Proposal for a Compact, Low-cost Vegetable Factory within a Living Space Using Bulb-type Fluorescent Lamps

An indoor, compact, low-cost vegetable production device that can be used within a living space is proposed for use by urban people wanting to produce their own vegetables. Based on measurements of living space environments, the limiting factor for such indoor vegetable cultivation is light intensit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inShokubutsu Kankyo Kogaku Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 187 - 193
Main Authors HOSHI, Takehiko, SHIBATA, Takayasu, FUKASAWA, Kazumasa, FUKASAWA, Toshio, TAKATSUJI, Masamoto
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Fukuoka Japanese Society of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Engineers and Scientists 01.12.2010
Japan Science and Technology Agency
Subjects
cultivation system
hydroponics
kitchen garden
leaf lettuce
plant factory
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Summary:An indoor, compact, low-cost vegetable production device that can be used within a living space is proposed for use by urban people wanting to produce their own vegetables. Based on measurements of living space environments, the limiting factor for such indoor vegetable cultivation is light intensity. Places where human beings can live comfortably do not need special controls for air temperature or CO2 concentration. To reduce costs, the device has only two control functions, hydroponics and artificial lighting. Bulb-type fluorescent lamps, which have the lowest lamp cost per a watt, are used as the light source. The device was designed and built to be produced at a unit cost of approximately 17,000 JPY. The external dimensions are 580 mm high, 590 mm wide, and 330 mm deep, and the device can cultivate up to six heads of leaf lettuce. The results from a series of cultivation tests to grow leafy vegetables show that the device is sufficiently simple that anyone can use it to cultivate vegetables. In the tests, electricity costs, which made up most of the running cost of the device, were approximately 900 JPY for one cultivation batch taking four weeks. Besides helping people easily cultivate their own vegetables, the device teaches the public about the vegetable production technology employed in hydroponic factories. Currently, we are working on developing a device that can be manufactured commercially.
ISSN:1880-2028
1880-3563
DOI:10.2525/shita.22.187