“ECO-FRIENDLY PLANT FACTORY” IS THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE

Plant factory, a system that grows plants in laboratories, is super space-saving and can help growers achieve high-yield, high-quality production. Thanks to new innovation, it can even grow better-tasting crops.

Krisana Tamvimol, CEO of Wangree Health Factory Co., Ltd., said that the inspiration to create a plant factory, a closed plant production system and a futuristic approach to farming, came from the fact that people today are struggling with health and environmental problems.

According to the researches, fresh leafy green vegetables are heavily contaminated with pesticide residues and can cause health risks leading to cancer. Secondly produce from local farmlands are expensive due to high transportation costs. Thirdly, after the harvest, nutrients of fresh vegetables can last only for three days and then its nutritional values will wither away by a three-to fourfold decrease. So storage and transportation process must be high-paced in order that fresh produce can be delivered to consumers as soon as possible.

More importantly, open farming system cannot safeguard the quality of agricultural produce and can expose them to toxic substances, pesticides or even the Covid-19 despite the fact that farmers practice organic farming or grow hydroponic vegetables. Traditional farming normally requires an open land area, which means it’s hard to control.  In comparison, plant factory is a facility that grows plants indoor. Think growing plants in “Laboratories” or in a closed environment free from bacteria, viruses or other contaminants. The factory artificially –hence better- control the cultivation environment such as soils, water, sunlight, temperature or humidity.

Since it’s space-saving, growers can nurture their plants in urban buildings or right in the middle of city center close to their distribution outlets. It can substantially cut transportation costs so consumers can buy fresh, safe and high-quality produce at fair and affordable prices.

Krisana explained that production costs of indoor farming and outdoor farming were pretty much the same. But indoor farm could be space-saving and built near distribution outlets such department stores, restaurants, markets or densely populated areas. So people could have and buy fresh vegetables for the price of organic or hydroponic produce. Moreover, plant factory could use innovations to produce “better-tasting” vegetables.   Some of these innovations were LED grow light and the control of carbon dioxide concentration to help promote photosynthesis and improve the flavor of vegetables. For instance crunchy and sweet leafy greens would be popular among housewives, children and the elderly.

The 40 square-meter indoor farm has a production capacity of 5 tons per month (160 kg. per day) and requires registered capital of 5 million baht and only 3 people to manage. Wangree Health Factory Co., Ltd has established a model farm for research and development in Nakhon Nayok province and is now building Siam Punsook plant factory in Lopburi province. The new 1,000 square-meter factory will have a production capacity of 18 tons per month and be fully equipped with stores selling fresh produce, restaurants and the academy. It aims to build the first agricultural innovation ecosystems in Thailand and be the learning center for indoor farming.

Krisana explained that plant factory was an approach to modern farming which use technology and innovation in lieu of machines and human labors to increase crop yields. Now consumers tend to consume foods not only free of chemicals but also of Covid-19. So governmental and private sectors should work together, making new agricultural innovations and help farmers expand their knowledge in modern farming. In contrast, conventional farming had some disadvantages: It required a large farmland and farmworkers of which the number is exceedingly declining. On the top of that there were now anti-pesticides campaigns all over the world.

Nonetheless, plant factory still had some limitations. It could only grow “leafy greens”. But if we had new agricultural innovations to help expand this concept in growing other fruits and perennial plants or to fishery and animal husbandry, they would enormously bring great economic benefits to Thailand, one of the countries in the world that is very rich in natural resources.