The shelves house the heads of lettuce grown using artificial intervention without any human intervention. (Image via TreeHugger)

Vertical farming takes off in Japan

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Agriculture& Livestock
Jan 02, 2020
2704
Located near Kyoto, a building, built on an industrial site, stores around 30,000 heads of lettuce grown daily. The unique thing is that these lettuces are grown with artificial light and zero human hand. The sophisticated and “artificial” technique is a product out of Japan’s necessity to think of a way to preserve their agriculture amid the aging population and mass migration.

With the average age of Japanese farmers at 67 and only a few candidates to replace them, Japan is forced to invent the “vertical farming” technique.

Shinji Inada, the head of Spread, a vertical farming and vegetable production company, realized that tech intervention was required.

Spread reaps a quick profit out of it. Annually, Spread produces around 11 million lettuce heads from the Kyoto factory.

The vegetables are put on high shelves. Machines then move the lettuce around the factory to chase the light, temperature, and humidity suitable for the growth of the lettuce. Moreover, the process requires no pesticides nor soil. No human intervention as well, except when they harvest the lettuce.

Inada stated that at the older factory, Spread still relies on human intervention to harvest and move the lettuce.

Through vertical farming, Spread can stably produce in large quantities without fearing the temperature changes. Thanks to that, Spread’s lettuce is sold at a consistent price with consistent quality.

Relentless, Inada aims to expand the production lines closer to where vegetables are largely consumed. Currently, Spread is expanding its factory to Narita, near Tokyo. Moreover, Spread eyes the export to countries with a climate where agriculture is hard to prevail.

Regarding the “environmental awareness” of this technique, Inada said that the pros outwit the cons. Indeed, more energy is consumed compared to the traditional method with the sun, but productivity is higher. Besides, vertical farming uses less water. By vertical farming, Spread produces around eight crops of lettuce annually regardless of the season.

Currently, Japan houses around 200 lettuce-growing, small-scale factories using artificial light to grow their heads. The number is expected to double in 2025.

Other major companies also jumped on the bandwagon. One of which was Mitsubishi Gas Chemical. Building a factory in northeastern Fukushima, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical aims for 32,000 heads of lettuce “DAILY”!

More than just lettuce, tech-grown tomatoes and strawberries under artificial light are coming on your table.

Source: https://bit.ly/37rD3gk

Business , Science , Technology , Farm , Agriculture , Food , Export-Import , Market , Population , Asia , Japan