the obsolescence of conventional agriculture

I doubt it would be very controversial to say that agriculture has been one of the largest influences on the general human condition. But its unclear how many of us are aware of how negative that impact has become in the last 75 years. Setting aside that it contributes ~13-18% of our gross greenhouse gas emission (more than *all* transportation emissions) while being a primary cause of global deforestation (the planets means of greenhouse gas reduction), it is extremely inefficient. It uses 70% of the worlds fresh water and contaminates 70% of remaining fresh water supply with its unregulated runoff. It is dependent on soil fertility, climate and the ability to combat pests. From a land use perspective its also economically unviable. 1/3 of usable land has been degraded and to meet the demand of the rapidly expanding global population, there just isn't enough farmable land available. Simply put, like so many of the old systems in place today (US gun laws for example) conventional agriculture practice was not designed for today's population and its demand. Its inadequate for the current and future state of the world.

Coming online is a new methodology: vertical farming
-It uses 95% less water than conventional farming
-uses no soil, thus is not subject to toxicity or fertility. 
-Is environmentally controlled, meaning it is not subject to seasons, climates or problems arising from pests (pesticide/antibiotics/etc)
-cuts the growing cycle in half - 50-100x the yield of conventional ag
-significantly reduces the loss in nutritional value in food
-Is highly modular, meaning that operations can be established within urban areas, eliminating the need to preserve and transfer from farm to city.

The only problem it faces thus far… is energy. It still uses substantially less per acre than conventional methods, but small operations, such as those out of containers, have a difficult task in operation efficiency. This is a nascent technology however, so we should expect this problem to be mitigated or solved with increased adoption...

source: Beme News 2018