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Larry Ellison is widely recognized as the co-founder of Oracle. He’s a close consultant to President Donald Trump and holds the world’s fourth-largest fortune, according to Forbes. A lesser-known aspect of Ellison’s career is his technological agriculture project on his private island in Hawaii. He’s reportedly invested hundreds of millions of dollars in it.
His vision was to revolutionize food production through an innovative and sustainable approach, integrating advanced technology with modern hydroponic farming methods.
To implement the project, Ellison established Sensei Ag, a company that aimed to develop a groundbreaking model for growing vegetables that would significantly increase food production in the future. However, The Wall Street Journal reports that this ambitious plan hasn’t progressed as Ellison had hoped. It’s just another example of the technological challenges the agriculture sector faces.
Lanai: Ellison’s Paradise
In 2012, Ellison purchased 98% of the island of Lanai in Hawaii for $200 million. Aside from creating a vacation retreat, his primary intention was to transform the island into a sustainability laboratory.
One key project involved developing vertical farming through Sensei Ag. This initiative aimed to produce fresh, healthy food while using less land and natural resources.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ellison allocated an initial investment of $500 million to construct six high-tech greenhouses and design a smart irrigation system to optimize water usage.
“Greenhouse structures were optimized for tulips in Holland in the 1600s and have not been dramatically overhauled since,” David Agus, a friend of Ellison and one of the founders of Sensei Ag, said in an August interview.
Sensei Ag constructed greenhouses equipped with advanced sensors, artificial intelligence, and climate control systems. These greenhouses were intended to create optimal conditions for producing high-quality fruits, vegetables, and other foods while minimizing environmental impact.
Additionally, Ellison wanted to power these facilities using renewable energy, establishing a fully sustainable model that could be implemented in other regions around the world. However, the island presented many challenges.
Anything That Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong
In the 1920s, Lanai became a massive pineapple-producing estate, generating 75% of the world’s pineapple supply. This intensive cultivation, combined with chemical agents used to accelerate ripening, severely damaged the soil, reducing its productivity.
Additionally, the island’s climate posed additional issues. The Israeli engineers who built the greenhouses failed to account for the high humidity and strong wind gusts typical of the island. As a result, the $12 million greenhouse roofs were blown away, leading to repair costs totaling $50 million.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, a personal friend of Ellison, was responsible for providing the solar panels designed to power the greenhouse technology. However, high winds often disrupted the panels, making them ineffective. According to The Wall Street Journal, there were several occasions when they had to depend on diesel generators for power.
In addition to issues with the roofs and solar power, Sensei Ag employees encountered an unexpected challenge: Wi-Fi coverage failures. While it may seem like a minor issue, Wi-Fi is crucial in a high-tech greenhouse equipped with hundreds of sensors that regulate light, temperature, humidity, and ventilation. Access to Wi-Fi can determine whether a harvest succeeds or fails.
$500 Million in Cherry Tomatoes
Despite Sensei Ag’s ambitious plans, the project faced the same profitability challenges that farmers around the world encounter. “The vision was so big. And then it just slowly got whittled away as we faced up to realities of implementing on Lanai,” En Young, the former general manager of the Lanai facility, told the outlet.
The operating costs of advanced facilities and greenhouse maintenance were too high relative to the income generated from food sales. Although Sensei became Hawaii’s largest producer of several types of lettuce and cherry tomatoes, its founding goal of feeding the world has ultimately failed.
The project plans to focus on developing farm management software, using its greenhouses as a test lab. The company’s goal is to sell the necessary software and hardware as a package that other farms can franchise. Additionally, Sensei has begun operations in Southern California to implement robotic farming systems to automate crop care.
The partial closure of the Sensei Ag project has raised doubts in Lanai about Ellison’s long-term plans for the island. Some residents have criticized the use of agricultural resources for technological experiments rather than for efforts to help supply the island. In the end, they rely on importing between 80% and 90% of the products they consume.
Images | Oracle PR | Sensei Ag
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