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DXAS Agricultural Technology (DXAS, Head Office: Lisbon, Portugal; CEO: Kengo Nakata), a joint venture between Kagome Co., Ltd. (Kagome, Head Office: Aichi, Japan; President: Satoshi Yamaguchi) and NEC Corporation (NEC, Head Office: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Takayuki Morita), will be enhancing NEC's AI-enabled agricultural ICT platform, CropScope, with the addition of AI farming management advice and an automated irrigation control function for pulse drip irrigation (*).
The platform’s new functions are expected to be deployed from April 2023. This will contribute to sustainable agriculture around the world by further promoting environmentally friendly and profitable farming while addressing water shortage issues at farming sites.
Agricultural producers have been facing challenging conditions in recent years due to the effects of global warming, climate change, and soaring prices of agricultural materials.
In particular, droughts that have occurred in various parts of the world over the past few years have severely damaged the cultivation of agricultural crops, and countermeasures against water shortages have become an urgent issue in realizing sustainable agriculture.
Conventionally, pulse drip irrigation is commonly known as a cultivation method that maintains optimal soil water content and reduces water consumption. However, this cultivation method has not been widely used because it is difficult to determine the optimal amount of water, which can change constantly, implementation of the method by producers who manage large and multiple fields is complicated, and it requires a heavy workload.
In order to solve these difficulties, Kagome (kagome.co.jp) and NEC conducted demonstration tests in Portugal this year, using AI farming advice on irrigation and fertilization provided by CropScope, in order to realize the automation of pulse drip irrigation. As a result, they succeeded in increasing the yield by about 20%, with about 15% less irrigation when compared to a field that did not utilize CropScope.
Based on the results of the demonstration tests, DXAS will accelerate farming support by promoting the introduction and spread of the new services in the global tomato market, mainly in Europe, the Americas and Australia.
Overview of the DXAS
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Start of business: September 2022
CEO: Kengo Nakata(Concurrent post: General Manager, Smart Agri Division, Kagome)
Business: Sale of farming management recommendation services and field visualization services utilizing AI, marketing, promotion, customer development, and service planning
Capital and shareholders' equity ratio: 2,119, 392.44 Euro Kagome: 66.6%, NEC: 33.4%
Introduction to CropScope - Farming management recommendation services - Visualization services
Farmers (Tomato growers) - AI which has acquired the know-how of skilled workers enables environmentally friendly and profitable farming. It also facilitates technology succession and helps to increase the number of new farmers. - It is possible to quickly notice irregularities and to reduce cultivation risks through visualizing the conditions of large fields.
Farming instructors - The use of formalized agricultural support know-how can reduce the time required to guide producers and train farming instructors. - Even if a field is large, it is possible to accurately identify the areas where irregularities are occurring and provide guidance based on accurate data.
(*)A cultivation method in which the amount of water and fertilizer required by a crop are given in small portions multiple times in order to maintain the optimum soil moisture content for the crop.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (nec.com) has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential.
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Tomato processing companies - Stable procurement and lower procurement costs can be achieved by reducing procurement risk and minimizing input. - Productivity can be improved through optimal total harvest adjustments based on objective data.
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