The Japanese are known for many things: Sushi, Godzilla, and weird tentacle porn. But what you may not know is that they are spearheading the automated vegetable farming industry.

The company is called Spread, and rose out of the radioactive ashes of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. It was a necessity that the island of Japan, with it’s limited supply of arable land, develop a way to make a lot of food in a small space.

The company is primarily focused on growing lettuce; and they aim to increase from 30,000 heads of lettuce a day to 500,000

Their system utilizes vertical farming techniques that increased yield count and reduces waste generation. And currently the only human assistance the lettuce receives is the initial germination of the seeds, the remaining processes have been automated by advance software and hardware.

The scientists have figured the exact cycle of light and darkness the lettuce plants must receive for optimal growth. Spread states that their system grows lettuce 2.5 times faster than a traditional outdoor farm.

It would be interesting to see some more types of vegetables being grown. I could see legumes being easy to produce in a similar fashion. Beans would offer more sustenance than lettuce.

I predict that in the future, as this automated farming industry becomes more sophisticated, people or entities will set up these facilities up and produce extremely low cost food on a massive level.

Considering the facilities would not rely on pesticides, it could be an environmental benefit as well. If set up in Africa, then the growing centers could be a place of education, provide free internet access, and serve as a hub for innovation.

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