It's kinda cool to see vendors like Fujitsu, Sharp or now Toshiba to really go green. I mean producing salads and lettuces in indoor, clean facilities – Indoor Farming Business. No, it's really no joke and it makes sense.
After Sharp producing strawberies in Dubai, Fujitsu has started to grow lettuces in sterilized clean rooms which wasn't used to produce semiconductors at that time. Those buildings were vacant so that's why that project has started.
Now another company, Toshiba trying to grow this kind of business and perhaps that they do not just trying – they are winning! They will produce 3 million heads of lettuce per year. The lettuces are grown in vertical gardens without pesticides, in clean and controled environment. Several different lightings are tested, including LED. The clean environment has several advantages over the standard one.
Toshiba is already producer of air conditioning systems, lighting, power generators or water disinfection, so why not producing salads?
Quote:
Why plant lettuce in a clean room? The obvious answer: Because it’s clean. Everything is tightly controlled, including air pressure, temperature, lighting, bacteria, and dust. The result is a crop that doesn’t need pesticides, doesn’t have bugs, and doesn’t need washing.
The project plans to be exported to other countries which are having difficulties to produce vegetable in normal environment.
Quote:
Today, it’s growing a variety of leafy greens, including endive, Swiss chard, mizuna, arugula, spinach, and red oak lettuce. The company also plans to grow herbs, such as basil and coriander, and other vegetables later.
The high technology is applied to parts of economy which until now struggles and uses pesticides to fight bugs and other enemies, which is NOT the good way to go. the problem with BIO (clean) vegetable is that it's harder to produce as many diseases attacks the plants. So having clean and healthy food (including vegetables) being produced by high-tech companies is certainly smart move.
Image courtesy of QZ.com – Lettuce by Toshiba
Sharp, Toshiba or Fujitsu aren't the only one comagnies trying to make business with something different. Google which has many projects others than business with Adwords, like for example the self-driving car (which is cool as well), or Apple, Samsung trying to make connected high-tech watches. And those are just to few to mention…
For those of you who are in the IT industry, perhaps some of your favorite vendors (EMC, HP, Dell…) might join the revolution as well … -:) Stay tuned..
