California is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record, leading to calls for water conservation and awareness among residents. However, if you take a look at where California’s water is going, 80% is used for agriculture with only 20% going to residents. This is for good reason: California grows a third of US vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits. It is the most productive agricultural state in the union.

Thus, the cure for the water shortage lies in reducing agricultural water consumption, and technology developed in Japan has the answer. By growing vegetables in tightly controlled indoor factories, Japanese businesses have been able to grow food 2.5 times faster at 1% of the water cost. Additionally, due to the controlled indoor environment, discarded harvest is cut to just 3% compared to 30–40% in an outdoor field. In total, the gains through factory farms equate to a 100-fold per square foot increase in productivity. This technology is already being used commercially in Japan to grow lettuce and other leafy greens at a profit.

How much real impact will this technology have in California?

Right now, fast growing and fast to market vegetables are the most economically viable. This means that the most immediate and direct impact can be seen in the adoption of this technology for vegetable and hay farming, which make up over a third of California’s agricultural land use. Alfalfa (turned into hay) is a huge water sink, and one of the many reasons that it takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef (no, that number is not a typo). Conversion of vegetable and hay production to an Agtech system would save California about as much water as is used by every California resident, annually. Additionally, this water saving comes with an increase to productivity and food quality.

In fact, the intangible gains are pretty amazing. Rather than having to spend massive resources spraying dangerous pesticides and herbicides on our food, Agtech farms are free of all contamination. This provides the perfect solution to growing concerns of pesticide and herbicide damage to people and the environment. The tight control also allows us to maximize for nutrition, and the sterility of the growing environment contributes to a longer shelf-life.

What are the barriers to Agtech implementation?

Energy usage is another factor to keep in mind. The indoor veggie factories use LED lights specially designed for photosynthesis. Although energy cost for keeping these lights on is substantial, it must be compared to the dirty energy costs of traditional agriculture (10,000–17,000 megajoules per 2.5 acres). Solar energy is continually improving, and Agtech factories can easily rely on renewable energy. LED efficiency is also improving as costs continue to come down.

Scale is also needed for profitability. The biggest veggie factory in Japan produces 10,000 heads of lettuce a day, for about $4.1 million in revenue a year. This means that the up-front costs for infrastructure are moderately high, but at an increase to long-term profits.

How can we implement Agtech ASAP?

The Japanese government is investing $134 million USD for basic research and development, as well as assistance to groups starting veggie factories. To put things in perspective, this is 0.1% of the US Department of Agriculture annual budget. This has allowed for the creation of over 165 vegetable factories in Japan. Seeing as California provides the majority of US food, it would behoove the federal government to ensure that farming practices in California evolve to use a sustainable amount of water. Ideally, the USDA could allocate part of their budget to the development of Agtech, creating several pilot facilities and building more as the advantages become more and more obvious. If they really have trouble coming up with even $100 million dollars, they could always cut from corn and sugar subsidies (but alas, that is an entirely different fight). How exactly the federal (or state!) funds are secured can be up for debate, but even the most bureaucratically blind government should agree that food security is one of the top priorities for the American people, and thus the evolution of agriculture is a worthwhile investment.

Government assistance would greatly accelerate the adoption and development of this technology, but luckily it is already so well proven that businesses can get in the game and earn profit NOW. Entrepreneurs of California, this is a call to you. Establishment of veggie factories close to urban centers can provide fresh, pesticide free produce to millions of inhabitants. All you need is the up front investment cost and a team of food scientists, and you’re on your way to a multi-million (even billion) dollar business. Big businesses like Google, Amazon, and Facebook also stand to gain from getting involved in Agtech. They can surely spend tens of millions of dollars without batting an eye to at least build a few pilot factories. The agriculture industry is worth billions of dollars, and consumers have long been begging for forms of farming that don’t compromise health, safety, and the environment. The chance to solve California’s water problems by futurizing food has never looked so juicy.