CRI听力:Taiwan Famers Go High-tech in Hope of Growing Better Crops

Meet Chang Chen-kai, one of a new generation of high-tech farmers in Taiwan.

Rather than toiling in the fields, Chang works in an air-conditioned room at a plant factory operated by Taiwanese biotechnology company, ARWIN.

It's one of a growing number of plant factories in Taiwan which grows vegetables under LED lights.

Here, plants are grown in closed environments, meaning growers can control temperatures, humidity, nutrients and water, all the while using LEDs as the only light source.

Chang says that leads to many advantages.

"The advantage of LED-grown plants? To grow plants in the soil outdoors, you would need much more land for plantation. But to grow vegetables in the water, you need less land and even less space. And to grow plants outdoors, you would need to use pesticides often, but in here you don't need pesticides as the room's environment is all controlled."

In a similar way to hydroponics, these LED-grown plants are cultivated without soil.

Instead they use mineral nutrient solutions in the water.

In the past few years, Taiwan has seen a boom in its LED industry.

Taiwan manufacturers have made LED lights which consume less energy and have a broad-spectrum that closely mimics the intensity and spectrum of natural sunlight.

With their low cost and natural-looking light, many now see LED lights as a viable option in the agricultural sector.

Ting Mao Agricultural Biotechnology started their plant factory in 2007. Today they're a leading producer of LED-grown vegetables in Taiwan.

One of their most popular products is this 'ice plant', a thick, leafy vegetable from South Africa. It's sold for 400 US dollars a kilogram.

The factory now produces a variety of exotic vegetables after extensive research into various light settings, temperatures and nutrients certain crops require.

According to company's CEO Lawrence Lo, Taiwan is well placed to become an international leader in terms of high-tech plant factories.

"Actually, Taiwan has an advantage on this, because we have a well-developed lighting industry, environmental-control equipment industry and many other electrical appliance industries. These are all the things that a plant factory would need."

Ting Mao has up to 5,000 members and restaurant operators who order vegetables directly from them.

Aside from manufacturing various products, the company has also set up their own restaurant which uses vegetables from the factory.

Some restaurant customers are assured of the benefits of LED-grown vegetables in comparison to traditional ones, despite the higher price tag.

Long Si-wei is a restaurant customer.

"This fresh vegetable not only tastes good, but it's also trouble-free. You just take them out and eat them right away."

But Food writer and Professor at Innovative Institute of Technology, Lily Chang isn't so convinced. She thinks vegetables grown in the soil benefit from all sorts of minerals in the ground.

For CRI, this is Yu Yang.