Paddy fields of Kyushu region are characterized by high rate of land utilization due to double-cropping in summer and winter. However, it is important to further improve the rate of land utilization and to expand the scale of farming in order to increase the profitability of paddy farming while tackling the progressing of aging population and the shortage of workers. It is also important to avoid a decrease in the yield and quality of crops due to frequent weather risks such as high temperatures, lack of sunshine, humidity, and drought.
In the Division of Crop Rotation Research for Lowland Farming, the Smart Lowland Crop Rotation Group will work on the advancement of warm region paddy field rotation technology towards the realization of highly profitable paddy farming by fully utilizing paddy fields and optimizing planting and development of organic matter utilization technology. The Advanced Lowland Farming Group will develop weather risk-responsive warm region paddy field cultivation technology and optimize advanced utilization system. The Crop Breeding Group will carry out crop breeding for full utilization of paddy fields.
Through these technological developments and crop breeding, we will aim to establish a highly profitable crop rotation farming system that can achieve a land utilization rate of 200% by optimizing cropping and reducing meteorological risks through the full utilization of farmland by introducing grain corn in addition to wheat and soybeans, in order to improve productivity and increase income through paddy rotation utilizing the characteristics of warm land.
