Michael Evans, Ph.D., talks specialty crops and differentiation ahead of Indoor Ag-Con panel

Specializing in the production of greens, herbs, strawberries and micro tomatoes in CEA, Michael Evans, Ph.D., researches techniques to maximize economic returns within the industry.

We caught up with Evans ahead of his Indoor Ag-Con panel, Rising Stars: Specialty Crops That Could Redefine CEA on Thursday, Feb. 12, 3:30 p.m. PST.

Anthony Elder: Are there any specialty crops that are gaining attention right now?

Michael Evans: We're going through a change now in CEA, and you're hearing people talk about it: We got to remember that we're agriculture. We grow food and we grow it at a lower price than what we can sell it for, right? We got to get back to those ag roots.

With that in mind, I see people evaluating a lot of different things. I think there's a lot of really interesting research still going on in strawberries and adapting those to really work well in CEA. I think there are people out there that are doing really interesting work with caneberries: blackberries, raspberries, those types of caneberries in CEA, which involves a real change in how we handle the plant itself.

AE: How do current food trends factor into CEA crops?

ME: I think there are people that are growing CEA crops that are for protein. There might be people that would disagree, but I think it's fairly established that protein carries a higher value. The demand for protein in the world is going up. So, there are people looking at producing crops that are high in protein.

AE: What do you look for in a successful plant trial for a new species?

ME: We pay a lot of attention to biomass production. I may be able to produce a certain crop and say ‘Wow, it's really good!’ and ‘I love this and I don't know why people wouldn't buy this?’ But at the end of the day, you have to make money on that. What's the mass that I sell and I make money from? And how much space did I utilize growing that? The less space and the quicker the crop produces more weight or volume that I can sell: That's where we’re going to make money.