Plant factories are systems aimed at developing and promoting "science-based agriculture independent of experience and intuition". They represent the introduction and incorporation of technologies that Japanese industry has developed to date, including those in manufacturing, environment monitoring and control, computers, and artificial light, in the domain of agriculture.
METI, which is positioning plant factories as a typical example of collaboration between agriculture, commerce, and industry, established the Plant Factory Working Group under the Agriculture, Commerce and Industry Collaboration Study Group in April 2009 in cooperation with MAFF, and compiled a report describing issues to be addressed, as well as the support required, for the promotion and diffusion of plant factories. The goals set forth in the report are to triple the number of plant factories in Japan in the next three years and to reduce vegetable production costs by 30% by expanding markets for food products from plant factories, by conducting R&D in basic technology, and by improving the business environment through flexible application of regulations (see "Foster Plant Factory - Proposal to Triple Crop Yields in Three Years" Agriculture commerce industry Collaboration Study Group Plant Factory Working Group Report and Related Assistance Measures).
To achieve these goals, the government appropriated approximately 14.6 billion yen in the FY 2009 supplementary budget to support measures to accelerate the promotion and diffusion of plant factories. (This budget includes: (i) ¥6 billion for MAFF to support the introduction of plant factories, (ii) ¥3.6 billion for MAFF and ¥4.7 billion for METI to establish research facilities for plant factories, and (iii) ¥0.3 billion for METI to increase the publicity of plant factories and the agricultural products grown there.
