PRODUCING VEGETABLES THE GREEN ROOM TECHNOLOGY WAY

From Chiang Hee Tze

TOKYO, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Imagine a time when there will be no land for
cultivation one day. How do we get fresh green food?

Japan seems to offer a solution. A plant factory producing vegetables based
on the Green Room technology which has developed with changes over the decades.

The technology now emphasis more on hydroponic culture, requiring only water
and a nutrient medium to control the cultivation of plants.
Common vegetables are unstable due to climate but the plant factory is kept
stable throughout the year making it possible to produce fresh vegetables, said
the President of Mirai Co. Ltd, Shigeharu Shimamura, and also the founder of the
technology for factory vegetables.

He said this during a media briefing here Tuesday in conjunction with the
Japan Food Business Meeting organised by Japan External Trade Organization
(JETRO).

Mirai was established in 2004 and together with its technological-partner
OZU Corporation, set up the 500-meter square "OZU Fuchu Factory" in 2006. It has
been in the vegetables business since then.

On the technology, Shigeharu said the controlled environment and nutrient
medium also make it possible for the vegetables to have higher nutritional
quality.

Unlike the open-field culture, the factory vegetables taste sweeter and the
bitterness and smells are in control, he said.

This kind of business model or crop production could function in a
building, he said.

"Operators could produce vegetables or herbs which are required in the
market. The size, quantity or quality can be optmised," he added.

Meanwhile, OZU Corporation's faculty supervisor Yuichi Kaneko said while the
common method of vegetable cultivation had their share of risks such as disease,
and attacks from insects, the hydroponic way could reduce these risks.

The company produces vegetables such as lettuce, green leaf, watercress,
basil, potherb mustard and many other items, currently sold at well-known
restaurants. They are also suitable for packing in lunch boxes, hospitals as
well as school canteens and also for sale in vegetable supply companies and
supermarkets.

-- BERNAMA