VFT Global LLC, formerly known as Vertical Farm Technologies, focuses on “controlled environment agriculture,” according to R.J. Brot of VFT’s development team, who presented information Tuesday on the next generation of hydroponic farming to the Resources and Development Committee.

Controlled environment agriculture is “technologically driven greenhouses,” Brot said, like “greenhouses on steroids.” VFT uses controlled environment agriculture to produce pesticide/herbicide-free crops year-round. “The facility that we’re proposing and the facilities that we’re currently involved with grow 365 days a year, producing produce on the highest possible level. ... These are jobs that are there 52 weeks a year.”

He said the company always works with global partners. “That’s why we’re here today — to try to leverage the best project financing and obviously to avail ourselves of the best incentives available.”

Brot said they got involved in hydroponics about three years ago. “My history and background is as a builder and developer. The CEO of this endeavor, whose name is Dennis Levine, who unfortunately couldn’t be here today, has a Wall Street background and has built many other technology companies in the past,” he said.

According to news reports, Dennis B. Levine, a former mergers and acquisitions specialist at Drexel Burnham Lambert, was a prominent player in the Wall Street insider trading scandals of the 1980s. His revelations led to the downfall of Ivan Boesky and an investigation of Wall Street corruption. Levine was charged with insider trading, pleaded guilty in June 1986 and served 18 months of a two-year prison sentence. He now gives lectures on topics such as business ethics.

“We got involved because we were introduced to the problems that the globe was facing as it relates to water, as it relates to food and as it relates to energy,” Brot said. “There are over 1 billion people around the world right now that are undernourished and 100,000 people die every day. What we saw was there was a tremendous opportunity to bring technology to the agriculture field beyond the other technologies that exist right now,” he said. “We believe that there’s a lot of room and a lot of need to feed future generations around the world.”

Brot said the company’s first foray into controlled environment agriculture was in the Middle East, where they have three projects going — in Amman, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Brot said they also have a facility in Tennessee where they can harvest 40,000 heads of lettuce a day. Brot said VFT recognizes that controlled environment agriculture offers an opportunity for Native Americans and particularly for Navajo.

“There typically is high unemployment rates so there is a need for sustainable jobs on a year-round basis,” he said. “We also know that, as in other parts of the world, there is a rise in Type 2 diabetes, particularly amongst children. The best way for dealing with that type of disease is to increase the diet of leafy greens. We understand that members of the reservation don’t have the same kind of access to fresh foods and we want to be there to help produce fresher produce to help feed and also to remedy disease.”

The type of agriculture used requires up to 95 percent less water than traditional agriculture, Brot said. “Additionally, we want to engage, as we do wherever we go, in continued education — education of the populace about sustainability, education about nutrition, and education about the environment.”

He said they work closely with scientific advisers at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the controlled environment agriculture center there, headed by Gene Giacomelli.

When asked after the presentation about the location of the Tennessee facility and how much water would be required for the hydroponic operation on Navajo, Brot and Ivan Gamble of LeChee, who sat with Brot during the presentation, both said that information is “confidential.”

Deswood Tome, policy adviser for Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, also sat with presenters at the Resources meeting. After talking with Brot, Tome later said that the water usage is about 1 1/2 gallons to 2 gallons per head of lettuce.

Tome said he was there to listen to the presentation and that they met with Albert Damon and Raymond Nopah of the Division of Economic Development.

“The Navajo Nation will do full due diligence before entering into a non-disclosure agreement or memorandum of understanding with the company,” Tome said.

Lorenzo Curley of the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission said the Navajo Nation purchased Turquoise Ranch because of the water it offered. It has four water wells, one of which is a high producer, Tome said.