Spread said it will be completed in mid-2017. The farm is located in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, where industrial robots will be responsible for almost all working indoor farms, thus coping with the labor shortage caused by the aging population in Japan.

Agricultural production puts on "science fiction veil" robot farm era is coming

Instead of manual labor, the robot farm will produce 50,000 trees per day.

“The seeds of lettuce are still being sown by humans, but every step afterwards, from transplanting seedlings to maturity and harvesting, will be done entirely by robots,” said JJ Price, Global Marketing Manager of Spread.

New farms still need manual labor to confirm whether the seeds are germinated. Due to the extremely fragile germination of seeds, existing sowing robots are not able to perform this work smoothly. But the company believes that this problem can be solved.

Robots will greatly increase productivity, and Spread will use robots to increase the daily production of lettuce from 21,000 to 50,000. Moreover, they will also strive to increase the daily output to 500,000 in five years.

Spread's new automation technology not only increases the production of lettuce, but also saves 50% of manpower in production automation. Moreover, the introduction of robotic indoor farms will greatly improve resource utilization efficiency. Spread's indoor farm uses LED light to simulate sunlight, which can save 1/3 of energy consumption; at the same time, 98% of water resources will be recycled. In addition, farm vegetables do not require the use of pesticides.

Spread's indoor farm covers an area of ​​approximately 4,400 square meters and has an investment cost of approximately $16.7 million. Construction began in the spring of 2016 and will be completed in the summer of 2017. Delivery will begin in the second half of 2017, with floor to ceiling Multi-level shelves to grow lettuce. In addition to Kameoka City, Spread plans to build robot farms in more places in Japan, and even hopes to replicate such models overseas.

How long is the robot farm?

When you hear the robot farm, there may be a scene in people's minds: humanoid robots are moving in the ridges, and JJ Price has deliberately eliminated this misunderstanding. He said that the robots in Spread's indoor farm will not be wearing jackets and belts. The "robot" of the hat is more like a conveyor belt equipped with a robot, capable of transplanting lettuce seedlings, watering, and cutting the lettuce heads after the farm harvest in Kyoto, Japan without harming them.

“In human history, there are many examples of using machines and technology to improve agriculture,” Spd. spokesperson JJ Price told a foreign media TechInsider. “After the introduction of plant factories and controllable environmental systems, we can now provide crops. Good growth environment."

Plant plants have adopted vertical indoor crops without natural light crops, and this approach has become more and more a trend. They rely on LED lights and use crops stacked to grow.

In addition to the advantages of increasing and reducing waste, indoor vertical farming also eliminates environmental pollution caused by the loss of pesticides with water, and the chemical products used in traditional outdoor farming can cause damage to the environment.

In addition, artificial lighting and strict temperature and humidity control make it no longer possible to grow vegetables, and it is easier to control and implement production plans.

Spread is also developing sensors to record and provide growth data for specific crop varieties. This type of sensor also has a reminder function to remind staff when the crops are not growing well, and the staff can adjust the technical settings as needed.

This new farm is a big upgrade for Spread's existing indoor farm.

What did the farmers of Spread do after being replaced?

Price said that the resulting increase in profits and material resources can lower the price of agricultural products and benefit consumers.

“Our mission is to build a sustainable society where our future generations will not have to worry about food safety issues,” Price said. “This means we have to make everyone affordable for our products, and we are now starting to cultivate the main crops and plant proteins to really have an impact on society.”

Farm robots will inevitably lead to a reduction in some jobs, but they can also create more interesting new jobs. For example, the farmers of Spread will focus on developing sustainable farming methods and learning how to produce higher quality vegetables.