The Department of Vegetable and Field Crop Research consists of four groups: the Cultivation Systems Group, the Sweet Potato Breeding Group, the Organic/Sustainable Cultivation Group, and the Organic Farming Management Group.
The Kanto-Tokai region is located close to major consumption areas, and there is a demand from consumers and commercial users for a stable supply of high-quality agricultural products. However, compared with other major crops, vegetable production remains less mechanized, and the establishment of labor-saving cultivation techniques is a key challenge in addressing labor shortages and scaling up production. Furthermore, due to the region's proximity to urban areas, there is growing interest in environmentally friendly agriculture that minimizes the use of chemical inputs.
Against this backdrop, this department aims to establish sustainable production technologies that reduce environmental impact while stably producing high-quality agricultural products. Specifically, we are working on developing an integrated labor-saving mechanized system for sweet potato cultivation and the breeding of new varieties; promoting reduced-chemical fertilizer vegetable production using organic materials such as green manure and biochar; and developing organic vegetable cultivation systems utilizing weeding robots and environmental and crop growth sensing technologies.
