Japanese Market Research Firm Unveils Plant Factory Market Trends in Japan

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Yano Research Institute, a Japanese marketing research firm, announced on February 14, 2014, the results of its plant factory market study in Japan. According to the study, plant factories make it possible to control plant growth, and consequently, make planned production possible. Moreover, the market size of crops harvested at plant factories is on the rise and expected to grow even larger in the future.

There are basically two types of plant factories: factories that use only artificial light, and those that use natural sunlight only and use both sunlight and artificial lights. The market for factories using only artificial light was projected to have reached 3.396 billion yen (about U.S.$33 million) in 2013, and is forecasted to grow to 44.338 billion yen (about U.S.$430 million) by 2025.

Meanwhile, the market for plant factories using natural sunlight and using both sunlight and artificial lights was projected to have been 19.919 billion yen (about U.S.$193 million) in 2013, and is forecasted to expand to 105.69 billion yen (about U.S.$1 billion) by 2025. There is an expectation of new development of energy-saving and energy-generating technologies for plant factories using renewable energy, as many private companies are expected to enter the market under the national government's promotional measures.