It is with great gratitude that we present to you this second edition of Plant FactorydAn Indoor
Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production. Our first edition was published in
2015, the very first English book of its kind. We were thrilled when informed by Ms. Nancy
Maragioglio, Senior Acquisitions Editor of Elsevier, in late 2017, that sales of our book were strong,
and she invited us to prepare a second edition.
Since 2015, significant progress has been made in R&D, industry expansion, and academic
research globally in plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs), owing to the increasing interest
and attention to indoor vertical farming and urban agriculture. In this second edition, we have added
several new chapters and updated relevant information on existing chapters. The new chapters include
Chapter 4, Vertical Farming in Europe: Status and Outlook; and Chapters 9 and 10 on Plant Response
to Light and LED Advancement for PFAL, respectively. In Part IV, several chapters have been added to
introduce representative PFALs in Japan, the USA, the Netherlands, China, and Taiwan.
It is worth mentioning, as indicated by some reviewers, that this book is a powerhouse for indoor
vertical farm. It contains a mixture of information that covers every single facet of indoor vertical
farming system, from hardcore science research at post-graduate level, to a general justification of
why indoor vertical farming is needed, to examples of commercial operations, and to the status of
indoor vertical farms around the globe. Because of the nature of this topic, it is difficult to focus on
one single aspect