A plant factory utilizing artificial light is an innovative agricultural model that enables efficient and sustainable crop production.
However, its application to a diverse range of crops remains limited. Edamame, a highly nutritious legume, has gained global popularity, yet its long-term storage is challenging due to quality deterioration, restricting its market distribution to seasonal availability. In this study, researchers successfully cultivated edamame using three hydroponic systems—nutrient film technique (NFT), rockwool, and aeroponics (mist culture)—within an LED plant factory. Among these, NFT demonstrated the highest fresh seed yield, which was comparable to or exceeded that of conventional field cultivation. The high yield was attributed to enhanced pod formation and biomass production under…
