Labor shortages and disasters contribute to alooming problem with food supply.
What limits are there on reproducing sunlight,
which gives rise to and nurtures all life?

Nurturing with Light

Agriculture/Fisheries
Changes in agriculture
Centering on fruits and vegetables, research aimed atincreased the efficiency and reliability of crop production has
been going on for quite some time, even in regions andseasons that are not favorable to growing. Such research is
motivated by consumer needs, and is directed at replacing
production that relies on years of experience and in the faceof weather fluctuations in the natural environment withprotected horticulture that is grounded in the science ofhigh-tech devices and environmental control. One aspect of
this is industrialized agriculture, the so-called “plant factory.”“Vegetables that are grown in green houses, where
temperature, light and water are controlled, are not subject
to the vagaries of the weather, making it easy to set up
production plans. Worries about plant diseases and pests arealso reduced, making it possible to eliminate agriculturalchemicals and deliver vegetables that are safe for the table.”
So says the development manager of Ushio’s LED lightsources for growing plants. With national support andparticipation of industries of other areas, the number of plantfactories has grown steadily over the past few years, and it isa field with great prospects for future growth.
“Use of light to grow plants has been studied since longago. Ushio began undertaking the development of lightsources for plant factories at the instigation of a certain
university’s research laboratory, which talked to us about thepossibility of replacing the metal halide lamps it was using
for cultivating rice with LEDs. We undertook collaborative
research on this topic with the aim of not simply saving
power by changing the type of light source, but by providing
added value through application of Ushio’s own light control
technology.”Take, for example, lettuce in which the proportion ofpotassium has been reduced to 1/10. While potassium has
the effect of lowering blood pressure by forcing sodium outof the system, its concentration in the blood increases in

The possibility of vegetables withfunctionality
As research progressed, we learned that the constituents
included in vegetables were affected by the wavelength oflight and the duration of irradiation. “Depending on thewavelength of light and fertilizer components, we can growvegetables of new types that have never been seen before.

Experiment in rice growing using
high-intensity LED units.

cases of kidney failure, resulting in worsened symptoms.
Reducing the amount of potassium in lettuce by 90% allows
it to be eaten with confidence even by people who haverestricted diets. Furthermore, the ruthin contained in
komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) and spinach is a
powerful antioxidant which is attracting attention for its
usefulness in preventing eye diseases such as cataracts andage-related macular degeneration. Also, basic research into
genetic modification and related techniques raises thepossibility of incorporating influenza or other vaccines into
crops such as rice, raising the possibility that it will one day
be possible to eat vaccines rather than take them as aninjection. The field of preventive medicine is just one inwhich ‘functional vegetables’ are being studied as a meansof delivering vaccines and antibiotics.”
Continuing, the manager says, “Crops capable of providing
both food and medicine together can be safely eaten even by
infants and the elderly. It also makes use of syringes
unnecessary in areas where sanitation conditions are poor,and has a variety of other advantages. Expectations are highAgriculture/
Fisheriesthat such crops could also be mixed into animal feed, helping
to prevent losses due to disease, etc. Since I used to do
semiconductor-related work, it’s odd to imagine that now I
find excitement in the fun and challenge of raisingvegetables. It’s a lot of fun!”Ushio’s endeavors in agriculture are not limited to raisingvegetables, but also extend to studying how UV light can beused to keep vegetables fresh and prevent growth of moldafter crops have been harvested. “Increasing shelf life byeven a day greatly enlarges the geographical area in which
agricultural products can be sold, allowing more people toenjoy the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables. This can help
vitalize agriculture.”
Sales people say that this will also help to develop
demand in countries that don’t have suitable growing
environments. We have our sights on both how agriculture isconducted and on addressing the world’s food problem.

How Ushio is changing fishing lights
Ushio also has a long history with the fishing lights thatfishermen use to lure squid, mackerel and other fish. “In the1970s, Ushio was the first company to offer halogen lamps
as replacements for the ordinary incandescent lights thatfisherman were using to lure fish,” says our manager offishing lights. Because squid are attracted to the surface
more by brighter lights, fishermen competed with each otherto outfit their boats with the most lamps. This competition
became so fierce that the government stepped in to impose
limits on the number of lamps that could be installed.
“For many years, fishermen used metal halide lamps
when fishing for squid and halogen or incandescent lamps
when fishing for mackerel. With mackerel fishing, the cost offuel to power the lamps could amount to more than 30% of
operating costs, and somewhere between 30 and 60 percent
of all fuel carried would be consumed to power the lighting.
At one point, rising crude oil prices pushed up the cost of oil
fuel used in fishing by 300% in just five years, leading to ademand for more efficient and effective LED fishing lights.
The question was, how deeply and brightly can LED lighting
penetrate the ocean? And that wasn’t the only problem. In
the harsh environment of the ocean, lamps must also be able
to withstand vibration and resist salt.”
The key to increasing the efficiency of fishing is increasing
the size of the catch. In order to test the ability of light toattract mackerel and squid, developers would sometimes
ride on fishing ships. “Just as the color of the ocean differs
slightly according to region, there are also slight variations in
the color of light that is most effective for catching fish. BluerFishing boat with shining squid lights

LED for plant growing
Bar-type LED unit that allows users to varylight according to need by adjusting the lightof separate red and blue LEDs.

Halogen fish-luring light
Introduced in 1973, this was Japan’s first fish-luring
light to use a halogen lamp. Twice as bright, lasts
five times as long, and one tenth the size.

light works better in colder waters, and redder light works
better in waters that are warmer. Preferred light colors also
differ by nationality, and Taiwan, China, and Korea all havedifferent color preferences. There is still much that is
unknown about the relationship between light and fish, and
we often look to fishermen’s experiences for ideas andsuggestions. We would like to see fishing with lights spreadto the countries of Southeast Asia, where economic
development is leading to an increase in scale of the fishingindustry. I would like to continue supporting the developmentof light so that the fishing methods used in Japan can serveas an example in other countries.”
Fishing lights are so bright that they can be clearly seen in
photos taken from satellites. Ushio’s fishing lights willcontinue lighting the night seas in years to come.