Why not learn about plant factories, which are drawing attention as concerns prevail over supply chain and production disruptions in agriculture in times of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic? The Japan Plant Factory Association will run a new online training course in English on plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) on Feb. 25-March 15, 2022, and you can check and apply from here.
The course is available for anybody interested in PFALs--not only JPFA members but nonmembers as well. You can learn on the science-based practical course anytime at your convenience and anywhere in the world during the course period.
While the training course is offered online and not on-site due to the pandemic, it allows participants to acquire specific and practical know-how in addition to theories and other academic knowledge. Also, the course on a specified platform allows participants to interact with each other and join a live online question-and-answer session, which is scheduled for early March.
Click here to find more course details
Classes
The course has introductory classes and special content which includes a class by an expert at the operator of greenLand PFALs about firsthand, important points in its operations and a close look inside a large-scale PFAL (808 Factory).
The other special content classes are: Phenomics and Potential of Phenotyping, and Hands-on Technical Training on PFAL Business Management. The introductory classes cover PFAL principles and the basics, such as photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, light environment and plant growth, nutrient solution and hydroponic cultivation, as well as about forthcoming technologies and PFAL business management.
On hydroponic cultivation, Cultivation Management discusses seeding to precooling, and Cultivation Processes Demonstrated gives virtual hands-on demonstrations of such matters as how to handle and transplant seedlings. The first-rate lecturers of the coming course include Toyoki Kozai, professor emeritus and former president of Chiba University who recently released a new co-edited book about plant factories, and Chieri Kubota, professor at the Ohio State University.
The JPFA oversees a plant factory hub on the Chiba University Kashiwanoha campus in Kashiwa, northeast of Tokyo. The nonprofit organization has shifted from on-site to online training due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has yet to be behind us with the Omicron variant spreading fast.
For more information:
Japan plant factory association
www.npoplantfactory.org
www.npoplantfactory.org