After becoming accustomed to growing plants in containers on his rooftop, Samir Seif, an agricultural engineer, decided to replace each container with a vertical tower composed of stacked soil layers.
The towers are designed as modular and detachable structures that can be assembled, dismantled, and reconfigured at different heights according to production needs, while maintaining a fixed diameter. This design allows a single tower to host many times the number of plants that can be grown in the same land area, while using much less water.
“Anyone can expand their available growing space, whether on land, a rooftop, or even a balcony, using vertical farming towers that offer a great deal of flexibility in cultivation,” Seif said.
“A tower can be placed on a balcony since it is only 60 cm in diameter, and it can be mounted on a wheeled base and moved so that plants receive sunlight evenly. Some towers also include separate soil compartments, allowing different crops to be grown within the same structure, such as plants that like the sun on one side and shade-loving plants on the other.”
“I grow different crops within a single tower, including cucumbers, peppers, and potatoes. I also cultivate onions, garlic, and carrots, as well as leafy vegetables and herbs.”
Seif said that by choosing what to plant, he can produce crops all year round, even outside of conventional growing seasons.
“I produce hot peppers and aubergines during the winter season, although these crops are not typically available at that time, because you have far more control over growing conditions in farming towers than in open-field agriculture. If there is too much rain, the towers can be covered with plastic sheets, and if there is too much sun, they can be placed in locations with reduced sun exposure,” he noted.
“Households can meet their own needs or sell their production, depending on the number of towers they operate. Farming towers can be put on most rooftops, and a 100-square-metre roof can accommodate three towers without exceeding the building’s load-bearing capacity,” Seif added.
“The towers are already being used by many people in different regions, both in rural areas and in Cairo, to grow vegetables as well as ornamental, aromatic, and medicinal plants.”
Shaaban Bayoumi, who trades in vegetables, has also started using farming towers.
“I found vegetables produced from farming towers at one of my neighbours and bought them because some varieties were not available in the market at the time, including arugula [rocket], cauliflowers, cabbages, and onions, some of them out of season,” Bayoumi said.
“The towers can be covered with protective plastic sheets that allow crops to grow outside their normal seasons, and the vegetables are of high quality and can be grown with only a limited use of pesticides.”
For Bayoumi, farming towers are ideal for people only having a small space in which to grow their own vegetables. Moreover, they can grow what they need for their own purposes and then sell the surplus.
“If you grow a plant like arugula in a vertical tower, for example, it can be harvested every five days or so, meaning about five to six times a month. The income raised from selling the arugula produced by a single tower can reach about LE200 per week or around LE800 to LE1,200 a month depending on the price and season.”
“The price of a bunch can reach LE10 out of season, and this can potentially double overall income.”
He said that crops should be chosen for which there is market demand, bearing in mind fluctuating prices at times of shortages or surpluses.
“The spread of farming towers in residential neighbourhoods would reduce the transportation costs for vegetables, increase their availability, and consequently lower prices. Even in the case of cultivation for personal consumption, the wider adoption of the idea would contribute to saving costs and reducing pressure on the market,” he added.
WATER USE: “Vertical farming using agricultural towers can help reduce water waste,” said engineer Mohamed Boshta.
“We have designed vertical farming towers filled with soil instead of hydroponic towers [that only use water] as a practical alternative to some of the drawbacks of hydroponic farming systems,” he said.
“Water-based farming depends on electricity to run pumps throughout the day, which puts crops at risk in case of power cuts, as bacteria may increase and plants may die. Agriculture in Egypt also consumes a large amount of water, especially traditional flood irrigation methods that lead to significant waste. In contrast, soil-based agricultural towers save more than 80 per cent of water through a closed irrigation system that collects, treats, and reuses water.”
The reduction of water through vertical farming goes hand-in-hand with Egypt’s Vision 2030 strategy that aims to reach water security by 2050 and requires efficient water use and the use of non-traditional water resources. It aims to promote water-efficient crops and increase wastewater treatment, particularly in agriculture.
According to Boshta, the controlled water consumption of the towers makes them particularly suitable for farming in desert areas. Egypt’s Desert Research Centre “has requested models of the towers to be used as an alternative to land reclamation in desert areas,” he said, since they “eliminate the need for costly reclamation processes such as drilling wells, transporting soil, and establishing irrigation lines and infrastructure.”
“Maintenance on the towers is carried out after about one-and-a-half years. The structure is dismantled and the soil is renewed by adding organic manure and mixing it inside the tower. This system removes several traditional steps such as ploughing, soil turning, and leveling using tractors, all of which are costly,” he added.
“The soil used in the towers is light and composed of a mixture of clay, organic matter, and compost. This mix allows farmers to control the soil’s quality and reduce maintenance costs compared to conventional agriculture.”
Boshta added that whereas European farming towers are mainly water-based and are usually limited to leafy crops, the soil-based model being pioneered in Egypt allows for the cultivation of a wide range of crops such as tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, cabbages, cauliflowers, and leafy vegetables.
“We have installed tower farming models at the Faculty of Agriculture at Menoufiya University, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has adopted the design for implementation in some African countries to increase agricultural production,” he said.
“Egypt also faces the issue of fragmented land ownership, where many farmers own very small plots of land that do not provide sufficient income while still consuming large amounts of water due to traditional irrigation methods,” Boshta added.
“Such small landholders can use farming towers within their plots and convert them into vertical farming areas. This significantly increases production from the same land area, raises farmers’ incomes, and preserves water resources.”
For agricultural engineer Karim Ghanem, the use of farming towers can reduce the number of steps needed for successful farming. According to traditional practices, a farmer may need to hire around 10 workers to clear the weeds from one feddan of land, whereas weeds do not grow in farming towers because the openings are fully occupied by the plants, which shade the soil and prevent sunlight from reaching any weeds.
In addition, a single tower can contain up to 80 to 100 plants in the same space, which makes it easier for workers to monitor and care for them.
“The use of towers also improves the efficiency of fertilisers, because the flood irrigation used in many parts of Egypt can cause a large portion to be lost,” Ghanem said. “In tower farming, by contrast, the amount of water and nutrients supplied to the plants is precisely controlled.”
“Any excess water is collected and analysed, and if it is suitable, it is reused. This is done after checking its pH level and salinity and identifying the elements that are above or below the soil’s requirements, followed by readjusting the growing medium accordingly.”
Researchers are more and more interested in studying the benefits of farming towers, he said. A researcher can grow plants in separate towers to conduct studies and can measure the amount of water entering the plants and the amount leaving the tower as drainage, clearly showing the water requirements of the plants. It is also possible to measure the nutrients entering the towers and look at what is absorbed by the plants and what leaves the tower as drainage.
“The integrated system used in farming towers provides an accurate picture of the nutrient cycle within the soil and the plants,” Ghanem said.
“They can become integrated experimental units for scientific research, whether in studying water and nutrient consumption or in testing new crop varieties. They can benefit students in their graduation projects and support researchers in experimenting with new plant varieties and modifying them for the local climate.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 7 May, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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