In 2017, the world's first fully robotic farm is due to open.

The lettuce factory plans to replace its employees with robots.

• At the moment, the Japanese company Spread grows lettuce in an artificially lit vegetable factory.
• Next year, the company plans to open another factory near Kyoto.
• This futuristic manufacturing facility will be controlled by robots, not humans.
• Spread is planning to automate all six stages of lettuce cultivation.

The Japanese company plans to grow more than 10 million heads of lettuce (lettuce) per year after replacing its employees with robots in 2017.

The introduction of machines will help automate every step of the lettuce cultivation process, from the stage when it grows to the time of sowing, harvesting and, finally, transportation. Of course, it will also be possible to monitor the level of carbon dioxide and lighting conditions.

All this will not only increase production efficiency by about 25%, but is also expected to provide an opportunity to halve wage costs. 



Spread, located in Kyoto, is planning to build another futuristic factory in Kansai Says City in Kizugawa (a city located in Kyoto Prefecture).

Today, Spread produces approximately 7.7 million heads of lettuce per year, and Vegetus, a trademark of the company, can be seen in two thousand Tokyo stores.

The construction of the Kizugawa factory will begin next spring and will last until the summer of 2017 . According to the plan, already in the second half of 2017, the factory will be able to begin supplying goods to customers and consumers.

The size of the new factory will be 4,800 square meters, and the cost is about 2 billion yen (£ 10.8 million, or $ 16.7 million), which also includes the cost of developing machinery.

Although Spread hopes to automate absolutely all production processes, human labor will still be in demand, as only an experienced farmer will be able to determine the germination of lettuce seeds.

Robofermers still can not cope with the process of sowing lettuce, as its sprouts are too fragile.

Spread said that the delivery of goods will begin in 2017 , immediately after the construction of the factory. According to the company's plans, the factory will be able to produce about 80,000 heads of lettuce per day.
 

“In addition, over five years we plan to increase production to 500,000 heads of lettuce per day. Our company will continue to expand its presence both in the domestic market and in the external one, ”Spread representatives said.

 
The main advantage of “vertical farms” is that they are not afraid of variable weather conditions, like any other environmental impact.

Plants are much easier to protect from various sources of pollution, as well as to prevent the ingestion of pesticides. In addition, the task of tracking their diseases is simplified.



However, Spread is not the only company in Japan to grow lettuce. Plant physiologist Shigeharu Shimamura recently established a fairly large farm in Kashiwa (Chiba Prefecture). 

Its size is approximately half the football field (2320 square meters), and specially designed LED lamps are used here. It is located in the semiconductor factory, formerly owned by Sony Corporation.



About 17,500 lamps are distributed over 18 racks with plants, each of which has 16 levels. Also used lighting system imitates the change of day and night. Due to the ability to carefully control the processes of photosynthesis, lettuce grows almost two and a half times faster than on a farm in the open air.

It also reduces production waste by 40%, while the productivity indicator is almost equal to one hundred percent.
 

“I know how to grow good vegetables biologically, which I can do thanks to our equipment,” said Shimamura. 

 
The main source of inspiration for the scientist was the period of his work in Miyagi, a prefecture in eastern Japan, which was badly damaged by a strong earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Then the crops destroyed during the disaster caused food shortages.

The wavelength of LED lighting developed by GE is optimally matched to plant growth. Purple light is used to recreate nighttime conditions, while white light bulbs are used to simulate solar activity that changes throughout the day.