Spread, a new Japanese lettuce production company, is the world's first robot-run farm, harvesting 30,000 heads of lettuce daily, revealing how robots may replace 'farms' in the future. Indoor vegetable factories are part of a booming agricultural trend of vertical farming, where farmers grow crops indoors without natural light, relying on LED light. The company has been growing lettuces for more than two years and plans to expand its operations into other crops, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants and more. Spread says it will reduce labour costs by 50%, cut energy use by 30% and recycle 98% of water needed to grow the crops. Spread is also developing sensors to provide data on how the different types of crops are growing, a rising trend in the industry, which is increasingly turning to "smart farming".
Spread, a new Japanese lettuce production company, is the world's first robot-run farm, harvesting 30,000 heads of lettuce daily, revealing how robots may replace 'farms' in the future. Indoor vegetable factories are part of a booming agricultural trend of vertical farming, where farmers grow crops indoors without natural light, relying on LED light. This increases production, reduces waste, and eliminates the need for pesticides and herbicides associated with outdoor farming. Spread says it will reduce labour costs by 50%, cut energy use by 30% and recycle 98% of water needed to grow the crops. Spread is also developing sensors to provide data on how the different types of crops are growing, a rising trend in the industry, which is increasingly turning to "smart farming".