Japan has unveiled a new ¥700m (US$6.45m) factory to grow leafy vegetables exclusively under artificial light on an industrial scale.
Osaka Prefectural University opened its GreenClocks New Generation City farm last week (19 September) in a bid to encourage similar commercial production ventures.
The factory, which covers 1,300m2, is powered by 13,000 Philips GreenPower LED lights designed for multi-layer vegetable production, and is expected to produce 5,000 stocks of leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, each day.
GreenClocks will market the produce in Japan under the Gakuensai brand from early October.
“The farm will make a social contribution in the agricultural field by offering a verification model in which corporations, universities and the government are closely involved,' says Philips Horticulture LED Solutionsglobal marcom manager Marjan Welvaarts.
“GCN City farm is expected to function as a central site that promotes the development and use of ground-breaking technology in factory plants.”
Using the latest LED technology and advanced knowledge from the Netherlands, Philips supplies LED lighting solutions for horticultural purposes to businesses all over the world, Welvaarts adds.
“Based on extensive experience gained over many years and through close cooperation with vegetable growers around the world, Philips has conducted numerous experiments and research to investigate the link between lighting and plant growth cycles.”
