At an international flower exhibition in Holland in 2008, a representative of a company affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences anxiously searched for three hours to find Fang Wei, an agricultural facilities expert from National Taiwan University (NTU).

In May 2009, mainland China's first mass-production plant factory opened in Chang-chun, Ji-lin Province. Since the vegetable production process requires no sunlight whatsoever, China plans to set up similar factories at the South Pole and on space stations in the future. It hopes to take Japan's place as Asia's number one in plant factories.

Taiwan's first plant factory, by contrast, began production at National Taiwan University in January 2011. Taiwan was behind the mainland in this regard, but suppliers of lighting, air conditioning, and automated systems quickly started cooperating with NTU, the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan, and other industry, academic, and research institutes to form a plant factory cooperative in June. Their goals for the short term are to train their teams and develop key technologies. Over the medium to long term, they aim to "export" the agricultural factory technologies' hardware and software to the polar regions, the Chinese borderlands, the deserts of the Middle East, and other places where it is difficult to grow food.

There are two plant factories at NTU's College of Bioresources and Agriculture. One uses both natural and artificial light sources. The other, which is completely contained and in place of sunlight uses artificial light sources (T5 fluorescent lamps and LED lights), is a state-of-the-art facility.

The future of plant factories is in producing high-end vegetables and Chinese medicinal herbs. Pictured are strawberry plants at NTU.

Access to the contained room is by passcode, and visitors must first put on dust-free coveralls, sterilize their hands with soap and electrolyzed water, and have dust blown off of them before entering. Boston lettuce and leaf lettuce are the two major products of the facility. Fang, who is in charge of the facility and who is also a professor in NTU's Department of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering, says that one or two hundred heads will be sold in the campus co-op each week beginning in December. A 140-gram head will go for around NT$60.

"In North American fields, Boston lettuce takes 45-60 days to grow," Fang says. "From the time we plant, it only takes us 35 days to harvest. Not counting the sprouting period, it takes only 21 days to harvest, and there can be 18 harvests a year. In Taiwan, planting in a greenhouse in the winter, you can only get two harvests a year."

Inside the factory, everything is planted on layered racks. Each layer has a separate set of T5 or LED lights shining on it. Nutrients are provided by a fortified liquid and air containing 1,200 parts per million of carbon dioxide is pumped in at set intervals (by comparison, the outside air contains around 380 ppm).

Fang explains that crops suitable for growing in a completely artificial environment are small, expensive, and fast-growing. They should also thrive with little light or labor, and they should be able to be grown hydroponically. For these reasons, NTU chose lettuce as well as sprouts, arugula, ice plant, seed potatoes, and strawberry runners. There are plans to try growing Chinese medicinal herbs in the future.

Rice cannot be grown in this way because it grows too slowly and the stalks are too long to fit on the racks. But the method is perfect for sprouting its seeds.

The "strawberry room" in the facility only brings around 20 strawberries to harvest, but the scent of strawberries fills the entire factory once its door is opened.

Fang points out that, in contrast with conventional farming, a plant factory uses no pesticides and there is no danger of heavy metal contaminants from soil. And in contrast with organic farming, there are fewer nitrates. Since the light and the nutrients can be controlled and adjusted, the vegetables grown can also have greater

nutritional value.

Though there are these benefits, both traditional farmers and consumers alike have been suspicious of plant factories ever since they started being developed in Japan in 1994. Some believe that the produce isn't natural, or that it's grown from chemicals and therefore unhealthful.

The artificial environment of the Vegetable Plant's factory in Hsinchu County maintains a steady supply of vegetables.

In response to these criticisms, Fang has an attitude of "to each his own."

"The nutrients that plants take in are just nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur, and a few trace elements," he says. "That can be detailed with scientific evidence. But many people just won't believe it. They think that as long as it isn't grown with soil and sunlight, it isn't 'natural.'"

Fang asserts that a plant factory is just another way of producing food. It can't produce the amounts that farming in fields or greenhouses does, so it can't and won't replace traditional agriculture.

Japan is an example. It currently has 50 facilities nationwide, most of them producing lettuce. They only fulfill 0.5% of consumer demand, and present no threat at all to traditional agriculture. Additionally, many Japanese restaurants have begun to grow their own vegetables-restaurant chains Subway and Ootoya both provide their own through plant factories, but are still far from being self-sufficient.

Fang says that for Japanese restaurants, the biggest advantage to plant factories is that the supply and the price are stable. They are not influenced by market fluctuations.

Because of this, he believes plant factories should aim for agricultural enterprises with established sales channels, rather than small farming operations. Factory farmed produce could replace imports, but not everyday vegetables that cost only NT$10 anyway.

He stresses, "Factory farming is only one part of the agricultural industry, and it isn't a competitor with traditional agriculture. Even if it were, it would be in the areas of product cleanliness and quality."

The cost of installing a plant factory depends on its level of automation. NTU's facility was set up with research in mind, so it has to maintain a higher level of sterilization. Its installation alone cost NT$30 million, which is no small amount for small and medium-sized businesses. That's not to mention operating costs.

The Vegetable Plant, based in Hsinchu County, was set up on a smaller scale without interfering with the growth of the produce. Its cost was NT$80 million. "We don't aim to be 'completely sterile' here, but it's certainly cleanly produced," says founder Michael Lin. "The produce all fully meets inspection standards."

In the Vegetables Plant's cultivation area, visitors must also wear coveralls, but there are no further steps like the anti-dust air blast or the sterilization with electrolyzed water. Vegetables on the production line are not given extra carbon dioxide. Control over the acidity of the plant food is maintained manually.

Despite this, the facility only needs three to five workers, most of whom just replant and transplant the plants. "Minimal manpower" is the keyword of the operation. It only needs one trained engineer and a handful of workers. The work is so simple and light that even farmers in their sixties or seventies can manage it.

The Vegetable Plant has its own marketing channels, its prices are slightly higher than those for organic vegetables (250 grams go for around NT$50), and it has a stable customer base. However, Lin says, selling the entire business model (including hardware and software) is the industry's niche. He reveals that overseas customers have already expressed interest in working in cooperation with them.

Taiwanese optoelectronics companies have already sensed opportunity in the industrial agriculture market. For example, Everlight Electronics has not only joined the Taiwan Plant Factory Industry Development Association, formed in June, 2011. It is also reaching across the strait. In late 2010, it entered into an agreement with Philips's lighting division and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation to target the LED lighting needs of mainland China's plant factories.

Fang reveals that one business in New Taipei City has already spent more than NT$100 million to set up a plant factory, and will aim to produce 1,000 vegetables per day. It seems to be looking toward the potential to export to the whole world.

There are some who say that if it weren't for the global financial crisis, manufacturers never would have taken an interest in agriculture. They suspect that it's the manufacturers who benefit rather than the agriculture sector.

But what is sure is that this is not about agriculture or about manufacturing. Rather, it's an intermediary industry that will allow Taiwan to form alliances across sectors and to consider new directions.