Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology’s "Advanced Plant Factory" Research Facility

　The Advanced Plant Factory (APF) research facility of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology was founded in 2009, with financial support provided by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. It has been focused on life-cycle acceleration studies of fruit trees for developing year-round high-yielding quality fruit production systems.
　The blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) have become the primary targets due to good farm-gate value and seasonal scarcity of the berries in Japan. While studying environmental control, integrated use of sunlight and artificial lights, life-cycle adjustment, systematization of tree health management, functional component management, work automation, etc., the APF offers trainings to disseminate the novel technologies that realize year-round fresh fruit supply with low environmental load.