Central Region Agricultural Research Center, NARO

In Cultivation Improvement Group, we study crop and field management technologies to improve the productivity of crops such as wheat and soybean under the crop rotation system on paddy field. Our group is located in two cities namely Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture and Ano, Mie prefecture. Our targets are 1) establishment of sustainable crop rotation systems and 2) development of technologies for flexible (optimizing) crop management by utilizing crop monitoring with remote sensing and crop model simulations. In sustainable crop rotation, maize for grain is introduced to crop rotation. The aim of maize introduction is to maintain soil organic matter by returning maize stalk to the soil. In crop sensing, various sensing methods are examined, and based on sensing data, we propose the appropriate amount of nitrogen fertilizer. We utilize the soil and crop growth simulation models to support optimization of crop management and to simulate the adaptability of crop rotation systems in Japan.