"Hydro Grow Cell," a consumer product for Urban Farming

Project Summary This project presents a revolutionary consumer product for fresh vegetable and fruit production by adopting cell bionics theory into the innovative Grow Cell technology a novel world-first cutting-edge technology for the Phase-I USDA SBIR Small and Mid-Size Farms Topic 8.12 - Research Priorities: Urban Farming. Traditional urban farming and conventional hydroponics encounter vital challenges including limited farmland and vegetable yield dependence on energy support systems root rot problems and the inability to cultivate various vegetables and plants. After more than four years of studies on resolving those vital problems we achieved a promising Grow Cell technology that enables safe cost-effective and sustainable cultivation of more than 80 fresh vegetables and fruits in just over one square foot. This technology potentially revolutionizes urban farming school lunch programs and household gardening in high-rise buildings. The Phase-I research and development objectives entail (1) standardizing real-sized designs of Hydro Grow Cell for plastic injection molding and (2) creating functional real-sized 3D prototypes of Hydro Grow Cell for the intended consumer product to establish a robust technological foundation for further development and full-scale commercialization in subsequent phases. The potential market of Hydro Grow Cell consumer products is extensive and it will significantly mitigate the demands for fresh foods from almost all sectors of the economy. Hydro Grow Cell is scalable for multiple urban farming markets to meet the increasing demands for safe sustainable environmentally friendly and abundant fresh food production.