Future Growers Technology

Mississippi State University (MSU) College of Ag. & Life Sciences and the Mississippi Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) have entered into agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and two controlled environment agriculture (CEA) manufacturers to develop decision-support tools for academics, producers, and industry. A need for real-world modeling and analytical interfaces exists in academia and industry, whereby researchers, educators, and producers may simulate and train in CEA food production systems without risking animal or plant health.

Targeted in this project are greenhouse and animal production CEA systems. Partnering with Pulseworks® of Atlanta, GA (https://www.pulseworks.com), we aim to build readily-available CEA workforce training and research decision-support tools in both 2-D and 3-D formats. Software programs served worldwide across the internet will increase production in environmentally controlled conditions, including extraterrestrial food production.

Project outcomes will serve both:

• 1) teaching communities, and
• 2) research communities, whereby CEA virtual reality programs will
  • improve workforce development in environmentally controlled farming and,
  • provide agricultural researchers with the means to model and reverse engineer real-world production scenarios.