Larry Ellison He is known for being co -founder of Oracle, consultant close to Donald Trump and the fourth largest fortune in the world, According to the list of millionaires of Forbes. The millionaire invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a technological agriculture project in Lanai, its private island in Hawaii, As published The Wall Street Journal.
His idea was to revolutionize the way in which they produce food Through an innovative and sustainable approach, combining advanced technology with methods of Modern hydroponic agriculture.
To carry out the project, Ellison created the Sensei AG company, which promised to develop an innovative vegetable cultivation model that would allow multiplying the Food production in the future. However, this ambitious plan has not developed as Ellison expected and has become another example of the technological challenges that agriculture has ahead.
Lanai, Ellison’s paradise
In 2012, Larry Ellison bought 98% of the island De Lanai, in Hawaii, for 200 million dollars. His intention, in addition to turning it into his holiday retirement, was to transform it into a sustainability laboratory.
One of its key projects was the development of vertical agriculture by Sensei AG, which aspired to produce Fresh and healthy foods using less land surface and natural resources.
According to WSJEllison allocated an initial investment of 500 million dollars with the aim of building Six greenhouses equipped with high technology and design an intelligent irrigation system that will optimize the use of water.
“The greenhouse structures were optimized for tulips in Holland in the seventeenth century and have not suffered great improvements since then,” said David Agus, friend of Ellison and one of the founders of Sensei AG.
Sensei AG built greenhouses and equipped them with advanced sensors, artificial intelligence and weather control systems. These greenhouses had to ensure the conducive conditions to produce fruits, vegetables and other high quality foods, reducing The environmental impact. In addition, the founder of Oracle planned to use renewable energy to feed these facilities to create a complete sustainable model, so that it could be deployed in other parts of the world. The island did not make it easy.
If something may fail, it will fail
In the 20s of the last century, Lanai became a huge estate dedicated to Pineapple cultivationto the point of producing 75% of the world supply of this fruit. This intensive culture and Chemical agents used To accelerate maturation they ravaged the fields, which reduced the land productivity of the island.
The climatology of the island also raised problems since the Israeli engineers who built the greenhouses did not take into account the humidity of the island or their gusts of wind. So the coverage of 12 million dollars of greenhouses flew through the airfiring the repair cost up to 50 million dollars.
Elon Musk, Larry Ellison’s personal friend, took care of provide solar panels that would feed the technology of greenhouses. However, again the strong winds They constantly dirty the panels that were unused. According to the article of The Wall Street Journalon many occasions they had to obtain electricity connecting diesel generators.
In addition to failing the roofs, solar energy and land, Sensei AG employees had to deal with an unexpected problem: Wi -Fi coverage failures. It may seem a minor evil, but in a high -tech greenhouse in which there are hundreds of sensors that graduate the light, temperature, humidity or ventilation, having wifi makes the difference between a successful harvest or a failure.
500 million dollars in cherry tomatoes
Although the Sensei AG plans were very ambitious, the project faced the same profitability dilemmas that farmers suffer In any corner of the planet. “The vision was very large, but then it was gradually diluted as we faced the realities of Lanai implementation,” he said in Young, former general manager of Lanai’s facilities.
The operational costs of advanced facilities and the Greenhouse maintenance were too high compared to the income generated by the sale of food. And that Sensei became the largest producer of different Types of lettuce and tomato cherry Hawaii. Its founding objective of “feeding the world” has been an absolute failure.
Now, the project will focus on the development of agricultural management software, using its greenhouses as a test laboratory, with the aim of selling the necessary software and hardware in the form of a package that other farms can franchise. In addition, it has started operations to the south of California to implement Robotized culture systems that automate plantation care.
For Lanai, the partial closure of the Sensei AG project generated doubts about Ellison’s long -term plans for the island. Some residents criticized that their agricultural resources were used for technological experiments instead of helping the supply of provisions of the island, which must import between 80% and 90% of the products it consumes.
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Image | Sensei Ag, Unspash (Erda Estramera)