ABSTRACT
One of our greatest challenges in the 21st century is how to sufficiently and sustainably feed nutritional and safe foods to the world population. Plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL) is a closed plant production system. Regardless of environments outside, PFAL is considered as alternative technology for food and feed production with high efficiency, high quality and low risk to health of customers. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide the basic information of current situation, direction, government policy and support and challenges of PFAL technology in Thailand. PFAL was introduced to Thailand in the early of 2000s for academic purposes. Several universities and research institutes have played more attention on research and development on plant production in PFAL as well as developing new PFAL systems for their research purposes. Moreover, PFAL is now attracting great attention among plant producers because it creates new markets and business opportunities. The government has launched a policy of using advanced technology for strengthening the agricultural sector, and PFAL technology is considered as a frontier technology in agricultural sector to be an engine driving BCG (bioeconomy, circular economy and green economy) model including the establishment of large-scale plant factories as for The Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation of Thailand or EECi have planned to establish large-scale plant factories for demonstration and training sites which is a part of technology implementation. The Board of Investment of Thailand or BOI have added the PFAL as a new activity eligible for BOI incentives to promote this technology. However, the challenges of this technology are high initial (construction) and production costs. Moreover, shortages of knowledge, knowhow and best practice in plant production under controlled environments and lack of skilled operators may be the encountering problems on how to adopt this technology for plant production on an industrial scale. To ensure the sustainable growth of PFAL industry, the government should support the business by research investment and subsidy for PFAL construction, PFAL and PFAL-related technology development as well as promoting the technology for commercial scale plant production.
Keywords: bioeconomy, closed plant production system, environmental control, medicinal plant, plant factory,
INTRODUCTION
One of our greatest challenges in the 21st century is how to sufficiently and sustainably feed nutritional and safe foods to the world population. According to the world population prospects 2019 reported by the United Nations (UN, 2019), the world population is estimated to be 7.7 billion in 2015, and projected to grow to more than 9.1 and 11.2 billion by 2050 and 2100, respectively (FAO, 2017). The rapid growth in population, urbanization and ageing have shaped socio-economy and agricultural production. A huge demand for food production is rapidly increasing, but food supply especially from agricultural production is slowly increasing; the increasing supply seems not to meet the increasing demand. Shortage and competition of natural resources such as agricultural land and water from agriculture, industry and cities are important limiting factors for agricultural production. Since the green revolution in 1950 till now, the expansion of agricultural lands is still a major driving force for deforestation; this clearly reveals that increase in agricultural land by deforestation is not a choice for increasing productivity. Moreover, climate change and variable environments that are not proper for plant growth and productivity significantly reduce yields of field crops and horticultures, and this makes the situation of food shortages even worse. Today, not only food security is very important, but also nutrition security. Malnutrition, i.e. under nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight and obesity are still a major cause of various diseases and deaths especially in young children around the world (UNICEF, WHO & World Bank, 2016). In addition, unsafe foods including contaminated foods with heavy metals, microbials and pesticides have become serious problems to public health. Therefore, the challenge in how to feed the world population is a challenge in invention of a new agricultural cultivation system that sustainably improves agricultural productivity, nutrition and/or function of foods, and resource use efficiency, and at the same time protect health as well as natural environments.
Plant factories as closed plant production systems or indoor vertical farms, are built of warehouse like structures equipped with thermally insulated walls, cultivation systems having multiple shelves, artificial lighting, and other necessary devices such as air conditioners, air ventilation, CO2 and nutrient supply and control units (Kozai et al., 2020). This plant production system could be used to continuously produce plants under controlled environments, regardless of outside environments, allowing anywhere and anytime production. The major environments being controlled to promote plant growth and development are light (intensity, spectrum and period), CO2 concentration, nutrients, temperature, humidity and wind speed. In open field and greenhouses, the previously mentioned environments are not controllable. Hence, optimally controlled environments in plant factories could promote growth and development of plants, resulting in higher yield than those grown in open field or in greenhouses. Being able to manipulate environments stably and precisely, the plant factories allow producing high quality products of medicinal plants and functional vegetables either enriched with desired phytochemicals for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries or lowered undesired substances such as low-potassium vegetables for kidney disease patients (Kameoka and Hashimoto, 2019; Nakamura and Shimizu, 2019; Zobayed, 2020). With multiple shelves stacked vertically inside the plant factory, the cultivation system increases high land use efficiency. The plant factories with proper design and management can provide high resource use efficiency (CO2, water, fertilizers, etc.) due to recycling system of the resources, and can be achieved with minimum of pollutant emission and wastes. Moreover, produced in almost nearly airtight warehouses with intensively controlled hygiene environments, the plant products are free from pesticides and less contaminated with microbes, generally 102 -106 colony conforming unit per gram (CFU g-1) resulting in longer shelf life (Kubota, 2020). Being built anywhere regardless of solar light and soil, plant factories can reduce energy for transportation when built near urban areas. However, there are many disadvantages of plant factories, and the disadvantages are the high initial and production cost. The high initial cost is the high cost of construction of building, materials and equipment. The high production costs are mainly costs of electricity and labor (Kozai and Nui, 2020). The better design, skillfulness of labor and management could help in reducing initial and production costs. For example, a better design of the lighting system (placement of light bulbs or tubes) can increase light intensity and improve light distribution on cultivation panels, on the other hands the better design can reduce the number of bulbs or tubes in cultivated shelves. The reduced number of bulbs or tubes could reduce not only the initial cost for lighting system in the PFAL construction, but also could reduce the production cost since electricity charge for lighting is one of major production cost (Kozai et al., 2020). Other challenges of having plant factories are breeding new crops suited for plant factories, optimally controlling environment to meet the best produce (or meeting crop requirement), culture information, and marketing of produce.
Thailand is a resource rich country with high potential to be a “kitchen of the world,” even though the agricultural sector of Thailand is contributing only about 8% to the national GDP. Thai government addressed a policy on food security, quality and safety that Thai citizens have right to receive enough food with a certain quality and safety. However, the Thai National Food Committee (TNFC) revealed that the threatening factors to food security, quality and safety of Thailand are shortages of resources for agricultural production, i.e. land use, water and labor. In addition, the climate change also threatens food situation by lowering agricultural productivity. There is immense increase in demand of high quality medicinal plants or herbs as supply for industries of pharmaceutical and cosmetics especially in the crisis situation of expansion of plagues. The major encountering problem for high quality herb production is instability of production among seasons and instability of quality (concentration of bioactive compounds). In Thailand, share of urban population to total population has increased from 42% in 2009 to 50% in 2019 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/455942/urbanization-in-thailand/). This urbanization causes big problems of not only labor shortage in agricultural production, but also relocation of agricultural markets resulting in higher cost of logistics, subsequently the whole cost of products. In order to solve the previously mentioned problems and to achieve the mission of addressed policy of the government, plant factories may be the alternative technology. Moreover, plant factories are now attracting great attention among plant producers because they create new markets and business opportunities. For example, less bitter of fresh vegetables can be produced under controlled environment in plant factories; this product is good for children and can be sold in high price. One big problem of exporting fresh vegetables and herbs is being rejected due to being contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides (Commission Regulation (EC) No. 669/2009 edited by Commission Regulation (EU) 212/2010). Production of fresh vegetables and herbs in plant factories can control and reduce the contaminants efficiently, and could be an alternative for solving export problems.
Therefore, this article briefly describes the current situation, direction, policy support and challenges of plant factories (mainly, plant factory with artificial lighting: PFAL) in Thailand.
CURRENT SITUATION OF PLANT FACTORIES IN THAILAND
The plants produced in closed or semi-closed production systems started at the late 1980s. Greenhouses and glass houses have been used for plant production in closed or semi-closed environment. In the early 2000s, PFAL has been introduced to Thailand, mainly for research and development in universities and research institutes. A few researches on PFAL were conducted by companies. During the last few years, there has been immense interest in PFALs not only for the research and development but also for plant production in commercial. Therefore, in this section the current situation on PFAL in Thailand including research and development (R&D) of government and private sectors are described. Furthermore, commercialization and related business on PFAL are discussed.
Research and Development
PFAL R&D in Thailand started in the early of 2000s. Since then, the R&D continued conducting during the last two decades (Table 1). At Mahidol University, the miniPFAL called ‘Plantopia was established in 2002 and used for researches focusing on investigating the environmental effects on growth and phytochemical substances of medicinal plants. In 2005, the container-type PFAL was constructed at Kanchanaburi Campus of Mahido University, and applied to study of high-value leafy vegetables, as well as to develop environment control systems including some environment control devices, e.g., sensors and controllers. Recently, Mahidol University collaborated with Chiba University, Japan established MU-CU PFAL research and training center for developing a pilot models of mobile PFAL for industrial scale production of leafy vegetables and medicinal plants (Chintakovid and Supaibulwatana, 2020). In 2008, the National Center for Genetic and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) started a contracted research with a private company to grow leafy vegetables (leaf lettuces) in a 2 ´ 3 m3 PFAL equipped with fluorescent lighting in order to study cost/benefit analysis. In 2018, the BIOTEC received a BigRock project funding from Thai Government to establish a PFAL with production area of 915 m2 and a model-type community scale PFAL to develop the advance technology for production of high quality herb and functional vegetables (Figure 1) (Chintakovid and Supaibulwatana, 2020). At present, researches are focused on the Thai traditional herbs, i.e. Asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica), king of bitter (Andrographis paniculata), Holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), and leafy vegetables. Maejo University, one of the leaders in agricultural research, started the research on petunia seed production in 2012, then PFAL system was applied to produce high quality seed of petunia and other flower crops (Sakonwaee et al., 2017). The King Monkut’ University of Technolgoy North Bangkok (KMUTNB) has conducted the production of organic vegetables using PFAL system since 2015. Kasetsart University, an agricultural academy, established a container-type PFAL facilitating research on phenotyping and plant production of orchids and herbs in 2018. Furthermore they constructed two PFALs with more than 128 m2 planting area for high-quality plant production serving cosmetic industry. Civic media Co., Ltd., one of leading company in LED business, has been interested in developing suitable LED for plant production. The company started researches on effects of light spectrum on growth and development of leafy vegetables and strawberries. In 2019, King Monkut’s University of Thonburi applied PFAL to produce high quality young sprouts of vegetables and herbs, and Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) has studied the production of Marihuana (Cannabis sativa) in a PFAL (Table 1). Recently, the King Monkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang has constructed a container type PFALs for researches on plant production under controlled environments.
Plant factory R&D in PFAL system, devices, machines and artificial intelligent systems have been started since 2010. Growlab Agritech (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was funded by National Innovation Agency (NIA) for development of PFAL system, advised by Mahidol University. They also formed a startup business of indoor hops with specially designed LED lighting system (Chintakovid and Supaibulwatana, 2000). Agro Intelligent Co., Ltd. started their business of construction and control system in PFALs as well as in smart greenhouse. Collaborated with Hanmo Co., Ltd., Japan and Mahidol University, Agro Intelligent Co., Ltd. has developed household type plant factories. The GROBOT model, a household PFAL with smart device and automated system, has been introduced to customers who are interested in high quality vegetable in their houses or condominiums. The King Monkut’ University of Technology North Bangkok developed an innovation of PFAL system for production of organic vegetables and herbs. In 2016 Mahidol University paid high attention in researches on cultivation system, lighting systems, control systems and data storage and analysis system as well as established a joint collaboration with Chiba University, Japan in PFAL Research and Training center, located at the faculty of Science. Civic media Co., Ltd. and AgroLab Co., Ltd. are the two PFAL manufacturer companies leading in the innovation and design of PFAL construction, lighting system cultivation system as well as control device and automation systems in PFALs. They provide many customers on-demand PFAL systems, not only with closed plant production systems but also semi-closed and open plant production system such as smart greenhouses and microcontroller devices.
In conclusion, research and development on PFALs in Thailand during last two decades can be divided into 3 main topics: 1. Effects of controlled environments on growth; development and phytochemical of vegetables; and herbs, 2. PFAL system including constructs, cultivation system, lighting systems, control system; and 3. PFALs managements for applying PFALs technology and internet of things (IoT) to produce plant industrially with lowering production cost.
PFAL business in Thailand
Since PFAL technology was introduced to Thailand in the early 2000s, it is attracting attention especially in agricultural business. This may be because it creates a new market for agricultural products, e.g. clean and safe products (without toxic contaminants), and high quality raw materials for medicinal and cosmetic industries. Till now, there have been more than 7 companies employing PFALs for high-quality and safety plant production (Table 3). The noBitter Co., Ltd. was founded in 2018 as a start-up company, constructing small commercial plant factories located in urban areas around Bangkok, Thailand. They have been producing high-quality and hygienic vegetables, e.g. kales (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) for city people. The trademark ‘noBitter’ represents the quality and taste of vegetables they produced. WangreeFresh® is a trademark of a startup company funded by NIA to develop a prototype of PFAL. In 2018, a successfully designed PFAL was built at Wanree Resort, Nakoh Nauok, Thailand. With planting area of 100 m2, the PFAL of WangreeFresh has produced many leafy vegetables e.g. kale, greenoak etc. Moreover, they have started the Siam Pun suk plant factory project at Prabath Nampu Temple, Saraburee province. In this project, a large scale of PFAL with 1,800 m2 planting area is under construction. Civic media Co., Ltd., a company leading in LED products, has created a new line of their business; PFAL system and products from PFALs. They mainly produce fresh leafy vegetables in trademark of ‘LEDFARM’. They have invested money not only for plant production from PFALs but also for research and development on PFAL to find the best solution for their customers. VT Namnueng is a Vietnamese restaurant company producing Vietnamese style foods (www.vtnamnueng.net), which require large quantities and high quality of various vegetables. In 2020, they invested more than 100 million Baht (3.2 million US$) to build a large scale PFAL with production capacity of 1,000 kg fresh veggie/day to produce vegetables on their demand such as lettuce (Lactuca sativa), kitchen mint (Mentha ´ villosa Huds), and culanttro (Eryngium foetidum). The technology for building VT Namnueng PFAL is from a Japanese company, Hanmo Co., Ltd. After building, this PFAL will be the biggest PFAL in Thailand.
The four companies including Agrolab Co., Ltd., Growlab Agritech Co., Ltd., Agro Intelligent CO., Ltd. and Taiki-sha (Thailand) Co., Ltd. run their business of PFAL design and construct on customer demands. The design and construct include warehouse-like structure with insulated wall, lighting system, environment controlled systems (air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, wind speed and nutrient solution), cultivation system (hydroponics and aeroponics), and IoT based device for controlling and data storage as well as robot and artificial intelligence (A.I.) in plant production.
Related business to PFAL
The related business to PFAL can be divided into two types of businesses: 1) businesses related to PFAL system, and 2) businesses related to products from PFAL. The PFAL system consists of “building and infrastructure”, “facilities and equipment” and “measurement and control” (Kozai et al., 2020). Therefore, there are several related businesses according to the components of PFAL; - hardware - thermally insulated wall, lighting system including LED with control system, the cultivation system, air temperature and humidity control systems, CO2 supply system and control, nutrient control system, as well as – software- automatic control and interface, data storage and data analysis, and artificial intelligent, etc.
DIRECTION
It has been almost two decades that PFALs have been introduced to Thailand, but not many PFALs are constructed for R&D. Moreover, there have been very few PFALs constructed for plant production in commercial, and all of them are small to medium type of PFALs, except that of VT Namnueng company. To date, the PFAL research and commercialization have been directed for improving the quality of life in urban areas and for producing raw plant materials for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.
PFALs for improving the quality of life in urban area
The urban population in Thailand has reached 35 million people or 51% of Thailand population in 2019 (statista.com, 2021). The traditional systems of producing fresh food in agricultural area and transporting to urban area have changed to a new system of producing in urban area. The trend of healthy and safe foods has risen rapidly. Functional foods as medicine concept have been accepted widely. To these requirements of urban residents, PFAL can serve by producing fresh vegetables for local consumption (less logistics cost). Due to precisely controlled environments and being pesticide free, the plant products with high quality and safety can be guaranteed. Inducing and controlling nutrients and phytochemicals of plant produced in PFAL could allow functional food production such as low potassium vegetable for patients with kidney diseases (Kameoka and Hashimoto, 2019). Furthermore, PFALs can produce more with less resource consumption including land use, water, fertilizers, and labor, and with less wastes releasing to the nature. Therefore, PFALs can allow us to improve the quality of life in urban area. For example, the noBitter Co., Ltd., one of the leading companies of PFAL business has started producing high-quality vegetables for local consumption. They built 4 small-to-medium PFALs around Bangkok. They provide fresh and safety vegetables to local customers by a model of online marketing (https://nobitter.life/where-we-are/). The customers order and choose how to receive the products (picking up themselves or delivery) at the nearest PFALs. Another model of online marketing of vegetables from PFALs products is pre-order and networking customer. Wangree Fresh Co., Ltd. offers its customers with a pre-ordered vegetables from PFALs. If the customer can form up their network containing more than 10 customers living in the same area (e.g. living in the same village), the price of the product would be 60% discount for all customers (manager interview by the author). With these marketing models, the logistic cost can be minimized. This business of producing vegetables using PFAL in urban area is attracting many companies both start up and big companies.
PFALs for production of raw plant materials for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries
Thailand is a resource-rich country, especially medicinal plants as phytochemical resources for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Thai government has policies to make Thailand a hub of wellness and medicinal services, called “Thailand medical hub of Asia”. However, medicinal plant production under variation of environment in field condition has been accompanied by issues of quality and consistency of the phytochemical substances. Recent research indicates that cultivating medicinal plants under controlled environments such as temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, light quality etc. can ensure the efficacy and safety of the medicinal plant products (Zobayed, 2020). At present, funding sources from government and private sectors are provided more for research and development of medicinal plants production under controlled environment in PFAL. For example, production of Andrographis paniculata in PFAL are under investigation at PFAL of BIOTEC, Thailand. Moreover, the research on the production of some medicinal plants such as Asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica), and holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) has been conducted for phytochemical substances serving the cosmetic industries. The Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) (please note that this plant may be prohibited to grow in other countries.) has been raised as an important medicinal plant in Thailand due to its properties of containing medicinal substances. In 2019. Thai government has amended Narcotics Act on Cannabis (Narcrotics Act B.E. 2522 (1979) (As amended up to Narcotics Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562 (2019)) for medical purposes, allowing evidence-based treatments for patients (https://www.theworldlawgroup.com/writable/resources/Practice-Groups/Cann...). The production of Cannabis for medical as well as research purposes has to be proceeded under highly strict regulation supervised by Thai FDA. There has been, therefore, high interest in applying PFAL technology for cannabis production. National Science and Development Agency (NSTDA) and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) have launched the research projects of cannabis production under controlled environment in Plant Factories with an aim to establish a standard protocol of high-quality cannabis plant. Under the national strategic plan of BCG (bioeconomy, circular economy and green economy) model addressed by the government, the major R&D organization and funding agencies e.g. National Innovation Agency (NIA) have provided research funds to universities and private companies to conduct their researched in field of PFAL.
POLICY and SUPPORT
Thai government by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation officially launched a policy of using advanced technology driving a new s-curve economy of Thailand. PFAL technology is considered as a frontier technology in agricultural sector to be an engine driving BCG (bioeconomy, circular economy and green economy) model via BigRock Project and EECi. Moreover, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) approved the PFAL as one of five large scale projects to strengthen the country’s agricultural sector.
BigRock Project
In 2018, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation officially launched a policy of using advanced technology driving a new s-curve economy of Thailand. They funded US$105.04 million for 14 BigRock projects. PFAL was one of chosen as part of Advance Technology for Production of High Quality Herb Project with the aim of improving standard production of Thai medicinal herbs. PFAL and other related facilities were constructed and equipped at National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in 2019. This PFAL consists of a pilot scale production unit with a production area of 690 m2 and three research units with a production area of 225 m2. Other related facilities and equipment are a biochemical extraction and analysis room with analysis equipment (e.g. LCMS, HPLC and UV-spectrophotometer) and a plant tissue culture room with equipment. The main goal of this project is to establish basic research and development of PFAL for vegetable and medicinal plant production.
Plant Factory at EECi
The Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation or EECi is an innovation hub located in Wangchan District, Rayong Province. In EECi BIOPOLIS, plant factory with fully controlled environment will be established and provide to research of large-scale production of high-valuable crops. This facility can also serve as a demonstration site for trials in large-scale production and training site for technology transfer to plant growers and entrepreneurs (https://www.eeci.or.th/en/rental-space/greenhouse-plant-factory). The floor area of 2 modules of plant factory will be 425 m2 with 9.55 m ceiling height and 1,000 kg/m2 floor load (https://www.eeci.or.th/storage/photos/1/pdfs/EECi_GreenhouseandPlantFactory.pdf).
Board of Investment (BOI)
Recently, the BOI has announced the adjustment of the investment promotion terms and benefits for the agricultural industry based on the BCG model to encourage the development and adoption of technology to add value to the sector’s output and help improve its productivity. The BOI added the PFAL as a new activity to the list of activities eligible for BOI incentives. They considered that PFAL technology can enable Thailand to improve quantity and quality of agricultural produces. Such business will be eligible for corporate income tax exemption for a period of 5 to 8 years (https://www.boi.go.th/). The VT Namnueng Co., Ltd. was the first business to take this advantage from the BOI.
CHALLENGES
The major challenges for sustainable PFAL commercialization in Thailand are reducing the initial and production costs, increasing more profit by growing high-value plants, and increasing number of skilled labors and expert managers for efficient production.
The initial cost of PFAL building with all necessary facilities is estimated to be US$957.7 – 3,830.9 per m2 of planting area. This PFAL cost is 7 – 10 times more expensive when compared to that of a simple greenhouse with ventilators. The improved design, good management of construction and lowering land price may reduce the initial cost of PFAL. Electricity, labor and depreciation are three major components of the production cost. The major electricity cost is electricity consumption for lighting. The electricity consumption can be reduced by improving optimal light quality, light cycle and light schedule. Using a well-designed light system with reflectors to maximize the ratio of light received by plant canopy would reduce the electricity cost. Labor cost can be reduced by improving the skill of labors or using advanced robotic technologies including remote sensing, image processing, intelligent robot hands, cloud computing, big data analysis and 3-D modeling (Kozai and Niu, 2020). Moreover, good management of production can reduce the production cost by increase resource use efficiency.
Increasing more profits by growing high-value plants can be considered as alternative for sustainable PFALs. Recently, there have been increasing interest in the production of medicinal plants, herbs and functional vegetables in PFALs, because PFALs can create new unique products different to those produced in greenhouses or fields. The stability of the medicinal component and consistency of production in PFALs can help in increasing the price of those plant materials for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. PFAL is ideal for the production of medicinal substances from genetic modified plants with advantages over fields including stable plant production, efficient use of resource, fulfillment of good manufacturing practice (GMP) and low risk of gene diffusion (Goto, 2020). Plants with higher price such as cannabis and others could be considered as good candidate for production in PFAL, guaranteeing high income and benefit to cost ratio.
Another challenge of PFALs in Thailand is how to increase a number of skilled labors and expert managers. Plant factories with artificial lighting technology is a multidisciplinary and much of PFAL technology differs from that use in horticulture. Laborers must join the intensive course of training on plant production in PFAL to improve their skill, and must understand both GAP (good agricultural practice) and GMP (good manufacturing practice). Good managers for plant production in PFAL must know the basic knowledge and knowhow of plant production under controlled environments. Moreover, they should understand plant physiology, especially plant responses to environmental factors, factory engineering and management of Production in PFAL.
Other interesting challenges include the improvement of resource use efficiency, such as improving lighting system, breeding and seed propagation, development of new cultivation for root mass, data mining using big data obtained from PFAL and development of a phenotyping unit for noninvasive method for monitoring of plant growth and development real-time.
To drive and sustain PFAL commercialization in Thailand, the R&D on the PFAL engineering and plant cultivation method, which is successfully applied for reducing the initial and production costs, should be more conducted, and the research funding on these topics may be supported by the government. Moreover, the collaboration between the government, research center, academy, and business sectors should be established, probably in form of PFAL association to increase joint venture investment and training site for skilled operators and managers.
CONCLUSION
Plant Factory with artificial lighting or PFAL is one of alternative technologies for sufficiently and sustainably feeding nutritional and safe foods to the world population. PFAL was introduced to Thailand in the early of 2000s. Several universities and research institutes have conducted their R&D focusing on increasing yield and medicinal substances of leafy vegetables and herbs by controlling optimum factors to meet crop requirements. Moreover, R&D on PFAL system including cultivation system, lighting systems, control systems and data storage and analysis system have been conducted. Commercialization of PFAL for plant production is few, but trends of PFAL commercialization are increasing due to improved technology by R&D. To date, the PFAL research and commercialization have directed for improving the quality of life in urban areas and for producing raw plant material for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Thai government by Ministry of Higher education, Science, Research and Innovation officially launched a policy of using advanced technology driving a new s-curve economy of Thailand, and PFAL is one of frontier technology to be supported in term of funding and provide improved technology to private sector. The major challenges for sustainable PFAL commercialization in Thailand are reducing the initial and production costs, increasing more profit by growing high-value plants, and increasing the number of skilled labors and expert managers for efficient production.
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Current Situation, Direction, Policy Support, and Challenges of Plant Factories in Thailand
ABSTRACT
One of our greatest challenges in the 21st century is how to sufficiently and sustainably feed nutritional and safe foods to the world population. Plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL) is a closed plant production system. Regardless of environments outside, PFAL is considered as alternative technology for food and feed production with high efficiency, high quality and low risk to health of customers. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide the basic information of current situation, direction, government policy and support and challenges of PFAL technology in Thailand. PFAL was introduced to Thailand in the early of 2000s for academic purposes. Several universities and research institutes have played more attention on research and development on plant production in PFAL as well as developing new PFAL systems for their research purposes. Moreover, PFAL is now attracting great attention among plant producers because it creates new markets and business opportunities. The government has launched a policy of using advanced technology for strengthening the agricultural sector, and PFAL technology is considered as a frontier technology in agricultural sector to be an engine driving BCG (bioeconomy, circular economy and green economy) model including the establishment of large-scale plant factories as for The Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation of Thailand or EECi have planned to establish large-scale plant factories for demonstration and training sites which is a part of technology implementation. The Board of Investment of Thailand or BOI have added the PFAL as a new activity eligible for BOI incentives to promote this technology. However, the challenges of this technology are high initial (construction) and production costs. Moreover, shortages of knowledge, knowhow and best practice in plant production under controlled environments and lack of skilled operators may be the encountering problems on how to adopt this technology for plant production on an industrial scale. To ensure the sustainable growth of PFAL industry, the government should support the business by research investment and subsidy for PFAL construction, PFAL and PFAL-related technology development as well as promoting the technology for commercial scale plant production.
Keywords: bioeconomy, closed plant production system, environmental control, medicinal plant, plant factory,
INTRODUCTION
One of our greatest challenges in the 21st century is how to sufficiently and sustainably feed nutritional and safe foods to the world population. According to the world population prospects 2019 reported by the United Nations (UN, 2019), the world population is estimated to be 7.7 billion in 2015, and projected to grow to more than 9.1 and 11.2 billion by 2050 and 2100, respectively (FAO, 2017). The rapid growth in population, urbanization and ageing have shaped socio-economy and agricultural production. A huge demand for food production is rapidly increasing, but food supply especially from agricultural production is slowly increasing; the increasing supply seems not to meet the increasing demand. Shortage and competition of natural resources such as agricultural land and water from agriculture, industry and cities are important limiting factors for agricultural production. Since the green revolution in 1950 till now, the expansion of agricultural lands is still a major driving force for deforestation; this clearly reveals that increase in agricultural land by deforestation is not a choice for increasing productivity. Moreover, climate change and variable environments that are not proper for plant growth and productivity significantly reduce yields of field crops and horticultures, and this makes the situation of food shortages even worse. Today, not only food security is very important, but also nutrition security. Malnutrition, i.e. under nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight and obesity are still a major cause of various diseases and deaths especially in young children around the world (UNICEF, WHO & World Bank, 2016). In addition, unsafe foods including contaminated foods with heavy metals, microbials and pesticides have become serious problems to public health. Therefore, the challenge in how to feed the world population is a challenge in invention of a new agricultural cultivation system that sustainably improves agricultural productivity, nutrition and/or function of foods, and resource use efficiency, and at the same time protect health as well as natural environments.
Plant factories as closed plant production systems or indoor vertical farms, are built of warehouse like structures equipped with thermally insulated walls, cultivation systems having multiple shelves, artificial lighting, and other necessary devices such as air conditioners, air ventilation, CO2 and nutrient supply and control units (Kozai et al., 2020). This plant production system could be used to continuously produce plants under controlled environments, regardless of outside environments, allowing anywhere and anytime production. The major environments being controlled to promote plant growth and development are light (intensity, spectrum and period), CO2 concentration, nutrients, temperature, humidity and wind speed. In open field and greenhouses, the previously mentioned environments are not controllable. Hence, optimally controlled environments in plant factories could promote growth and development of plants, resulting in higher yield than those grown in open field or in greenhouses. Being able to manipulate environments stably and precisely, the plant factories allow producing high quality products of medicinal plants and functional vegetables either enriched with desired phytochemicals for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries or lowered undesired substances such as low-potassium vegetables for kidney disease patients (Kameoka and Hashimoto, 2019; Nakamura and Shimizu, 2019; Zobayed, 2020). With multiple shelves stacked vertically inside the plant factory, the cultivation system increases high land use efficiency. The plant factories with proper design and management can provide high resource use efficiency (CO2, water, fertilizers, etc.) due to recycling system of the resources, and can be achieved with minimum of pollutant emission and wastes. Moreover, produced in almost nearly airtight warehouses with intensively controlled hygiene environments, the plant products are free from pesticides and less contaminated with microbes, generally 102 -106 colony conforming unit per gram (CFU g-1) resulting in longer shelf life (Kubota, 2020). Being built anywhere regardless of solar light and soil, plant factories can reduce energy for transportation when built near urban areas. However, there are many disadvantages of plant factories, and the disadvantages are the high initial and production cost. The high initial cost is the high cost of construction of building, materials and equipment. The high production costs are mainly costs of electricity and labor (Kozai and Nui, 2020). The better design, skillfulness of labor and management could help in reducing initial and production costs. For example, a better design of the lighting system (placement of light bulbs or tubes) can increase light intensity and improve light distribution on cultivation panels, on the other hands the better design can reduce the number of bulbs or tubes in cultivated shelves. The reduced number of bulbs or tubes could reduce not only the initial cost for lighting system in the PFAL construction, but also could reduce the production cost since electricity charge for lighting is one of major production cost (Kozai et al., 2020). Other challenges of having plant factories are breeding new crops suited for plant factories, optimally controlling environment to meet the best produce (or meeting crop requirement), culture information, and marketing of produce.
Thailand is a resource rich country with high potential to be a “kitchen of the world,” even though the agricultural sector of Thailand is contributing only about 8% to the national GDP. Thai government addressed a policy on food security, quality and safety that Thai citizens have right to receive enough food with a certain quality and safety. However, the Thai National Food Committee (TNFC) revealed that the threatening factors to food security, quality and safety of Thailand are shortages of resources for agricultural production, i.e. land use, water and labor. In addition, the climate change also threatens food situation by lowering agricultural productivity. There is immense increase in demand of high quality medicinal plants or herbs as supply for industries of pharmaceutical and cosmetics especially in the crisis situation of expansion of plagues. The major encountering problem for high quality herb production is instability of production among seasons and instability of quality (concentration of bioactive compounds). In Thailand, share of urban population to total population has increased from 42% in 2009 to 50% in 2019 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/455942/urbanization-in-thailand/). This urbanization causes big problems of not only labor shortage in agricultural production, but also relocation of agricultural markets resulting in higher cost of logistics, subsequently the whole cost of products. In order to solve the previously mentioned problems and to achieve the mission of addressed policy of the government, plant factories may be the alternative technology. Moreover, plant factories are now attracting great attention among plant producers because they create new markets and business opportunities. For example, less bitter of fresh vegetables can be produced under controlled environment in plant factories; this product is good for children and can be sold in high price. One big problem of exporting fresh vegetables and herbs is being rejected due to being contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides (Commission Regulation (EC) No. 669/2009 edited by Commission Regulation (EU) 212/2010). Production of fresh vegetables and herbs in plant factories can control and reduce the contaminants efficiently, and could be an alternative for solving export problems.
Therefore, this article briefly describes the current situation, direction, policy support and challenges of plant factories (mainly, plant factory with artificial lighting: PFAL) in Thailand.
CURRENT SITUATION OF PLANT FACTORIES IN THAILAND
The plants produced in closed or semi-closed production systems started at the late 1980s. Greenhouses and glass houses have been used for plant production in closed or semi-closed environment. In the early 2000s, PFAL has been introduced to Thailand, mainly for research and development in universities and research institutes. A few researches on PFAL were conducted by companies. During the last few years, there has been immense interest in PFALs not only for the research and development but also for plant production in commercial. Therefore, in this section the current situation on PFAL in Thailand including research and development (R&D) of government and private sectors are described. Furthermore, commercialization and related business on PFAL are discussed.
Research and Development
PFAL R&D in Thailand started in the early of 2000s. Since then, the R&D continued conducting during the last two decades (Table 1). At Mahidol University, the miniPFAL called ‘Plantopia was established in 2002 and used for researches focusing on investigating the environmental effects on growth and phytochemical substances of medicinal plants. In 2005, the container-type PFAL was constructed at Kanchanaburi Campus of Mahido University, and applied to study of high-value leafy vegetables, as well as to develop environment control systems including some environment control devices, e.g., sensors and controllers. Recently, Mahidol University collaborated with Chiba University, Japan established MU-CU PFAL research and training center for developing a pilot models of mobile PFAL for industrial scale production of leafy vegetables and medicinal plants (Chintakovid and Supaibulwatana, 2020). In 2008, the National Center for Genetic and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) started a contracted research with a private company to grow leafy vegetables (leaf lettuces) in a 2 ´ 3 m3 PFAL equipped with fluorescent lighting in order to study cost/benefit analysis. In 2018, the BIOTEC received a BigRock project funding from Thai Government to establish a PFAL with production area of 915 m2 and a model-type community scale PFAL to develop the advance technology for production of high quality herb and functional vegetables (Figure 1) (Chintakovid and Supaibulwatana, 2020). At present, researches are focused on the Thai traditional herbs, i.e. Asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica), king of bitter (Andrographis paniculata), Holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), and leafy vegetables. Maejo University, one of the leaders in agricultural research, started the research on petunia seed production in 2012, then PFAL system was applied to produce high quality seed of petunia and other flower crops (Sakonwaee et al., 2017). The King Monkut’ University of Technolgoy North Bangkok (KMUTNB) has conducted the production of organic vegetables using PFAL system since 2015. Kasetsart University, an agricultural academy, established a container-type PFAL facilitating research on phenotyping and plant production of orchids and herbs in 2018. Furthermore they constructed two PFALs with more than 128 m2 planting area for high-quality plant production serving cosmetic industry. Civic media Co., Ltd., one of leading company in LED business, has been interested in developing suitable LED for plant production. The company started researches on effects of light spectrum on growth and development of leafy vegetables and strawberries. In 2019, King Monkut’s University of Thonburi applied PFAL to produce high quality young sprouts of vegetables and herbs, and Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) has studied the production of Marihuana (Cannabis sativa) in a PFAL (Table 1). Recently, the King Monkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang has constructed a container type PFALs for researches on plant production under controlled environments.
Plant factory R&D in PFAL system, devices, machines and artificial intelligent systems have been started since 2010. Growlab Agritech (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was funded by National Innovation Agency (NIA) for development of PFAL system, advised by Mahidol University. They also formed a startup business of indoor hops with specially designed LED lighting system (Chintakovid and Supaibulwatana, 2000). Agro Intelligent Co., Ltd. started their business of construction and control system in PFALs as well as in smart greenhouse. Collaborated with Hanmo Co., Ltd., Japan and Mahidol University, Agro Intelligent Co., Ltd. has developed household type plant factories. The GROBOT model, a household PFAL with smart device and automated system, has been introduced to customers who are interested in high quality vegetable in their houses or condominiums. The King Monkut’ University of Technology North Bangkok developed an innovation of PFAL system for production of organic vegetables and herbs. In 2016 Mahidol University paid high attention in researches on cultivation system, lighting systems, control systems and data storage and analysis system as well as established a joint collaboration with Chiba University, Japan in PFAL Research and Training center, located at the faculty of Science. Civic media Co., Ltd. and AgroLab Co., Ltd. are the two PFAL manufacturer companies leading in the innovation and design of PFAL construction, lighting system cultivation system as well as control device and automation systems in PFALs. They provide many customers on-demand PFAL systems, not only with closed plant production systems but also semi-closed and open plant production system such as smart greenhouses and microcontroller devices.
In conclusion, research and development on PFALs in Thailand during last two decades can be divided into 3 main topics: 1. Effects of controlled environments on growth; development and phytochemical of vegetables; and herbs, 2. PFAL system including constructs, cultivation system, lighting systems, control system; and 3. PFALs managements for applying PFALs technology and internet of things (IoT) to produce plant industrially with lowering production cost.
PFAL business in Thailand
Since PFAL technology was introduced to Thailand in the early 2000s, it is attracting attention especially in agricultural business. This may be because it creates a new market for agricultural products, e.g. clean and safe products (without toxic contaminants), and high quality raw materials for medicinal and cosmetic industries. Till now, there have been more than 7 companies employing PFALs for high-quality and safety plant production (Table 3). The noBitter Co., Ltd. was founded in 2018 as a start-up company, constructing small commercial plant factories located in urban areas around Bangkok, Thailand. They have been producing high-quality and hygienic vegetables, e.g. kales (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) for city people. The trademark ‘noBitter’ represents the quality and taste of vegetables they produced. WangreeFresh® is a trademark of a startup company funded by NIA to develop a prototype of PFAL. In 2018, a successfully designed PFAL was built at Wanree Resort, Nakoh Nauok, Thailand. With planting area of 100 m2, the PFAL of WangreeFresh has produced many leafy vegetables e.g. kale, greenoak etc. Moreover, they have started the Siam Pun suk plant factory project at Prabath Nampu Temple, Saraburee province. In this project, a large scale of PFAL with 1,800 m2 planting area is under construction. Civic media Co., Ltd., a company leading in LED products, has created a new line of their business; PFAL system and products from PFALs. They mainly produce fresh leafy vegetables in trademark of ‘LEDFARM’. They have invested money not only for plant production from PFALs but also for research and development on PFAL to find the best solution for their customers. VT Namnueng is a Vietnamese restaurant company producing Vietnamese style foods (www.vtnamnueng.net), which require large quantities and high quality of various vegetables. In 2020, they invested more than 100 million Baht (3.2 million US$) to build a large scale PFAL with production capacity of 1,000 kg fresh veggie/day to produce vegetables on their demand such as lettuce (Lactuca sativa), kitchen mint (Mentha ´ villosa Huds), and culanttro (Eryngium foetidum). The technology for building VT Namnueng PFAL is from a Japanese company, Hanmo Co., Ltd. After building, this PFAL will be the biggest PFAL in Thailand.
The four companies including Agrolab Co., Ltd., Growlab Agritech Co., Ltd., Agro Intelligent CO., Ltd. and Taiki-sha (Thailand) Co., Ltd. run their business of PFAL design and construct on customer demands. The design and construct include warehouse-like structure with insulated wall, lighting system, environment controlled systems (air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, wind speed and nutrient solution), cultivation system (hydroponics and aeroponics), and IoT based device for controlling and data storage as well as robot and artificial intelligence (A.I.) in plant production.
Related business to PFAL
The related business to PFAL can be divided into two types of businesses: 1) businesses related to PFAL system, and 2) businesses related to products from PFAL. The PFAL system consists of “building and infrastructure”, “facilities and equipment” and “measurement and control” (Kozai et al., 2020). Therefore, there are several related businesses according to the components of PFAL; - hardware - thermally insulated wall, lighting system including LED with control system, the cultivation system, air temperature and humidity control systems, CO2 supply system and control, nutrient control system, as well as – software- automatic control and interface, data storage and data analysis, and artificial intelligent, etc.
DIRECTION
It has been almost two decades that PFALs have been introduced to Thailand, but not many PFALs are constructed for R&D. Moreover, there have been very few PFALs constructed for plant production in commercial, and all of them are small to medium type of PFALs, except that of VT Namnueng company. To date, the PFAL research and commercialization have been directed for improving the quality of life in urban areas and for producing raw plant materials for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.
PFALs for improving the quality of life in urban area
The urban population in Thailand has reached 35 million people or 51% of Thailand population in 2019 (statista.com, 2021). The traditional systems of producing fresh food in agricultural area and transporting to urban area have changed to a new system of producing in urban area. The trend of healthy and safe foods has risen rapidly. Functional foods as medicine concept have been accepted widely. To these requirements of urban residents, PFAL can serve by producing fresh vegetables for local consumption (less logistics cost). Due to precisely controlled environments and being pesticide free, the plant products with high quality and safety can be guaranteed. Inducing and controlling nutrients and phytochemicals of plant produced in PFAL could allow functional food production such as low potassium vegetable for patients with kidney diseases (Kameoka and Hashimoto, 2019). Furthermore, PFALs can produce more with less resource consumption including land use, water, fertilizers, and labor, and with less wastes releasing to the nature. Therefore, PFALs can allow us to improve the quality of life in urban area. For example, the noBitter Co., Ltd., one of the leading companies of PFAL business has started producing high-quality vegetables for local consumption. They built 4 small-to-medium PFALs around Bangkok. They provide fresh and safety vegetables to local customers by a model of online marketing (https://nobitter.life/where-we-are/). The customers order and choose how to receive the products (picking up themselves or delivery) at the nearest PFALs. Another model of online marketing of vegetables from PFALs products is pre-order and networking customer. Wangree Fresh Co., Ltd. offers its customers with a pre-ordered vegetables from PFALs. If the customer can form up their network containing more than 10 customers living in the same area (e.g. living in the same village), the price of the product would be 60% discount for all customers (manager interview by the author). With these marketing models, the logistic cost can be minimized. This business of producing vegetables using PFAL in urban area is attracting many companies both start up and big companies.
PFALs for production of raw plant materials for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries
Thailand is a resource-rich country, especially medicinal plants as phytochemical resources for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Thai government has policies to make Thailand a hub of wellness and medicinal services, called “Thailand medical hub of Asia”. However, medicinal plant production under variation of environment in field condition has been accompanied by issues of quality and consistency of the phytochemical substances. Recent research indicates that cultivating medicinal plants under controlled environments such as temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, light quality etc. can ensure the efficacy and safety of the medicinal plant products (Zobayed, 2020). At present, funding sources from government and private sectors are provided more for research and development of medicinal plants production under controlled environment in PFAL. For example, production of Andrographis paniculata in PFAL are under investigation at PFAL of BIOTEC, Thailand. Moreover, the research on the production of some medicinal plants such as Asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica), and holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) has been conducted for phytochemical substances serving the cosmetic industries. The Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) (please note that this plant may be prohibited to grow in other countries.) has been raised as an important medicinal plant in Thailand due to its properties of containing medicinal substances. In 2019. Thai government has amended Narcotics Act on Cannabis (Narcrotics Act B.E. 2522 (1979) (As amended up to Narcotics Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562 (2019)) for medical purposes, allowing evidence-based treatments for patients (https://www.theworldlawgroup.com/writable/resources/Practice-Groups/Cann...). The production of Cannabis for medical as well as research purposes has to be proceeded under highly strict regulation supervised by Thai FDA. There has been, therefore, high interest in applying PFAL technology for cannabis production. National Science and Development Agency (NSTDA) and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) have launched the research projects of cannabis production under controlled environment in Plant Factories with an aim to establish a standard protocol of high-quality cannabis plant. Under the national strategic plan of BCG (bioeconomy, circular economy and green economy) model addressed by the government, the major R&D organization and funding agencies e.g. National Innovation Agency (NIA) have provided research funds to universities and private companies to conduct their researched in field of PFAL.
POLICY and SUPPORT
Thai government by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation officially launched a policy of using advanced technology driving a new s-curve economy of Thailand. PFAL technology is considered as a frontier technology in agricultural sector to be an engine driving BCG (bioeconomy, circular economy and green economy) model via BigRock Project and EECi. Moreover, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) approved the PFAL as one of five large scale projects to strengthen the country’s agricultural sector.
BigRock Project
In 2018, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation officially launched a policy of using advanced technology driving a new s-curve economy of Thailand. They funded US$105.04 million for 14 BigRock projects. PFAL was one of chosen as part of Advance Technology for Production of High Quality Herb Project with the aim of improving standard production of Thai medicinal herbs. PFAL and other related facilities were constructed and equipped at National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in 2019. This PFAL consists of a pilot scale production unit with a production area of 690 m2 and three research units with a production area of 225 m2. Other related facilities and equipment are a biochemical extraction and analysis room with analysis equipment (e.g. LCMS, HPLC and UV-spectrophotometer) and a plant tissue culture room with equipment. The main goal of this project is to establish basic research and development of PFAL for vegetable and medicinal plant production.
Plant Factory at EECi
The Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation or EECi is an innovation hub located in Wangchan District, Rayong Province. In EECi BIOPOLIS, plant factory with fully controlled environment will be established and provide to research of large-scale production of high-valuable crops. This facility can also serve as a demonstration site for trials in large-scale production and training site for technology transfer to plant growers and entrepreneurs (https://www.eeci.or.th/en/rental-space/greenhouse-plant-factory). The floor area of 2 modules of plant factory will be 425 m2 with 9.55 m ceiling height and 1,000 kg/m2 floor load (https://www.eeci.or.th/storage/photos/1/pdfs/EECi_GreenhouseandPlantFactory.pdf).
Board of Investment (BOI)
Recently, the BOI has announced the adjustment of the investment promotion terms and benefits for the agricultural industry based on the BCG model to encourage the development and adoption of technology to add value to the sector’s output and help improve its productivity. The BOI added the PFAL as a new activity to the list of activities eligible for BOI incentives. They considered that PFAL technology can enable Thailand to improve quantity and quality of agricultural produces. Such business will be eligible for corporate income tax exemption for a period of 5 to 8 years (https://www.boi.go.th/). The VT Namnueng Co., Ltd. was the first business to take this advantage from the BOI.
CHALLENGES
The major challenges for sustainable PFAL commercialization in Thailand are reducing the initial and production costs, increasing more profit by growing high-value plants, and increasing number of skilled labors and expert managers for efficient production.
The initial cost of PFAL building with all necessary facilities is estimated to be US$957.7 – 3,830.9 per m2 of planting area. This PFAL cost is 7 – 10 times more expensive when compared to that of a simple greenhouse with ventilators. The improved design, good management of construction and lowering land price may reduce the initial cost of PFAL. Electricity, labor and depreciation are three major components of the production cost. The major electricity cost is electricity consumption for lighting. The electricity consumption can be reduced by improving optimal light quality, light cycle and light schedule. Using a well-designed light system with reflectors to maximize the ratio of light received by plant canopy would reduce the electricity cost. Labor cost can be reduced by improving the skill of labors or using advanced robotic technologies including remote sensing, image processing, intelligent robot hands, cloud computing, big data analysis and 3-D modeling (Kozai and Niu, 2020). Moreover, good management of production can reduce the production cost by increase resource use efficiency.
Increasing more profits by growing high-value plants can be considered as alternative for sustainable PFALs. Recently, there have been increasing interest in the production of medicinal plants, herbs and functional vegetables in PFALs, because PFALs can create new unique products different to those produced in greenhouses or fields. The stability of the medicinal component and consistency of production in PFALs can help in increasing the price of those plant materials for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. PFAL is ideal for the production of medicinal substances from genetic modified plants with advantages over fields including stable plant production, efficient use of resource, fulfillment of good manufacturing practice (GMP) and low risk of gene diffusion (Goto, 2020). Plants with higher price such as cannabis and others could be considered as good candidate for production in PFAL, guaranteeing high income and benefit to cost ratio.
Another challenge of PFALs in Thailand is how to increase a number of skilled labors and expert managers. Plant factories with artificial lighting technology is a multidisciplinary and much of PFAL technology differs from that use in horticulture. Laborers must join the intensive course of training on plant production in PFAL to improve their skill, and must understand both GAP (good agricultural practice) and GMP (good manufacturing practice). Good managers for plant production in PFAL must know the basic knowledge and knowhow of plant production under controlled environments. Moreover, they should understand plant physiology, especially plant responses to environmental factors, factory engineering and management of Production in PFAL.
Other interesting challenges include the improvement of resource use efficiency, such as improving lighting system, breeding and seed propagation, development of new cultivation for root mass, data mining using big data obtained from PFAL and development of a phenotyping unit for noninvasive method for monitoring of plant growth and development real-time.
To drive and sustain PFAL commercialization in Thailand, the R&D on the PFAL engineering and plant cultivation method, which is successfully applied for reducing the initial and production costs, should be more conducted, and the research funding on these topics may be supported by the government. Moreover, the collaboration between the government, research center, academy, and business sectors should be established, probably in form of PFAL association to increase joint venture investment and training site for skilled operators and managers.
CONCLUSION
Plant Factory with artificial lighting or PFAL is one of alternative technologies for sufficiently and sustainably feeding nutritional and safe foods to the world population. PFAL was introduced to Thailand in the early of 2000s. Several universities and research institutes have conducted their R&D focusing on increasing yield and medicinal substances of leafy vegetables and herbs by controlling optimum factors to meet crop requirements. Moreover, R&D on PFAL system including cultivation system, lighting systems, control systems and data storage and analysis system have been conducted. Commercialization of PFAL for plant production is few, but trends of PFAL commercialization are increasing due to improved technology by R&D. To date, the PFAL research and commercialization have directed for improving the quality of life in urban areas and for producing raw plant material for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Thai government by Ministry of Higher education, Science, Research and Innovation officially launched a policy of using advanced technology driving a new s-curve economy of Thailand, and PFAL is one of frontier technology to be supported in term of funding and provide improved technology to private sector. The major challenges for sustainable PFAL commercialization in Thailand are reducing the initial and production costs, increasing more profit by growing high-value plants, and increasing the number of skilled labors and expert managers for efficient production.
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