Japanese workers plant floating hydroponic lettuce in a rotating pool of nutrient-laden water protected by an air-filled plastic dome that lets in just the right amount of sunlight, air, and moisture for the plants to thrive. The innovative system, in which the plants move slowly outward for thirty days before being harvested on the outer edge, was the brainchild of retired banker Takaaki Abe, who at age sixty-one decided to invent a system that would get younger generations interested in agriculture. The Granpa Company built its first dome in 2004 west of Tokyo and has since expanded its “Granpa Domes” to tsunami-hit zones of Japan as well as the deserts of the United Arab Emirates. Each high-tech greenhouse holds 15,000 plants and produces 250 to 400 heads of lettuce every day of the year.
