Development of agricultural IT and smart farming services

「During the consolidated fiscal year, use of the drone pesticide-spraying DX service for rice, wheat, soybeans, and other crops covered 25 prefectures, 134 municipalities, 133,000 fields, and 32,000 hectares. In addition, 98% of producers who used the service during the consolidated fiscal year wished to continue using it in the following consolidated fiscal year.」

「The company’s core service, the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service, a drone-spraying DX service with the No. 1 domestic market share (Note 4), entered its busy season. The number of customers, fields, and field area increased from the previous fiscal year, making a significant contribution to revenue. In addition, pest and disease damage increased due to climate change in recent years, particularly mild winters and extreme heat, expanding demand for the service even in areas that had not previously required crop protection.」

「As a result, during the consolidated fiscal year, the company’s PTS for rice was adopted by approximately 100 customers, including crop-protection cooperatives and JA, across 26 prefectures and 133 municipalities. The service was used across 26,000 hectares and approximately 110,000 rice paddies, representing a scale of market share equivalent to the largest domestic drone-spraying DX service (Note 3).」

「During the consolidated fiscal year, the company conducted active sales activities and growth investments with the goal of making its drone pesticide-spraying DX service, Pinpoint Timing Spraying Service, the domestic market-share leader. During the interim consolidated accounting period, it provided the PTS drone pesticide-spraying DX service nationwide. As a result, sales of PTS for rice cultivation grew substantially year on year.」

「In agritech, adoption of the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service, which uses drones to conduct field-by-field digital analysis of rice-growing fields and enable crop protection at the appropriate time, rapidly expanded among rice producers and agricultural organizations nationwide.」

「In agritech, adoption of the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service, which conducts field-by-field digital analysis to enable crop protection at the appropriate time, expanded among producers and agricultural organizations nationwide, and the number of new customers using the service increased. Most customers who used the service in the previous fiscal year also consulted the company about continuing to use it and expanding the scale of use, indicating steady progress in the service’s adoption.」

「In agritech, adoption of the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service, which conducts field-by-field digital analysis to enable crop protection at the appropriate time, expanded among producers and agricultural organizations nationwide. The service is spreading steadily, with a high retention rate among customers who used it in the previous fiscal year, applications to expand contract sizes, and an increase in new customers. The company also announced the next-generation rice cultivation technology Stripe Seed Shooter Technology as a new smart agriculture technology.」

「In agritech, the company jointly exhibited a booth with 株式会社NTT e-Drone Technology at the G7 Miyazaki Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting held on 22–23 April, demonstrating field analysis using its Pinpoint Pesticide-Spraying Technology and Agri Field Manager, as well as an autonomous-flight drone. It also established 株式会社オプティム・ファーム to promote the sustainable development of Japanese agriculture. Through 株式会社オプティム・ファーム, the Group will further advance research and development in agricultural digital transformation, beginning with fields it operates in Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures.」

「As a result of the initiatives described above, the company began selling agricultural contractor services, including the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service, which enables the digital transformation of crop-protection operations, and expanded them across Japan.」

「In agriculture, the company fully launched the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service, which conducts field-by-field digital analysis to enable crop protection at the appropriate time, and the service made a steady start. Smart Rice cultivation also progressed steadily as usual, and harvesting of the new rice harvested in fiscal 2022 began.」

「The company began providing the Pinpoint Timing Spraying service. By combining its accumulated growth-forecasting and pest-and-disease forecasting technologies with its expertise in drone-based crop protection, the service is expected to achieve maximum control effectiveness by spraying the minimum amount of pesticide at the appropriate time. The company also continued selling Smart Rice 2022, the new rice harvested in fiscal 2021, produced using AI and drones to reduce pesticide use.」

「The company began a demonstration experiment aimed at smartening greenhouse cultivation with 6 companies: the company, 株式会社クボタ, inaho株式会社, 株式会社ルートレック・ネットワークス, 株式会社レグミン, and 株式会社関東甲信クボタ. By bringing together the participating companies’ automation solutions using their respective robots and AI, the company is building a demonstration environment in which data collected at each cultivation stage, including irrigation, fertilization, pest and disease control, and harvesting, can be used mutually.」

「In agriculture, the company conducted a demonstration experiment with the Ishikawa Prefectural Agriculture and Forestry Research Center, with which it is jointly developing a drone direct-seeding machine. Using aerial images captured by the fixed-wing drone OPTiM Hawk, the experiment obtained growth data for rice, soybeans, and other crops over large areas and enabled detailed cultivation guidance.」

「In agriculture, the company began selling Smart Rice 2021, the new rice harvested in fiscal 2020, produced using AI and drones to reduce pesticide use and well received in the previous fiscal year.」

「In agriculture, the company added a new reduced-pesticide cultivation method and new varieties to Smart Rice, safe and reliable rice produced using AI and drones to reduce pesticide use, and is selling the new rice harvested in fiscal 2020 as Smart Rice 2021.」

「In agriculture, the company entered into a capital and business alliance with 株式会社ルートレック・ネットワークス to further develop its smart agriculture business using AI, IoT, and robotics and pursue a digital revolution in agricultural production.」

「Smart Rice 2020 is offered in a lineup of 7 varieties, comprising the 4 varieties sold from the fiscal 2018 harvest, Sagabiyori, Nikomaru, Hinohikari, and Masshigura, plus 3 newly added varieties, Yume Shizuku, Tsugaru Roman, and Koshihikari.」

「In agriculture, the company announced a collaboration with 株式会社エンルート in the smart agriculture field using AI, IoT, and drones. It also launched Smart Agriculture Professional Services, a one-stop service supporting large-scale agricultural corporations and companies in resolving their smart agriculture challenges. In addition, it expanded the product lineup of Smart Rice, safe and reliable rice produced using AI and drones to reduce pesticide use, and is selling it as Smart Rice 2020, the new rice harvested in fiscal 2019.」

「In agriculture, the company is working with the Tamba Citizens’ Bureau of Hyogo Prefecture on a joint project to strengthen the production capacity of specialty products using smart agriculture. In a project with Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture, it is conducting Japan’s first demonstration project using the fixed-wing drone OPTiM Hawk and AI-based identification for agricultural land crop-planting verification. (As of 28 June 2019, according to the company; this refers to an initiative conducted as a business demonstration project incorporating AI-based automated identification into crop-planting verification using aerial drone photography.)」

「In agriculture using IoT and robotics, the Smart Agriculture Alliance continued to make steady progress, with the number of participating organizations exceeding 1,000. The company also began selling crops produced using its patented pinpoint pesticide-spraying technology through the Smart Agri Foods Direct Delivery website, which it operates, as well as Amazon and Yahoo! Shopping.」

「In October 2018, the company began selling Tanba Black soybeans and edamame grown using pinpoint pesticide-spraying technology through Takashimaya Co., Ltd. In November 2018, it launched the Smart Agri Foods Direct Delivery website, also known as Suma Choku, and began selling Smart Rice, safe and reliable rice produced using AI and drones to reduce pesticide use. In November 2018, the company also established the Smart Agriculture Promotion Consortium with the Kyushu Economic Federation, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Oita Prefecture, and announced that it had entered into the Smart Agriculture Promotion Consortium Agreement.」

「The initiative had already expanded to 18 crops in 18 prefectures, with one-third of Japan’s prefectures participating, and approximately 300 organizations had joined as alliance members within six months of its launch. The company also announced AGRI EARTH, an AI, IoT, blockchain, and platform solution that promotes the use of agricultural big data and creates value through AI and IoT specialized for agriculture.」

「As specific results, the company presented AGRI EARTH, an AI, IoT, and Robot platform for the agriculture, forestry and fisheries, distribution and processing, and food industries, and conducted an initiative with Shiroishi Town to verify crop planting using drones, the first such initiative in Japan.」

「In the agriculture × IT field, the company began rolling out a cultivation method using drones and AI for pinpoint pesticide spraying,」

「In agriculture, the company announced a range of new solutions using AI, IoT, and big data, collectively called the OPTiM Smart Agriculture Solution. The solution comprises Agri Field Manager, a field information management service; Agri House Manager, a greenhouse information management service; the robotics services OPTiM Hawk, OPTiM Agri Drone, and OPTiM Crawler; Agri Assistant, a service supporting farm-work records and GAP certification; Smart Yasai R vegetables grown using OPTiM smart agriculture; and Agri Blockchain, a blockchain-based traceability platform. In the same field, the company also became the first in the world to successfully grow soybeans using pinpoint pesticide-spraying technology employing AI, IoT, and drones. Testing of the soybeans grown using this method found residual pesticides at levels equivalent to not detected. Pesticide use was reduced to 1/10 or less of normal usage, and production costs were also reduced.」

「In agriculture, the company also began working with Fujieda City, in addition to Saga Prefecture, on precision agriculture using AI and IoT technologies.」

「The company entered into a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Saga Prefecture to promote the use of AI and IoT toward realizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is working to position Saga Prefecture as a test field for AI and IoT applications and to expand their use beyond agriculture, fisheries, and healthcare to all industries and administrative fields.」

「In agricultural IT, the company held a progress presentation on IT-based agriculture initiatives with Saga University and Saga Prefecture. At the event, it presented the company’s Agr i Drone, which uses autonomous flight to detect pests and automatically spray pesticides; the Agri Crawler robot, which performs 360-degree image analysis of crops inside greenhouses; and Smart Yasai, a new vegetable concept connecting producers with consumers.」