Finnish grower Robert Jordas inside the multilayer pilot plant factory
Finnish grower Robert Jordas of Robbe’s Little Garden Ltd was approached by Fujitsu in order to carry out a pilot project for their Akisai agricultural cloud platform. The grower, who operates a 7,500 square meter greenhouse for the year round production of lettuce, herbs and vegetables, was already experimenting with LED technology, and got aquatinted with the possibilities to combine the Scandinavian knowledge of hydroponic moving gutter systems and greenhouse growing together with the Japanese knowledge on cloud based solutions and information management.
This is the first time that the Japanese software is being used in the European greenhouse industry; from ordering to growing the actual produce; the Akisai Cloud platform will be used to grow the crops, steer the climate and manage the farm processes.
The Akisai cloud for food and agriculture platform is a service that has been designed to provide comprehensive support to all aspects of agricultural management, such as for administration, production, and sales, in open field cultivation, horticulture, and in animal husbandry. Fujitsu is also offering an innovation support service that promotes ICT utilization for enterprise-style agricultural management, while also supporting systematic management practices.
While Fujitsu will be responsible for the sensors and growth management, several other Scandinavian partners will also be involved. One of them is Finnish LED lighting manufacturer Netled, who will introduce its new multilayer lighting system in the project. Also Novarbo, a Finnish manufacturer of energy efficient climate technology will be involved in the project.
“This is a very exciting collaboration where we aim to increase the competitiveness and cost efficiency of salads and vegetables produced in challenging conditions. Baby leaf salad has been selected for the pilot because there is growing demand for it,” explains Robert Jordas, Managing Director of Robbe’s Little Garden Ltd.
Norihiko Taniguchi, Director and Corporate Executive Officer, Fujitsu Limited added that the Finnish vertical farming project is one of the first pilots of the Fujitsu Akisai cloud solution in Europe. "Cloud solutions have not yet been widely used in greenhouse environments. In the future in larger and automated vegetable production facilities this is even more important in order to maintain optimal conditions. The solution will enable monitoring and remote control of the greenhouse’s operations wirelessly on any mobile device,” he said.
Robbe’s Little Garden Ltd moving gutter system lettuce greenhouse
“Finnish companies have high tech solutions for solving issues related to growing vegetables in northern conditions with high energy costs. This knowhow is being put to use in this project. Finland is a pure, innovative and low risk country to do business in and a great environment to develop and test high tech solutions for the global market,” says Antti Aumo, head of Finpro’s Invest in Finland unit.
Finpro’s Invest in Finland was able to bring its expertise to the use of Fujitsu through its local Trade Center in Tokyo and experts in Helsinki.