Advances in Plant Factories

Dr Toyoki Kozai is the former President of Chiba University, Japan, where he is now an Emeritus Professor. Professor Kozai is also the Honorary President of the Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA) and a former President of The Agricultural Academy of Japan. As a pioneer of indoor plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs), also referred to as indoor vertical farming, Professor Kozai is widely regarded as one of the founding figures in PFALs, and vertical farming. He has edited a number of books on PFALs and is the author of over 300 publications on controlled environment agriculture technologies. Dr Eri Hayashi is the President of the JPFA, where she is also the Director of International Relations and Consulting. Eri was Research Project Leader for a national project on Artificial Intelligence- and Phenotyping-based Smart Plant Factories with Artificial Lighting (PFALs). She leads a number of international projects on technology development, has given presentations at a number of international conferences, and has written widely on the topic of smart plant factories. She was a co-convener of the Symposium of Advances in Vertical Farming at the 31st International Horticultural Congress (IHC 2022). She led the JPFA in organizing the first JPFA International Symposium on Plant Factory (ISPF 2023) at Kashiwanoha, Japan. Professor Marcelis is Head of the Horticulture and Product Physiology Group at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. The Group is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading university centres of expertise on greenhouse cultivation and vertical farming. Professor Marcelis is an internationally-recognised authority on the use of light in greenhouse and other protected systems to optimise crop production. Francis Baumont de Oliveira is a PhD Researcher in the Institute for Risk and Uncertainty at the University of Liverpool, UK. Francis has worked with several vertical farming companies as a farm hand and interviewed dozens of operators, gathering experience to build his research from a practical perspective. As a result, he has published 7 refereed papers about indoor vertical farming. He has also developed an open-source software to compare business strategies and assess risk for entrepreneurs and investors in the sector.

Part 1 Introduction: backgrounds, concept and methodology of sustainable PFALs



1. Characteristics, potential and challenges of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs): Introduction: Toyoki Kozai and Eri Hayashi, Japan Plant Factory Association, Japan;
2. Requirements and features of cultivation system modules in advanced plant factories with artificial lighting: Toyoki Kozai and Eri Hayashi, Japan Plant Factory Association, Japan;
3. Research and technology in plant factories with artificial lighting: past, present and future: Ying Liu, Paul Kusuma and Leo F. M. Marcelis, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands;

Part 2 Energy and other resource performance



4. Life cycle assessment of indoor vertical farms: Michael Martin, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden; and Francesco Orsini, University of Bologna, Italy;
5. Reducing carbon emissions from plant factories with artificial lighting: Toyoki Kozai, Japan Plant Factory Association, Japan;
6. Optimizing energy and other resource use in vertical farms: Francesco Orsini, Laura Carotti, Mohammad Kazem Souri, Giuseppina Pennisi and Giorgio Gianquinto, University of Bologna, Italy;
7. Energy consumption in plant factories with artificial lighting: concepts and pathways toward a sustainable future: Michael Eaton and Neil Mattson, Cornell University, USA;
8. Closed plant production systems in vertical farms for a circular economy: Yoshiaki Kitaya, Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan;

Part 3 Phenotyping



9. Application of machine vision in plant factories: Wei Ma and Zhiwei Tian, Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China;
10. Plant phenotyping of individual plants towards optimal environmental control in plant factories: Eri Hayashi, Japan Plant Factory Association, Japan;

Part 4 Spectral manipulations for controlling the growth and quality of leafy greens



11. Growth and quality of lettuce in vertical farms as affected by red:blue and red:far-red ratios: Wenqing Jin, Wageningen University & Research and Priva B.V., The Netherlands; and Hua Li, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands;
12. Spectral manipulations to control growth and quality of lettuce and other leafy greens in vertical farms: Yuxin Tong, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China;
13. Adjusting photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) to improve the quality of leafy vegetables in vertical farms: Qianxixi Min, Leo F. M. Marcelis and Ernst J. Woltering, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands;

Part 5 Spectral manipulations for controlling the growth and quality of ornamentals, fruit vegetables and herbs



14. Effect of far-red light on improving yields of tomatoes produced in vertical farms: Yongran Ji and Michele Butturini, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands;
15. Growth and nutritional contents of medicinal plants and herbs as affected by light and root zone environments in plant factories with artificial lighting: Na Lu, Wenshuo Xu and Duyen T. P. Nguyen, Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Japan;

Part 6 Business case studies



16. Lessons learned from operational and shuttered vertical plant farms: Francis Baumont De Oliveira, University of Liverpool, UK; and Ronald Dyer, University of Sheffield, UK;
17. Design and management of globally-networked plant factories: commercial application and future opportunities: Viviana Correa Galvis, Pádraic J. Flood and Pavlos Kalaitzoglou, Infarm - Indoor Urban Farming B.V., The Netherlands;
18. Oishii Farm: gaining the leading edge in the plant factory business and looking ahead: Hiroki Koga and Kenzo Uchigasaki, Oishii Farm, USA;
19. Data-driven operations for a productive and sustainable plant factory: Katashi Kai and Morio Okabe, Shinnippou Ltd, Japan;
20. Design and management of industrial‑scale vertical farms: Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS): Gonçalo Neves, Andrew Lloyd, Niall Skinner, Douglas Elder, Dave Scott, Niels Kortstee, Emily Seward, Csaba Hornyik, Alexander Keel-Dwyer and Lawrence Ross, Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), UK;

Part 7 Concluding remarks



21. Plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs): Concluding remarks: Eri Hayashi and Toyoki Kozai, Japan Plant Factory Association, Japan;