New-Age farming

NEXT time you look for a Panasonic, don't just head to the electrical department. You might also want to check out the pre-made salads in the fresh vegetables section of the supermarket. It currently offers three varieties in the Panasonic Veggie Life salad range: the Antioxidant Mix, the Nourish Mix and the Vibrant Mix.

In the future, could we also get to buy strawberries from Sharp, or lettuce from Toshiba and Fujitsu if the trend in Japan makes its way here?

For now, Panasonic is the poster boy of the mini agricultural revolution that started in Japan a few years ago - when the country's electronic giants switched to hi-tech, clean-room farming in their plants that used to make computer chips and plasma TVs. This was brought about because of the ailing electronics sector now dominated by Korea, combined with the problem of ageing farmers in Japan.