JAPAN: Largest Indoor Farm: Shigeharu Shimamura's Indoor Farm Sets World Record
Sillona Gramon | World Record Academy • Jan 29, 2020
TOKYO, Japan--Shigeharu Shimamura, a plant physiologist and CEO of Mirai, has constructed a 25,000 square feet of futuristic garden beds nurtured by 17,500 LED lights in a bacteria-free, pesticide-free environment; the farm produces 10,000 Heads of Lettuce a Day, thus setting the world record for being the Largest indoor farm, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.
Built in a location devastated by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the 25,000 square foot factory farm is more than just a proof of concept.
The unique "plant factory" is so efficient that it cuts food waste from the 30 to 40 percent typically seen for lettuce grown outdoors to less than 3 percent for their coreless lettuce.
Conventional farms can grow 26,000 lettuce plants per acre, and farmers tend to plant two to four crops per season. The indoor farm can produce 10,000 heads of lettuce every day on a much smaller footprint.
Shimamura and his Mirai Co. are planning to build similarly large and less-wasteful produce factories in Russia and Hong Kong.
The farm is located in Miyagi Prefecture in eastern Japan, the area that was badly hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011. At 25,000 square feet, it is nearly half the size of a football field, and 17,500 LED lights spread over 18 cultivation racks reaching 15 levels high are a key to the farm’s success.