U.S.-Based Plant Factory Operator Opens Research Base in Tokyo

Tokyo, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)--U.S.-based plant factory operator Oishii Farm Corp. opened a research and development facility for plant factories in Hamura, western Tokyo, on Wednesday.

Oishii Farm, which produces and sells strawberries in the United States, aims to accelerate research on mass production, productivity improvement, and new fruit and vegetable production by collaborating with Japanese companies with advanced agricultural and industrial technologies.

The Tokyo facility will develop robots and air-conditioning systems for plant factories and conduct research on seeds and seedlings suitable for cultivation.

"If Japan leads the (potentially) 100-trillion-yen industry, it will be one of the biggest winners this century," Oishii Farm CEO Hiroki Koga said at the opening ceremony.

Akira Shimada, president and CEO of telecom giant NTT Inc., a partner of Oishii Farm, said, "We sincerely hope that it will develop as a base for exporting future agriculture."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]