[wernercd]

and those productive farms also use copious amounts of water that isn't available otherwise. (IE: piped in from rivers far away causing no shortage of ancillary problems: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/magazine/the-water-wars-o... )

[dv_dt]

Which also brings up a question if indoor farms recycle their water? At the very least, I might expect the transpiration rate to be lower, lowering water use.

[mannerheim]

It comes with its own set of problems, but deserts are not dealbreakers for agriculture as the GP suggests.