The cultivation of Japanese native wasabi is the most recent addition to Hong Kong's high-tech vertical farming boom. Harvests of wasabi, a staple ingredient in Japanese cuisine, have fallen by 60% in Japan over the last 15 years, and this startup in Hong Kong is filling in the gap.
Gordon Tam Chi-ho, the founder of hydroponic company Farm66, has partnered with a Japanese conglomerate to create a HK$10.1 million (US$1.3 million) deal to cultivate the prized horseradish in Hong Kong and Japan, the South China Morning Post reports.
Reinventing Japanese Horseradish Farming
Tam has created an all-weather, controlled environment for the wasabi by designing 44-foot containers with racks and a lighting, irrigation, and ventilation system.
He is conducting tests on his 20,000-square-foot farm to determine the best growing conditions. Tam discovered that the leaves grew larger under white light, whereas the stems grew longer under a combination of red and blue light.
He anticipates that the time required before harvesting could be reduced to nine months indoors, compared to 15 to 24 months in the traditional method.
Tam has been commissioned by a Japanese company based in Wakayama, Kansai, to design ten customized farming containers for US$130,000 each.
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It asked to remain anonymous because the two parties are still finalizing their contract. A single container can grow up to 2,800 wasabi roots simultaneously, with harvesting taking nine months.
According to available data, the global wasabi market was valued at $ 279.7 million in 2018 and is expected to reach $ 590.8 million by 2027, with an 8.7% compound annual growth rate.
Due to the increasing popularity of Japanese cuisine worldwide and its various health benefits, wasabi is now grown in different parts of China, North America, Korea, and New Zealand, among other places with suitable climatic conditions.
Pushing Farming Technology in Hong Kong
Tam tells Forbes that only about 1.5% of vegetables in Hong Kong are produced locally. But he believes that vertical farms like Farm66, using modern technologies like IoT sensors, LED lights, and robots, can boost Hong Kong's local food production and export its know-how to other cities.
Farm66 employs IoT sensors and robots for quality control and management of the 20,000-square-foot indoor farm, which assists the company in recruiting and retaining employees.
Tam co-founded Farm66 in 2013, where he grows lettuce, kale, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and herbs indoors in customized shipping containers mounted on vertical racks. Robotic systems ensure that plants get enough water, nutrients, and light.
The success of Farm66's high-tech vertical farming is due to Hong Kong's limited land availability and high property prices, which make growing crops using traditional farming methods difficult.
Vertical farming has become popular in recent years, with companies like Freight Farms and AeroFarms using the technology to grow fresh produce in urban areas.
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