Starting up a semi-automated and modular mushroom production facility

Abstract

Agricultural innovation is the process whereby individuals or organisations bring new or existing products, processes, or ways of organisation into use for the first time in a specific context in order to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, resilience to shocks or environmental sustainability and thereby contribute to food security and nutrition, economic development or sustainable natural resource management. (FAO, 2019) Over the last decades with the internet revolution and the constant development of tools (hardware and software) to make long distance communication faster and easier we were able to witness a slow increase in attractivity of the countryside2 for, especially but not exclusively, young digital natives and their families who can work from anywhere if there is an internet connection available. The climax so far and certainly a catalyst was/is the Covid pandemic where this option of living and working remotely became an interesting alternative for many people and companies who were forced to adapt to the situation and incorporate these „new" technologies, changing completely our relation to work and digital tools. Agriculture is already undergoing huge technological transformations and new technologies are being used and implemented on all levels, from management tools to autonomous vehicles, to the use of drones and sensor technology, evermore connected by the lot. For beginners, initial investments in land and equipment can be a huge hurdle to get started, let alone the lack of knowledge. With the internet being a place where critical information can be exchanged on a massive scale, there is a chance to provide the knowledge and building plans for increased food security by offering an easy to set up, fully controlled and to some degree automated and highly productive cultivation system. This thesis, with the above context, wants to explore the economic viability of a compact but largely automated and modular indoor farming system for high value crops, specifically gourmet mushrooms and/or microgreens and the potential market for a modular and digital farming system that can be monitored remotely. The modularity of this model should allow for scalability which will also be investigated. The process will start with outlining the production process with all the relevant inputs and outputs to identify the needed hardware and software, machinery, conditions to grow a certain variety of mushrooms (there might be seasonal differences). For the scalability it is essential to identify modules which would automate certain steps in the process to be able to scale the production without increasing staff (i.e., mixing and bagging the substrate). Apart from the material flow also the flow of data within the production process, from buying raw materials to accounting will be transparently displayed with the aim of identifying unnecessary interfaces for human interaction. The research will cover appropriate literature and an extensive market analysis, there are already systems available on the market but rather at a large scale and mainly in an urban or industrial context. If possible, also visiting farms and interviewing farmers might be an interesting addition to this paper. I have already tapped into mushroom cultivation, read a lot about it, successfully cultivated edible mushrooms indoors with different methods and want to refine the process by prototyping the system and compiling the necessary theoretical knowledge and data. Key for the prototyping will be the use of open-source tools such as Arduino and/or raspberry pi in vision of a possible replicability of this model. The case study will be the farmlab.at, an existing farm in the southeast of Styria and a node in the global Fablab network which offers space and is already equipped with a lab infrastructure with tools such as 3D printing, CNC milling, laser cutting and electronics for prototyping. This function is rooted in the Fablab idea of open innovation and access to digital fabrication, in this case in a rural context. Starting from the given situation, a study of the local market, which is embedded in a strong culinary tradition, for mushrooms in B2B and B2C, necessary investments and turnover and a general investigation of the economic viability of such a business will be conducted.