Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific (Panasonic) recently announced its first indoor vegetable farm in Singapore, which started the pilot supply of locally-harvested vegetables to Japanese restaurant, Ootoya.
Farming in Singapore is constrained by land and only 8% of vegetables consumed are grown in local farms. Panasonic hopes to enhance Singapore’s food security by increasing the self-sufficiency level for leafy vegetables through its new indoor vegetable farm. The company targets to increase its contribution to local production from the current 0.015% to 5% by March 2017.
The farm located at Tuas is the first in Singapore to have an indoor farming license from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA). In the 248m² facility with a controlled soil-based environment and LED lighting, a wide range of crop varieties (10 types) that are pesticide-free and compliant with stringent food safety standards are grown, such as mini red radish; red leafy lettuce; mizuna (potherb mustard), basil, and baby spinach.
With Panasonic’s technological and manufacturing expertise, the vegetables are grown in optimum conditions, where temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels are monitored and controlled, to ensure high-quality production throughout the year. To meet its projected target, the company is planning to increase shelf capacity (vertical farming), shorten cultivation lead time, improve area productivity and expand crop varieties to 30.
The use of technology for growing food is something that the Singapore government is always interested in and looking to adopt, so this new Panasonic indoor farm is a timely solution to meet our food needs and enhance our food security.
Source and images credit: Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific
