Indoor vegetable factories in Japan

A new indoor farming technique is growing in Japan, and on the 2nd of July the largest production factory of its kind opened in Miyagi. The technique was developed by the Mirai company. Such farming means that producers no longer rely on the weather, plants grow faster, do not need pesticides and can be produced anywhere.

Within the 1,400 square metre factory in Miyagi, 10,000 lettuces can be produced per day. This is the largest factory of its type in the world. Similar structures exist on 12 other sites in Japan.

It has taken time to develop this technique because of the size of the lighting. Until now the electricity costs for such farms has been too high in comparison to traditional farming methods. These new diodes consume about 40% less electricity than fluorescent tubes and allow production to increase by half. For the time being varieties of salad and some herbs (e.g. peppered mint and coriander) are the only vegetables grown in such instalments.

Having discovered that such farming methods can be profitable, Mirai hopes to export their discovery worldwide and aims mainly at South-East Asia, the USA and the Middle East.