Revitalize agriculture industry

Expectations are high that advanced technology will help revive the agriculture industry in Japan. The government has been conducting trials of so-called “smart farming,” utilizing artificial intelligence, robots and the Internet of Things, the interconnection of devices that can send and receive data via the internet.

With the help of a government subsidy, farmers in Saga Prefecture this year introduced AI-equipped robot technology to monitor the growth of asparagus and harvest it at the optimum time, producing a labor-saving of 20% to 30%. An agricultural cooperative in Hokkaido uses three drones that simultaneously spray pesticides on wheat fields and other crops, which is said to have led to a significant reduction in working hours.

It is important to evaluate the results and challenges of these projects, and steadily promote the use of such technologies.

Japan’s agriculture industry is suffering from a shortage of workers. The number of people whose main occupation is farming was about 1.4 million in 2019, down about 30% from 2010. The industry is facing a serious problem of aging: the average age of farmers in Japan is 67.

The spread of the novel coronavirus has prevented entry to Japan of foreign workers, who under the country’s “technical intern” training program have supported the domestic industry. It can be said that the weaknesses of Japan’s agriculture industry have become even more apparent.

Smart farming could be one of the measures to overcome the problems, but there are many challenges that need to be addressed before it can be put into full-scale operation.

Self-driving tractors are now available on the market but many of them are expensive, costing over ¥10 million. Price reductions are essential.

The sharing of equipment is an effective way to expand the use of new technologies. However, the harvest season tends to be concentrated, and it is not easy to make efficient arrangements. The government should consider measures to encourage agricultural cooperatives and private companies to actively develop agricultural equipment sharing businesses.

One concern in the agricultural industry is that data utilization lags behind other industries. If relevant information can be used to forecast shipments and demand with high accuracy, losses related to crop waste can be reduced. By linking production and inventory information, it would also be possible to select the best pickup and shipping routes.

The government has established a system to provide farmers and farm equipment manufacturers with a wide range of data held by private companies and government offices. It is hoped that the public and private sectors will jointly research methods that will help improve productivity.

In order to secure the workforce, it is important to create an environment in which young people can turn their attention to farming. Many kinds of agricultural machinery and equipment can be difficult to operate without the required skills, and cultivating crops relies heavily on experience and intuition. If such experiences can be converted into data, the hurdles for those who want to enter the farming industry would be lowered.

It is important to make full use of advanced technologies to lighten the burden of farm work, which is often perceived as “heavy labor,” and innovate to produce appealing crops.