ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A unique form of farming is ‘taking rise’ in Albuquerque. Fresh produce is grown indoors in special towers with the help of light technology and water.

Vertical farming is entirely hydroponic, meaning there’s no soil. They’re growing leafy greens and herbs with just lights and water. Technology company Sananbio makes the equipment to get people fresh food — fast.

“We take over old buildings and create urban farms inside of them,” said Michael Yates, Vice President of Technology Sales for Sananbio. “It’s gaining a lot more popularity now with more people seeking hyper-local food and fresh food. Now we have methods, thanks to advances in horticulture lighting to be able to grow food within city centers in this way.”

Sananbio, based in Albuquerque, makes and distributes this technology around the globe. They can place the urban farms in schools, homes and even in old buildings.

“Really, what we want to do is try to empower growers with technology so they can be successful in providing hyper-local food,” said Yates. “We also are putting a really strong focus on empowering communities and bringing together growers and consumers, restaurants, schools, trying to provide better education to children about eating nutritious food.”

The vertical towers allow multiple crops to grow in a small space. Rather than one annual harvest each year, the controlled indoor environment allows farmers to produce fresh food year-round without worrying about changes in the climate outdoors. Yates says the technology also allows them to locally grow produce that may usually grow in only certain parts of the world like Asia or Africa.

“You get hyper-local, fresh produce so instead of food having to travel across the country, or be cut a week or two before it’s actually consumed by the consumer, we can provide leafy greens and culinary herbs to the market within 24 hours of harvest. It allows people to get access to extremely nutritious and flavorful food,” said Yates. “We can do a full harvest each month and provide 12-14 harvests of lettuce or culinary herbs each year.”

Yates says all of their growers are graduates of agriculture programs in New Mexico.

“All of our farmers have actually come up through farming internship programs here in New Mexico,” said Yates. “A lot of our growers have come either from the programs in the Santa Fe Community College or from UNM, so we’re also helping support local communities by hiring local farmers.”

At their current location near Osuna and Jefferson, Sananbio is harvesting about 180 pounds of fresh produce each week. Much of it goes to local restaurants and stores.