Agriculture is the last frontier, and the plant is a plant factory!?

Agriculture is the last frontier, and the plant is a plant factory!?

Takashi Ikeda (Professor of the Faculty of Agriculture, Meiji University) Recently, plant factories have begun to attract attention. The plant factory itself has been studied for about 30 years, but it has been practical. It is said that technology advances are great, but in recent years, problems such as climate change have increased the need for plant factories. A plant factory is a third agricultural and plant factory, in a nutshell, is to make vegetables and other crops indoors, and also refers to that technology. Because it is indoors, there is no light, water, soil, so it is artificially given and agriculture. Agriculture started by creating a field in nature. This is the first agriculture that has continued from the era of Egyptian civilization to today. The second agriculture is greenhouse cultivation that effectively uses sunlight and heat. In Japan, it has become rapidly popular since the war. As a result, for example, tomatoes can be eaten all year round, regardless of the season. And the third agricultural method is to grow crops indoors. Here, the technologies cultivated in greenhouse cultivation and the technologies such as nutritional cultivation, which grows plants with nutrient water without using soil, are used. In other words, a new agricultural factory is a new form of agriculture, which takes advantage of the knowledge and skills learned by people from agriculture that depends on nature and cultivates crops in an artificial environment. So why do we need to create a plant factory? Because the first agriculture is a natural agricultural method, crops may be susceptible to natural conditions such as sunshine and rain. This has become quite noticeable, especially due to recent abnormal weather and climate change. For example, in the summer of 2021, the growth of lettuce was poor due to unseasonable weather, and the market price rose. However, as the weather was stable in the autumn, the growth was improved and the shipment increased, the price dropped at a stretch. In short, stable production and stable supply are difficult due to climate conditions, which affects the price. A plant factory cultivated in an artificial environment will not have such anxiety and can always be supplied at a certain price. This is a great advantage for consumers, as well as agricultural processors and restaurant industries. In addition, since the nutrient solution is used without using soil, the air is artificially managed, so there is almost no illness or insect. Therefore, it is possible to complete completely pesticide -free. Of course, the crops in the fields are also safe because they are managed by safety standards. However, agricultural crops in a plant factory that do not take time and cost of washing are also a great advantage for processors and others. In recent years, plant factories have been attracting attention overseas. For example, even in an environment that is not suitable for agriculture such as a desert, there is an advantage that a plant factory will be able to supply fresh vegetables. In fact, a plant factory is built at the Showa Base in Antarctica, and it is also introduced on large ships with long sails. These benefits of plant factories have become widely recognized. As a result, Japanese plant factories are increasing production every year. Of course, compared to agricultural crops produced in the fields, the amount is insignificant, and it is unlikely to be replaced by field agriculture in the future. However, a plant factory with stable production and high flexibility in various environments believes that the role of its role will increase as a safety net that supports the stable supply of crops.