What controlled environment agriculture could mean for food security, sustainability, and local access to fresh produce in the years ahead.
Source: University of Georgia
Photo: Courtesy
What do hoop houses, vertical farms and DIY hydroponic systems all have in common?
They are all part of controlled environment agriculture, or CEA — a rapidly growing field that lets farmers, researchers and even home gardeners produce crops year-round by shaping the growing environment.
In this episode of Cultivating Curiosity, we sit down with Rhuanito Ferrarezi, associate professor of horticulture in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), and Ruchika Kashyap, assistant professor of plant pathology at CAES and UGA Cooperative Extension specialist.
Both are members of the college’s “fab five” of CEA. Together, they unpack what CEA is and how it differs from traditional farming, why Georgia — and CAES in particular — are emerging as a hub for greenhouse innovation, and what it could mean for food security, sustainability, and local access to fresh produce in the years ahead.