The Technology Application Research Team was established with the objective of adapting technologies developed by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) to regional conditions and promoting their dissemination across regions. From April 2026, the team has transitioned to a new organizational structure. In addition to the five regional research centers—Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center, Tohoku Agricultural Research Center, Central Region Agricultural Research Center, Western Region Agricultural Research Center, and Kyushu-Okinawa Agricultural Research Center—activities are also being conducted at five specialized institutes: the Food Research Institute, Institute of Fruit Tree and Tea Science, Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture Science, Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, and Institute of Plant Protection. A total of ten research projects are being implemented across these ten locations.
Our team is responsible for the project entitled "Expanding the Application of Remote Guidance Systems to Dry Direct Seeded Rice." The NARO-style dry direct seeded rice has been rapidly spreading due to factors such as the declining number of core farmers and the consolidation of farmland, and the number of farmers wishing to newly adopt this method is increasing sharply. However, there is concern that a shortage of technical advisors and extension personnel may become a bottleneck to wider adoption.
To address this issue, we will develop and demonstrate a system that supports technology transfer in regions newly introducing dry direct seeded rice. Through these efforts, we seek to establish self-sustaining extension systems in regions implementing the NARO-style dry direct seeded rice and to ensure the long-term establishment of this technology.
