Oishii Farm operates a next-generation plant factory “Mega Farm” pursuing sustainability and automation

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Press release: June 4, 2024
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Oishii Farm operates a next-generation plant factory “Mega Farm” pursuing sustainability and automation
Oishii Farm Corporation (Headquarters: Kearny, United States-based company aiming to realize sustainable agriculture)
New Jersey, United States, CEO: Daiki Koga, hereinafter Oishii Farm) has opened one of the world’s largest plant factories, “Mega Farm,” in New Jersey, pursuing sustainability and automation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCzxdTIq5RA
About the next generation plant factory “Mega Farm”
The mega farm is 22,000 square meters, equivalent to more than three soccer courts.
It has a land area of 1,000 yen, and there are several strawberry farm units lined up inside. Within each farm unit, we create the optimal environment for strawberry growth by automatically controlling all parameters such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, light, and wind speed. In addition, unique technology using AI enables pollination by bees indoors, producing high-quality Japanese strawberries throughout the year.
During the two years from the start of operation of the previous farm to the construction of this mega farm, we made various technological innovations and created a plant factory that boasts overwhelming productivity using a sustainable method.
A new sustainable agricultural system
Globally, agriculture faces many challenges, including abnormal weather, excessive use of pesticides and residual pesticides, and shortages of agricultural land and water. In addition, combined with global population growth, it is predicted that if the current trend continues, a food crisis will occur in the coming decades, making it difficult to obtain fruits and vegetables. Oishii
In order to help solve these issues, Farm has repeatedly developed technologies to realize sustainable agriculture, and has now started operating the mega farm.
The farms within the mega-farm are completely closed plant factories, and are able to consistently produce strawberries all year round, unaffected by the outside climate. By preventing the invasion of pests and fungi, cultivation is possible completely without pesticides. Furthermore, this mega farm was constructed by reusing a former plastic factory, without using any agricultural land.
Additionally, by introducing a new water circulation system developed at an investment of hundreds of millions of yen, we were able to reuse most of the water used.
A common issue with plant factories is high power consumption. This mega farm is 200,000 square meters, which is equivalent to
approximately 5 Tokyo Domes.
It is located next to a solar power plant and uses the green energy produced there. Additionally, we utilize state-of-the-art LEDs that reduce power consumption by 14% per strawberry.
Automation and productivity improvement through the use of robots and AI The mega farm has also made dramatic advances from the previous farm in terms of productivity.
Inside the farm unit, robots monitor the growth of strawberries 24 hours a day and automatically harvest them when they are fully ripe, improving operational efficiency. In addition, image recognition technology and AI (machine learning) are used to acquire 60 billion pieces of data annually, and by understanding and adjusting the environment within each farm unit on a daily basis, we are able to improve the accuracy of pollination success rates and yield
predictions. I am.
Furthermore, by making the 250 strawberry cultivation shelves movable, we created an environment where agricultural managers and robots can operate efficiently.
By improving productivity in each process, we aim to increase yields by 20 times compared to the previous farm.
About the future
Oishii
The farm’s strawberry production has not yet been able to meet the demand across the United States. By dramatically increasing production through the operation of this mega-farm, we will expand our sales area on the East Coast through retail partners such as Whole Foods Market. The mega farm is also creating jobs from the surrounding area and has already hired more than 100 people, including engineers, farm personnel, and facility managers. Recruitment is expected to continue expanding in the future.
Oishii Farm will continue to pursue sustainability while conducting research to further improve productivity and produce new fruits and vegetables.
Comment from Co-founder and CEO Daiki Koga
Oishii
Farm is working to solve global social issues based on traditional Japanese agricultural and industrial techniques. Amid concerns about the sustainability of agriculture, the operation of this mega farm shows the dramatic evolution of technology in just the past two years, and a new form of agriculture that achieves both sustainability and high productivity. I think this is a big step towards the future. We would like to continue to convey the appeal of Japan’s high-quality fruits and vegetables to the world while aiming to realize agriculture that is kind to people and the earth.
* Mega farm overview *
Location: Phillipsburg, New Jersey, United States
Site area: Approximately 22,000 square meters
First operation: November 2023

* company overview *
Company name: Oishii Farm Corporation
Representative: Daiki Koga
Headquarters location: Kearny, New Jersey, United States
Established: December 2016
Company website: https://oishii.com/pages/discover-oishii-jp Recruitment information: https://www.wantedly.com/companies/company_210915

* Contact information *
– Regarding recruitment: * career.jp@oishii.com*
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