Firms tap AI and sensors to boost indoor farming as Japan faces farmer shortage
Source: VFD.com
Firms tap AI and sensors to boost indoor farming as Japan faces farmer shortage Thanks! Oishii Farm, which runs a strawberry factory in the United States, recently established a new research and development base in the city of Hamura in western Tokyo.
The company uses AI to manage the breeding environment for bees, which are essential for pollination. The technology has raised the pollination rate for its strawberries to 95%.
"We're able to achieve hundreds of years' worth of traditional outdoor breeding progress within a single year," said Hiroki Koga, co-founder and CEO of Oishii Farm, emphasizing the benefits of plant factories unaffected by seasons or weather. In June, telecommunications operator NTT East and other companies launched an aquaponics test in Tokyo that combines the cultivation of Japanese nishikigoi ornamental carp and ginseng.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
