On March 1, 2024, a delegation led by Dr. Villalobos, the Minister of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, visited NARO. Vice President Dr. KATSUTA welcomed them and gave an overview of NARO. Later, the Administrator of Smart Agri-food Systems introduced the R&D of smart rice cultivation. Also, at the Tsukuba Agricultural Research Hall, Vice President Dr. KATSUTA presented the exhibition commemorating the 130th anniversary of the establishment of NARO, a plant factory, biotechnologies (plants, silkworms, gene banks), soybean, wheat and rice varieties, and smart agriculture/agricultural machinery. The Principal Scientist explained about the assist suits, water-management systems, agricultural machinery safety VR, plant factories, and rice varieties. The Mexican delegation expressed interest in the technology to produce medical products and cosmetics derived from silkworms using biotechnology. During the demonstration of the water management system, the method of water intake, its advantages (water saving and labor reduction), and disadvantages (cost) were discussed.
