for growing staple crops almost anywhere. And water is increasingly in short supply.