In the Kanto, Tokai, and Hokuriku regions of Japan, farms engaged in paddy field crop rotation are becoming increasingly large in scale, while the number of agricultural workers is rapidly declining. At the same time, the impacts of climate change are intensifying, making it difficult to grow crops properly using conventional cultivation practices.
To address these challenges, we will develop sensing technologies that enable the monitoring of field conditions while performing routine farm operations and methods for selecting appropriate cultivation techniques based on sensing results and other data. In addition, we will develop cultivation support systems that assist in the management of soybean, paddy rice, wheat, and barley production by utilizing smart agricultural machinery, cultivation management records, and meteorological data.
For the Hokuriku region, where frequent snowfall during winter limits field operations, we will develop a lineup of rice cultivation methods sowing at different times than conventional schedules, thereby distributing rice production tasks more evenly throughout the year.
We will breed new rice, barley, wheat, and soybean varieties that can meet the demands of farm-scale expansion, climate change adaptation, and end-user needs. When necessary, we will also develop high-quality, high-yield cultivation techniques optimized for these newly developed varieties.
By packaging these newly developed technologies and bred varieties, we aim to optimize paddy field crop rotation systems involving rice, wheat, barley, and soybean, improve productivity, and establish a crop rotation system that enables planting and management of up to 30 hectares per operator.
