Description Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production provides information on a field that is helping to offset the threats that unusual weather and shortages of land and natural resources bring to the food supply.
As alternative options are needed to ensure adequate and efficient production of food, this book represents the only available resource to take a practical approach to the planning, design, and implementation of plant factory (PF) practices to yield food crops. The PF systems described in this book are based on a plant production system with artificial (electric) lights and include case studies providing lessons learned and best practices from both industrial and crop specific programs.
With insights into the economics as well as the science of PF programs, this book is ideal for those in academic as well as industrial settings.
Key Features
Provides full-scope insight on plant farm, from economics and planning to life-cycle assessment
Presents state-of-the-art plant farm science, written by global leaders in plant farm advancements
Includes case-study examples to provide real-world insights
Table of Contents Part 1: Overview and Concept of Closed Plant Production System (CPPS)
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Role of the Plant Factory With Artificial Lighting (PFAL) in Urban Areas
Chapter 3: PFAL Business and R&D in the World: Current Status and Perspectives
Chapter 4: Plant Factory as a Resource-Efficient Closed Plant Production System
Chapter 5: Micro- and Mini-PFALs for Improving the Quality of Life in Urban Areas
Chapter 6: Rooftop Plant Production Systems in Urban Areas
Part 2: Basics of Physics and Physiology—Environments and Their Effects
Chapter 7: Light
Chapter 8: Physical Environmental Factors and Their Properties
Chapter 9: Photosynthesis and respiration
Chapter 10: Growth, Development, Transpiration and Translocation as Affected by Abiotic Environmental Factors
Chapter 11: Nutrition and Nutrient Uptake in Soilless Culture Systems
Chapter 12: Tipburn
Chapter 13: Functional Components in Leafy Vegetables
Chapter 14: Medicinal Components
Chapter 15: Production of Pharmaceuticals in a Specially Designed Plant Factory
Part 3: System Design, Construction, Cultivation and Management
Chapter 16: Plant Production Process, Floor Plan, and Layout of PFAL
Chapter 17: Hydroponic Systems
Chapter 18: Seeding, Seedling Production and Transplanting
Chapter 19: Transplant Production in Closed Systems
Chapter 20: Photoautotrophic Micropropagation
Chapter 21: Biological Factor Management
Chapter 22: Design and Management of PFAL
Chapter 23: Automated Technology in Plant Factories with Artificial Lighting
Chapter 24: Life Cycle Assessment
Chapter 25: Education, Training, and Intensive Business Forums on Plant Factories
Part 4: PFALs in Operation and its Perspectives
Chapter 26: Selected Commercial PFALs in Japan and Taiwan
Chapter 27: Challenges for the Next-Generation PFAL
Chapter 28: Conclusions: Resource-Saving and Resource-Consuming Characteristics of PFALs
Index
Toyoki Kozai, Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Japan Genhua Niu, Associate Professor, Texas AgriLife Research, El Paso, Texas A&M University, El Paso, TX, USA Michiko Takagaki, Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Japan