Plant Factory, 植物工厂. Part 1. The Farm.

Initially, when I decided on my theme I thought that plant factory was already a developed product and we will be coming here to understand it.
By the way, I am currently on an exchange programme in Zhejiang University,ZJU.
It's ok if you have not heard of ZJU, neither have I before I came here.
Apparently ZJU is one of the top 3 universities in China, I was taken aback when the Chinese folks here were all in awe of me when I told them I am studying in ZJU.
In this programme which is also an internship, there are 10 themes to choose from and one of it is called Plant Factory.

So what is a Plant Factory?

   

Plant + Factory

The starting point of the idea is to mass produce plants for consumption such as our vegetables.

Conventional methods to achieve this aim will require large amounts of land, something that is really scarce in densely populated cities where the demand for vegetables is overwhelming.

Hence, someone thought of an idea.

Why not grow plants indoors?

If that is possible, then we will able to grow plants on a multi-storey platform and save land space.

By growing upwards, we can minimise land usage while increasing plant/crop production.

In addition, conventional methods of grow plants is highly laborious.

However, in a factory we have machines.

This means that we can increase production while minimising the number of "farmers".

Furthermore, indoor farming also comes with many benefits.

When you grow plant in a controlled environment indoor, the plants will not be susceptible to any adverse weather conditions.

The plants will also be free of pest and weeds, hence, pesticides nor herbicides are not required (Yay!).

Therefore, isn't the Plant Factory a really exciting prospect?

However, before we can dive into this illustrious journey of creating a plant factory we must all learn to farm.

Yes, we start from basics and we shall all be farmers.

And this brought us to ZJU's Agricultural and Sci-Tech Complex (Yes, they do have such fields of study in China).

Basically, this place can be described simply as a relatively modern building surrounded by many acres of farming land hidden deep in the countryside.

Get the picture now?

There are no shops nearby and it's all pitch dark outside once nightfall.

In addition, the building is also susceptible to frequent power outages.

But it's ok, cause we are here to farm (in the day).

On the first day, we had a tour of the complex and their farming land to learn more about farming.

Wheat 

We were introduced to different methods of growing plants.

Finally, low and behold.

Their plant factory which is still in an experimental stage.

Of cause, after touring and stuff it's time for us to get dirty.
Time to grow our own crops.

Tilling the ground

Then in a few weeks after sowing the seeds.

Watering

Weeding

And this is what happen when you leave your crops out in the wild.

It's a feast for the bugs.

Plant eaten by insects

We also tried and experienced other methods of planting. For example, hydroponics.

Other methods of planting (hydroponics)

Then there was harvesting, where we picked cherry tomatoes.
Boy, it wasn't easy picking them under the hot and humid environment.
We had to squeeze through the vines and branches which stained our clothes.
It was especially arduous when we had to pick them a day after the rain, the ground was so muddy that our shoes were all caught in mud.

Picking Cherry Tomatoes

So, is plant factory all about farming?

If it is, then what are these boxes?

Well, if you are interested to know more about our little adventure stay tuned to the next episode of Plant Factory, 植物工厂.

-The next generation of farmers.

Scott signs off.