Larry Ellison Launching Hydroponic Farming Company On His Own Private Island

Sensei is starting out with ten hydroponic greenhouses, 200,000 square feet each. Together, Ellison told the Honolulu Star Advertiser he expects them to yield about 1.7 million pounds of produce per year. That amount is said to surpass that which could supply Lanai, the private Hawaiian island Ellison bought 98 percent of back in 2012 for $300 million, and the business plan for now is to sell the produce in Hawaii where 85 percent of the food is imported. The plan is also for Sensei to be a technological leader in the industry, as the company’s president Daniel Gruneberg explains in a statement: Sensei hydroponic farming will work by first importing fruit and vegetable seeds from all over the world, which will then be cultivated hydroponically (in water, rather than in soil) on the island. This method requires 90 percent less water than traditional farming, and the greenhouses will also be outfitted with Tesla brand solar panels for even greater environmental sustainability. If all goes according to plan, the produce itself will be more nutritious and better tasting, too, since data will be collected digitally from the yield to be studied by researchers in order to maximize the produce in those two areas. And in case you’re wondering, Sensei’s first crops will be Black Trifele tomatoes and Komatsuna mustard greens.