PLANT FACTORY

Plant factory is the fruit of the most advanced modern

agricultural technology. This is a crop-producing technology that
controls systematically sowing, cultivating, and harvesting crops
within an indoor factory.
Plant factory (PF) refers to a plant production facility
consisting of 6 principal components: a thermally insulated and
nearly airtight warehouse-like opaque structure, 4 to 20 tiers
equipped with hydroponic culture beds and lighting devices such
as fluorescent and LED (light emitting diodes) lamps, air
conditioners with air fans, a CO2 supply unit, a nutrient solution
supply unit with water pumps, and an environment control unit.
Workers generally enter the cultivation room of the PF only after
taking a hot water or air shower and wearing clean clothes.

Fig 1. Six principal components of a plant factory (PF)

 Fig 2. Plant factory, a vertical farming system

Using PF, high quality pesticide-free plants are

produced all year round owing to the optimal control of the aerial
and root-zone environment. Leaf vegetables produced in PF are
clean and need no further wash before cooking or processing.
Shelf life of PF-grown vegetables after harvest is doubled
compared to those produced in a greenhouse, because the
bacterial load is generally lower than 300 CFU g-1, which is
1/100th-1/1000th that of field-grown vegetables after washing
with tap water.
Plant Factory aims to provide the change that
agricultural production needs by establishing nature-friendly
technological lands in order to enable urban production and to
feed our society with healthy, nutritious and delicious plants. It is
the real agricultural industrialisation of the era. Indoor farming
implemented through plant factories has the potential to be the
best of both worlds. It could become a viable option in the future,
especially in remote or developing countries that suffer from
extreme climates that heavily impact their crop growth.

Benefits of Plant Factories:

There are many reasons why plant factories are the future of
farming to save the planet earth from food shortages. Here, we list
some of the key benefits of plant factories.
1. Indoor Farming Under Controlled Conditions
Plant factories are operated in indoor spaces under controlled
cultivation conditions such as light, temperature, humidity,
carbon dioxide concentration and culture solution. Growers can
manipulate these conditions all in the plant factories, for optimum
plant growth.
2. Growing Plants 365 Days
The ideal conditions in plant factories enable the growing season
lasts an astounding 365 days a year. There is no need to worry
about the water shortage during drought season or too much
rainfall during the rainy season and also typhoons in some
countries. Plants still can sit happily in plant factories no matter
what the weather condition is. Fresh produce supplies will not be
affected too.
3. Space-saving
Urban farming is the concept that is highly sought after in the
recent years. Plant factories are good candidates for local food
production in crowded and high-cost urban areas around the
world to facilitate fast deliveries of fresh produce. Plants are
grown in stacks or multi-levels instead of barely one level to
maximise the space usage. More plants can be produced this way
and this technique is far more sustainable and cost-efficient.
4. Plants Are Grown Without Soil
Plants are grown hydroponically where roots are submerged in
the nutrient solution. Thus, no water is lost to soil. Moreover, this
allows the plant to uptake its food with very little effort as
opposed to soil where the roots must search for the nutrients and
extract them. This is true even when using rich, organic soil and
top of the line nutrients. The energy expended by the roots in this
process is energy better spent on vegetative growth. That is why
hydroponic plants are growing at a much faster rate than growing
in soil. Thus, harvesting in plant factories are performed far more
frequent than in traditional farming. Another benefit of growing
hydroponic plants is no excessive heavy metals will be absorbed
by plants compared to growing with soil. There are chances where
plants are grown in soil that is polluted with heavy metals in
traditional farming.
5. No Pesticides
This is perhaps the issue that most people are concerning about,
especially those who see healthy diet as an important aspect in
their living. Many of the vegetables grown outdoor using
traditional farming are sprayed with pesticides. Plant factories do
not use any pesticides, neither organic nor chemical, because
plants are grown in an indoor sealed environment that no insects
could enter. Strict rules are often applied to those who enter the
plant factories where special attire is required to prevent insects
and contaminants from harming the plants. So, plants are living
in a safe environment without having to worry about pest attack.
6. Versatility
The beauty of plant factories lies partly in its versatility – the
controlled spaces and conditions that can be replicated anywhere
in the world to address food shortages of the present and future.
Once a certain set of conditions is proven to be workable for some
species of plants, the set of conditions could be transferred to
plant factories located on the other side of the globe.