NIRE's mission
The Institute for Rural Engineering, NARO (NIRE) is the research arm of the National Agriculture and food Research Organisation (NARO) on the domain related to rural areas and conducts research to enable preservation and maintenance of regional resources for the future and to contribute a balanced regional development Our focus is the development of technology that contributes to the achievement of a policy of "real promotion" through prudent management of agricultural water and soil. We provide technical assistance on hazard and disaster countermeasures for farmland and agricultural facilities.
NIRE's broad range of activities
Research objectives for technical development
Research on stable supply of food
- Development of highly productive rotation system of paddy rice and upland crop in paddy field
- Development of low-cost structure design and environment control in greenhouse horticulture crop
Research concerning global problems
- Assessment and adaptation technologies for climate change on water/land resources
- Development of region-specific biomass utilisation systems
Research into regional resource management
- Development of verification and management technologies for agricultural water supply system
- Development of efficient structure function diagnosis of irrigation facilities and performance review methods
- Development of disaster prevention on agricultural land and ground utilizing low-cost investigative techniques with a high level of functionality
- Development of long-term safety measure technology for irrigation facilities taking disaster risk into account
- Development of risk evaluation and operational management methods for drainage to deal with changes in regional agriculture
- Development of enhanced technology and conservation for agricultural land production function
- Development of technologies for utilisation and management of renewable energy and regional resources
Research on response to the Fukushima nuclear accident
- Development of decontamination technologies for high-levels of radiation-contaminated soil and investigation of the radioactive substance runoff from farmland soil
NIRE History
- 1950: Inauguration of theDepartment of Agricultural Engineering was established in the National Institute of Agricultural Science and Shore Reclamation Department in the Kyushu Agriculture Experiment Station
- 1959: Inauguration of the Experiment and Training section of the Construction department of the Farmland Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)
- 1961: National Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering (NRIAE) established in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture under the MAF to oversee and combine the above three institutions
- 1977: NRIAE relocated from Hiratsuka City to Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki Prefecture
- 1988: NRIAE reorganised into the National Institute for Rural Engineering (NIRE) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
- 2001: NIRE became an incorporated administrative agency
- 2006: NIRE reorganised under the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation (NARO)
- 2016: NIRE restructured as part of the reorganization of the NARO and renamed as Institute for Rural Engineering, NARO (NIRE)
