Frontier Farming

A new chapter of farming in the new frontier

I have an acknowledgement, an announcement, and an ask.

The Acknowledgement

This newsletter allows me to share what I learn about controlled environment agriculture (CEA) with people in this industry. And your subscribing as a reader means what I wrote has resonated to some degree.

Thank you for subscribing and supporting my work!

The Announcement

I’m pleased to announce that I have been selected as a Fellow at the Roots of Progress Institute for the 2026 cohort. As a fellow, I will be partaking in the Institute’s mission of developing and sharing ideas to carve out an inspiring vision for an abundant future.

That is why I’m expanding the scope of this newsletter. In addition to CEA for food production here on Earth, I’ll also be exploring CEA for food production in the new frontier—SPACE!

I’ll be exploring cutting-edge technologies to grow food untethered to the soil and sun, for Manhattan and Mars. As such, I am renaming this newsletter to Frontier Farming.

Also, I’m finishing my PhD very soon and expect to publish more content. Specifically, I am planning to publish bi-weekly Research Briefings, where I summarise recently published research papers and extract tangible takeaways for growers and operators.

The Ask

If you know someone who might find value in the expanded scope or the forthcoming research briefings, consider sharing this newsletter with them. This is the best way to support my work and help me provide value.

Ajwal