식물공장 시스템의 동향과 발전방향

Trend and direction for plant factory system

Plant factory is the fruit of the most advanced modern agricultural technology. This is a crop-producing technology that controls systematically sowing, cultivating, and harvesting crops within an indoor factory. Growing crops in a factory has advantages over traditional farming because it produces safer crops all year around due to clean environment and it is easier to hire workers at the factory. Developed countries has invested actively in this field for several decades because its economical and industrial impact are predicted to be enormous. Recently, Korea also begins to investigate this field actively to develop a system that may be competitive at global market, using technologies and human resources that Korea already has. The plant factory technology is currently less competitive than traditional farming because it requires a large initial investment and management cost and lacks cultivation technologies for various crops. However, I believe in solving these problems if plant biotechnologists participate in developing the plant factory system. If this technology is developed well in Korea, then it will play a great role in solving food and environmental issues.