Urban vertical farming is an innovative solution to address the increasing demand for food in densely populated cities. With advanced technology and precise monitoring, closed urban vertical farms can optimize growing conditions for plants, resulting in higher yields and improved crop quality. However, to fully optimize closed urban vertical farming systems, research is needed to enhance crop yields and reduce the growing season. The present study is focused on the research of the mutual influence of microclimate parameters, such as temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration, as well as the spectral composition of light, humidity, and amount of peat in the substrate. The research was conducted within the cultivation of the “Innovator” potato variety at the experimental automated vertical farm of the “Fundamentals of Biotechnology” of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Based on the correlation and Fourier analysis of the dependences of soil moisture and carbon dioxide concentration on time, it is shown that after watering potatoes, there is a 56 h delayed decrease in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the cultivation room, which can be explained by a delayed increase in the intensity of the photosynthesis process. Moreover, a comparison of CO₂ dependence on time with the lighting dynamics at the scale of one day indicates the presence of the intrinsic daily biological rhythm of the CO₂ absorption rate that does not depend on the external lighting conditions. In addition, by analyzing the dependencies of microclimate parameters and the spectral composition of the lighting over time, it was found that switching on lighting influences the microclimate parameters, which can be explained by the heating of LEDs used for lighting. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis of microclimate parameters and soil moisture showed that an increase in peat content in the substrate leads to a transition from the decisive influence of air humidity on soil moisture to the dominant influence of air temperature. The obtained results reveal the complex mutual influence of the parameters determining the growing conditions within automated closed vertical farms. Consideration of this influence is necessary when optimizing the conditions of vegetation and the development of intelligent plant-growing systems.

The cultivation of aromatic plants that are valuable for nutritional and medical aims under artificial conditions with narrow-band LED lighting is becoming widespread. A comparison of the effects of conventional basil field and greenhouse conditions and a city farm (CF) with LED lighting on essential oil and its components was studied in Ocimum × citriodorum Vis. “Kapriz” (OcK), O. basilicum L. “Queen Sheba” (ObQS) and O. minimum L. “Vasilisk” (OmV). Essential oil (EO) was extracted by hydrodistillation from dry leaves of the basil varieties. EO composition was studied by gas chromatography, while the number of glandular trichomes was studied by scanning electron microscopy. We found that in leaves of CF plants, ObQS and OmV increased EO yield (22.9 and 22.7 g/kg DW, respectively) compared to field conditions (10.9 and 13.7 g/kg DW, respectively). The number of glands with four-celled heads also increased. In OcK plants, the amount of EO was almost unchanged, but the number of capitate glandular trichomes was strongly increased. Biochemical analysis showed that in CF plants compared to field ones, eugenol accumulated 40% more in ObQS and three times more in OmV. In addition, 10.9% estragol was detected in the leaves of OcK plants, which was absent in field plants. Thus, LED lighting conditions increased the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid volatile components in Ocimum.

One of the promising trends in modern agronomy is the development of automated closed urban vertical farms with controlled environmental conditions, which can improve dynamics of the crop vegetation process. In the frame of this work, the analysis of the vegetative stages of potato seed material (minitubers and microplants) grown in the conditions of the automated vertical farm was conducted. The study was performed at the vertical farm of the Federal Research Center “Fundamentals of Biotechnology” of the Russian Academy of Sciences by the analysis of water consumption dynamics. It was established that the 20-day reduction in the vegetative period of the vertical-farm-grown potatoes in comparison with the field-grown ones occurred due to the reduction in the final stage of vegetation (mass gain of newly formed tubers) under the minitubers planting. The same reduction occurred due to both final and initial vegetative stage (absence of tubers germination) under the planting of microplants. The obtained result shed new light on the vegetation dynamics of potato grown under controlled conditions of the urban vertical farms and demonstrated a possibility to perform the study of plant development process using automated diagnostics systems of vertical farms.

The implementation of advanced precision farming systems, which are becoming relevant due to rapid technological development, requires the invention of new approaches to the diagnostics and control of the growing process of cultivated crops. This is especially relevant for potato, as it is one of the most demanded crops in the world. In the present work, an analytic model of the dependence of potato tubers mass on carbon dioxide concentration under cultivation in a closed vegetation system is presented. The model is based on the quantitative description of starch molecule synthesis from carbon dioxide under photosynthesis. In the frame of this work, a comprehensive description of the proposed model is presented, and the verification of this model was conducted on the basis of experimental data from a closed urban vertical farm with automated climate control. The described model can serve as a basis for the non-contact non-invasive real-time measurement of potato tuber mass under growth in closed vegetation systems, such as vertical farms and greenhouses, as well as orbital and space crop production systems.

The estimation of nodulation competitiveness of industrial strains against the native nodule bacteria and also the analyses of distribution of strains genotypes which formed nodules on roots of 4 plant species was the purpose of this work. The objects of the research were rhizobium strains which formed nodules on roots of plant (the nodule-forming units NFU), obtained in field experiment with application of preseeding processing of seeds of pea (Pisum satіvum L.), fava beans (Vicia faba L.), lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris L.). The mixture of the collection strains allocated from nodules of peas and beans, and having various combinations of chromosomal and symbiotic genotypes was used for inoculation of seeds. Identification of NFU was carried out with the use of the analysis of the emitted nodule total DNA on several chromosomal markers: the rpoB gene and the hin-region, and the plasmid marker nodD gene. It is established that only about 50% of nodules were formed by the strains used at inoculation of seeds. Besides, the combinations of chromosomal and symbiotic genotypes specific for a rhizobium symbionts of concrete host plants have been established: IA genotype with sym-2 for P. sativum; IB genotype with sym-4 for V. faba. The results of this study create prerequisites for selection of couples: macro- and microsymbiont for the purpose of increasing efficiency of plant-microbial systems, in which the nature of symbiotic interaction defines efficiency of partners.