JGC Enters Agribusiness with Investment in Plant Factory Venture

On March 7, 2012, JGC Corp., a leading plant manufacturer in Japan, announced an investment of about 100 million yen (about U.S.$1.22 million) in Granpa Co., a Japanese company specializing in the development and marketing of plant factory systems, as well as the production and sales of agricultural products. This investment marks JGC's first foray into agribusiness.

Granpa has developed air-dome type greenhouses that feature unique sliding and rotation technology to automatically optimize space between plants as they grow. The air-dome's crop production capacity per unit area is more than twice that of conventional glass greenhouses. In addition, the cultivation system allows for a drastic reduction in the use of pesticides and fertilizers, as compared with conventional outdoor farming, and provides consumers with fresh produce that can be eaten without having to be washed first.

JGC aims to help Granpa further improve the air-dome greenhouse technology by using it to contribute to the restoration of agriculture in disaster-hit areas in the Tohoku region of Japan. JGC also hopes to move into the international market in the future, with the aim of achieving agricultural production in arid regions, such as the Middle East and Africa, and cold regions, such as Russia, and to provide safe and reliable food in urban areas in China.

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Posted: 2012/06/11 06:00:15 AM

TAG Food/Water , Manufacturing industry , Non-manufacturing industry