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News from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Fresh produce anywhere, anytime

Fresh produce anywhere, anytime

If Chieri Kubota has anything to say about it, every bag of lettuce you buy will be green and fresh like you picked it yourself. Strawberries always ripe and red. Tomatoes picked from the vine today will be in your store tomorrow. 

THAT’S BECAUSE HER EXPERTISE in controlled environment agriculture 
(CEA) is helping indoor farms blossom in Ohio, nationwide, and beyond.

The new Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex (CEARC) opened Sept. 30 and is already drawing excitement for what it means for food production research. The $35.8 million project is a first-of-its-kind academic facility that Kubota, a CEA professor in the CFAES Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, will use to develop cutting-edge techniques and research and conduct training workshops.

Housed at Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, the CEARC includes a production research greenhouse and a work center to research sustainable food production technologies, including soilless and hydroponic production.

By more accurately controlling environmental factors including temperature and light, researchers will explore new ways to improve nutrient density and flavor in fruits and vegetables. Large quantities of produce grown under optimized conditions will make possible clinical studies examining ways to produce foods with greater nutritional value.

“With controlled environment agriculture, growers have more quality control over production and plant nutrients, which reduces the risk of foodborne illnesses, increases crop yield, and allows plants to be grown sustainably,” Kubota said.

That means locally grown lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and even strawberries—any season, anywhere. It also means more jobs, fewer food deserts in larger cities, and more sustainable agriculture using significantly less water and chemicals.

And it’s catching on nationwide.

When Kubota began at CFAES in 2002, 99% of the nation’s fruits and vegetables were grown in California or Florida and shipped nationwide. Her research has since fueled a flourishing indoor farming industry.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, greenhouse production of vegetables and herbs increased 132% from 2012 to 2017 nationwide.

The state with the largest growth? Ohio, at 292%.

 “Many growers in Europe and Asia were using hydroponic, or soilless, vegetable production when I came here from Japan. But the United States was far behind,” Kubota says. “I wanted to help close that gap.”

Dean Kress said, “The focus in this facility—research of modern, sustainable food production technologies, including soilless and hydroponic production—will be a truly transformational resource for Ohio State, as well as for the global and local communities that CFAES serves.”  

December 9, 2022 - 3:20pm -- moser.26@osu.edu
Body: 

If Chieri Kubota has anything to say about it, every bag of lettuce you buy will be green and fresh like you picked it yourself. Strawberries always ripe and red. Tomatoes picked from the vine today will be in your store tomorrow. 

THAT’S BECAUSE HER EXPERTISE in controlled environment agriculture 
(CEA) is helping indoor farms blossom in Ohio, nationwide, and beyond.

The new Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex (CEARC) opened Sept. 30 and is already drawing excitement for what it means for food production research. The $35.8 million project is a first-of-its-kind academic facility that Kubota, a CEA professor in the CFAES Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, will use to develop cutting-edge techniques and research and conduct training workshops.

Housed at Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, the CEARC includes a production research greenhouse and a work center to research sustainable food production technologies, including soilless and hydroponic production.

By more accurately controlling environmental factors including temperature and light, researchers will explore new ways to improve nutrient density and flavor in fruits and vegetables. Large quantities of produce grown under optimized conditions will make possible clinical studies examining ways to produce foods with greater nutritional value.

“With controlled environment agriculture, growers have more quality control over production and plant nutrients, which reduces the risk of foodborne illnesses, increases crop yield, and allows plants to be grown sustainably,” Kubota said.

That means locally grown lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and even strawberries—any season, anywhere. It also means more jobs, fewer food deserts in larger cities, and more sustainable agriculture using significantly less water and chemicals.

And it’s catching on nationwide.

When Kubota began at CFAES in 2002, 99% of the nation’s fruits and vegetables were grown in California or Florida and shipped nationwide. Her research has since fueled a flourishing indoor farming industry.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, greenhouse production of vegetables and herbs increased 132% from 2012 to 2017 nationwide.

The state with the largest growth? Ohio, at 292%.

 “Many growers in Europe and Asia were using hydroponic, or soilless, vegetable production when I came here from Japan. But the United States was far behind,” Kubota says. “I wanted to help close that gap.”

Dean Kress said, “The focus in this facility—research of modern, sustainable food production technologies, including soilless and hydroponic production—will be a truly transformational resource for Ohio State, as well as for the global and local communities that CFAES serves.”