This group aims to develop new breeding technology that can freely design crops adapted to each agricultural environment, just like tailoring a suit to fit each person's body.
In recent years, abnormal climate has frequently been occurring around the world due to global environmental changes. Reflecting the trend, the growth of major cereal production is predicted to slow down in the future, making it challenging to support the future world population. The main reason for this slowdown is that modern crop varieties have lost much of their ability to adapt to environmental stresses during the process of domestication and cultivation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop robust crops adaptable to harsh environments such as nutrient and water deficiencies.
To solve these agricultural problems, this group will develop new breeding technologies that can rapidly design crops according to their purpose and improve them freely. The main themes of our group are 1) to develop the technology necessary for designing crops according to the purpose, and 2) to develop the technology for non-destructive measurement of morphophysiological data needed for designing crops. By combining these technologies with the gene information from the Crop Gene Function Group, we accomplish to develop climate-resilient crops by utilizing the genes associated with the robustness of wild plants. In the future, we hope to contribute to the development of crops with stable yields even in harsh environments such as drought.
to design crops that can adapt
to poor environments
