Plant Factory Basics, Applications and Advances

1st Edition - November 16, 2021
Imprint: Academic Press
Editors: Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu, Joseph G. Masabni
Language: English
Paperback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 8 5 1 5 2 - 7
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 8 5 9 2 2 - 6

Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances takes the reader from an overview of the need for and potential of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) in enhan… Read more

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Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances takes the reader from an overview of the need for and potential of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) in enhancing food production and security to the latest advances and benefits of this agriculture environment. Edited by leading experts Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu, and Joseph Masabni, this book aims to provide a platform of PFAL technology and science, including ideas on its extensive business and social applications towards the next-generation PFALs.

The book is presented in four parts: Introduction, Basics, Applications, and Advanced Research. Part 1 covers why PFALs are necessary for urban areas, how they can contribute to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and a definition of PFAL in relation to the term "indoor vertical farm." Part 2 presents SI units and radiometric, photometric, and photonmetric quantities, types, components, and performance of LED luminaires, hydroponics and aquaponics, and plant responses to the growing environment in PFALs. Part 3 describes the indexes and definition of various productivity aspects of PFAL, provides comparisons of the productivity of the past and the present operation of any given PFALs, and compares PFALs with one another from the productivity standpoint by applying the common indexes. Part 4 describes the advances in lighting and their effects on plant growth, breeding of indoor and outdoor crops, production of fruiting vegetables and head vegetables, and concluding with a focus on a human-centered perspective of urban agriculture.

Providing real-world insights and experience, Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances is the ideal resource for those seeking to take the next step in understanding and applying PFAL concepts.

Cover image
Title page
Table of Contents
Copyright
Contributors
Preface
I. Introduction
Chapter 1. Introduction: why plant factories with artificial lighting are necessary
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Global land use and environmental impact of livestock
1.3. Scope and organization of this book
1.4. Conclusion
Chapter 2. Terms related to PFALs
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Vertical farm
Chapter 3. Role and characteristics of PFALs
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Vision, mission, values, and goals of PFALs (Kozai, 2019: Kozai et al., 2020a,b)
3.3. Subgoals of PFALs associated with the SDGs
3.4. Types of plants and products suited for production in PFALs
3.5. Land area required for producing fresh vegetables
3.6. Essential features of PFALs and reasons behind high resource use efficiency
3.7. Aerial environmental characteristics of conventional PFALs to be improved
3.8. Improving subsystems of a cultivation room
3.9. Environmental characteristics of ideal PFALs
3.10. Ideal hydroponic cultivation systems for PFALs
3.11. Challenges to realize sustainable PFALs
3.12. Conclusion
Chapter 4. Contribution of PFALs to the sustainable development goals and beyond
4.1. Introduction
4.2. What is a PFAL?
4.3. Why is the PFAL necessary?
4.4. Sustainable development goals
4.5. Learn a simple ecosystem first, then complex ecosystems
4.6. Conclusion
II. Basics
Chapter 5. Photonmetric quantities and their application
5.1. Introduction
5.2. International system of units
5.3. Photonmetric quantities and their application
5.4. Classification of electromagnetic radiation and light in terms of wavelength
Chapter 6. LED product terminology and performance description of LED luminaires
6.1. Introduction
6.2. LED product terminology
6.3. Performance description of LED luminaires
Chapter 7. Photon efficacy in horticulture: turning LED packages into LED luminaires
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Typical LED package performance
7.3. Current droop
7.4. Thermal droop
7.5. Power supply efficiency
7.6. LED luminaire optical efficiency
7.7. LED luminaire photon efficacy
7.8. LED luminaire longevity
7.9. Continued improvement
Chapter 8. Balances and use efficiencies of CO2, water, and energy
8.1. Introduction
8.2. CO2 balance of the cultivation room
8.3. Water balance of the cultivation room
8.4. Resource use efficiency
8.5. Water use efficiency
8.6. The energy balance of the cultivation room
8.7. Coefficient of performance of air conditioners for cooling
8.8. Conclusion
Appendix: List of symbols, their description, equation numbers, and units
Chapter 9. Hydroponics
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Types of hydroponic systems
9.3. Hydroponic systems for plant factories
9.4. Nutrient solution
9.5. Future perspectives
Chapter 10. Aquaponics
10.1. Introduction
10.2. The basics
10.3. Types of aquaponic systems
10.4. Decoupled aquaponic systems
10.5. Aquaponics realities
10.6. Aquaponics in plant factory
Chapter 11. Plant responses to the environment
11.1. Plant responses to light amount and quality
11.2. Plant responses to temperature
11.3. Plant responses to relative humidity–vapor pressure deficit
11.4. Plant responses to air flow
11.5. Plant responses to atmosphere CO2
11.6. Conclusion
III. Applications
Chapter 12. Productivity: definition and application
12.1. Introduction
12.2. Concept of productivity
12.3. Productivity indexes, definitions, and formulas
12.4. Cultivation space studied
12.5. Case study: resource and monetary productivities and the absolute monetary value
12.6. Factors affecting productivity
12.7. Other issues to be examined in the near future (Kozai, 2018b; Kozai et al., 2020)
12.8. Supplemental explanation and notes
12.9. Closing remark
Chapter 13. How to integrate and to optimize productivity
13.1. Introduction
13.2. Operational efficiency, productivity, and profitability
13.3. Business administration sheet
13.4. How to plan in the “business administration sheet”
13.5. Remarks regarding the sheet
13.6. Resource productivity of photosynthetic photon flux density (μmol/m2s)
13.7. Optimization on the growth curve
13.8. Initial investment as the denominator
13.9. Spacing on the tray and productivity
13.10. Man hour productivity and profitability
13.11. Additional remarks on productivity
13.12. How to raise and to secure the fund?
13.13. Conclusion
Appendix 13.1: Cultivation area elements
Appendix 13.2: Lighting and other elements
Appendix 13.3: Initial investment
Appendix 13.4: Standard operations
Appendix 13.5: Standard operations P/L and cash flow
Appendix 13.6: Budget five years operations
Appendix 13.7: Budget five years P/L and cash flow
Appendix 13.8: Major productivity indexes
Appendix 13.9: Other productivity indexes
Chapter 14. Emerging economics and profitability of PFALs
14.1. Introduction
14.2. The state of knowledge about PFAL profitability
14.3. The U.S. industry landscape
14.4. Profitability scenarios
14.5. Price and revenue implications in the U.S. market
14.6. Closing observations on PFAL profitability
Appendix 14.1
Chapter 15. Business model and cost performance of mini-plant factory in downtown
15.1. Introduction
15.2. Concepts and basic elements of mini-PFALs
15.3. Business models
15.4. Cost performance of Mini-PFALs in downtown
Chapter 16. Indoor production of tomatoes
16.1. Introduction
16.2. Controlled environment agriculture initial assessment
16.3. Justification for fruiting crops
16.4. Tomatoes are a very viable initial option to establish fruiting crops into vertical farming
16.5. Priva Vialux M-Line advantages
IV. Advanced research in PFALs and indoor farms
Chapter 17. Toward an optimal spectrum for photosynthesis and plant morphology in LED-based crop cultivation
17.1. Introduction
17.2. Photosynthesis overview
17.3. Morphology overview
17.4. General effects of spectrum
17.5. Concluding remarks
Chapter 18. Indoor lighting effects on plant nutritional compounds
18.1. Introduction
18.2. Regulation by light quantity
18.3. Regulation by photon spectrum
18.4. Conclusion
Chapter 19. Indoor production of ornamental seedlings, vegetable transplants, and microgreens
19.1. Introduction
19.2. Floriculture plugs
19.3. Floriculture liners
19.4. Vegetable transplants
19.5. Microgreens
19.6. Conclusion
Chapter 20. Molecular breeding of miraculin-accumulating tomatoes with suitable traits for cultivation in plant factories with artificial lightings and the optimization of cultivation methods
20.1. Introduction
20.2. Molecular breeding to optimized tomato lines in a plant factory with artificial lighting
20.3. Optimization for production of recombinant miraculin in a plant factory with artificial lighting
20.4. Conclusions
Chapter 21. Environmental control of PFALs
21.1. Introduction
21.2. Airflow and distribution
21.3. Humidity control
21.4. CO2 control
21.5. HVAC optimization
21.6. Technology trends
Chapter 22. Human-centered perspective on urban agriculture
22.1. Introduction
22.2. Nature therapy
22.3. Benefits of urban green space in nature therapy
22.4. The status, benefits, and problems of urban agriculture
22.5. Conclusion
Chapter 23. Toward commercial production of head vegetables in plant factories with artificial lighting
23.1. Introduction
23.2. Advantages of plant factories with artificial lighting in head vegetable production
23.3. Mini review of head formation, green light effect, and tipburn
23.4. Research topics on production of head vegetables in plant factories with artificial lighting
23.5. Production of root vegetables in plant factories with artificial lighting
23.6. Conclusion
Chapter 24. Concluding remarks
24.1. Introduction
24.2. Unique features of PFALs
24.3. Diversity and commonality
24.4. Challenges of sustainable PFALs and opportunities
24.5. Conclusion
Index

Toyoki Kozai

Toyoki Kozai Ph.D, is the president of The Agricultural Academy of Japan. After establishing his early work on greenhouse light environments, energy savings, ventilation, and computer applications, his scientific interest was extended to in-vitro environments and their control for sugar-free medium micro-propagation and transplant production in closed systems using artificial lighting. He served as President of the Japan Plant Factory Association (a non-profit organization) and is leading the research and development of controlled environmental greenhouses using heat pumps, artificial lighting, fogging, CO2 enrichment, and nutrient solution control systems. Selected awards are Lifetime Achievement Award (2009) from Society of In Vitro Biology, USA. The 2002 Purple Ribbon Award from Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. Japan Prize of Agricultural Sciences from Association of Japanese Agricultural Scientific Societies, 2018 honorary PhD degree from Mahidol University, Thailand ‘The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star’ from Japanese Government 2019.

Affiliations and expertise

Japan Plant Factory Association (NPO), Chiba, Japan

Genhua Niu

Dr. Genhua is a professor in urban horticulture with Texas A&M AgriLife Research at Dallas and Department of Horticultural Sciences. Her area of expertise is controlled environment agriculture and plant stress physiology. Her current research focuses on hydroponics, nutrition management, LED lighting, optimization of growing environment, and development of best management practices related to urban controlled environment agriculture. She is the co-editor and author of the book “Plant Factory - Indoor Vertical Farming for Efficient Quality Food Production” (1st & 2nd edition). Dr. Niu received several awards from Texas A&M University for her service and research, American Society for Horticultural Science, and USDA-NIFA.

Affiliations and expertise

Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas, Texas A&M University System, Dallas, TX, USA

Joseph G. Masabni

Dr. Masabni is the small-acreage extension vegetable specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. His extension effort focuses on small-acreage vegetable production and urban horticulture including traditional open field vegetable production and high tunnels for season extension. Dr. Masabni’s outreach and interaction with vegetable producers has helped identify and focus research needs in sustainable vegetable production. Thus, his recent research and extension interests have expanded to soilless cultivation, hydroponics, and aquaponics in high tunnels and greenhouses. Dr. Masabni organizes webinars and annual workshops. He has designed three online self-paced educational courses as a teaching resource to the public. He writes extension articles on a regular basis and has delivered hundreds of presentations at international, national, and regional scientific and grower conferences, and to the public.

Affiliations and expertise

Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas, Texas A&M University System, Dallas, TX, USA

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Plant Factory Basics, Applications and Advances

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