PLANT DATA, AgriMind, and Macnica begin demonstration experiment using plant biological data and AI to predict yields and optimize costs - Aiming to utilize digital transformation to ensure a sustainable and stable food supply in the agricultural industry, where the working population is declining -

Data infrastructure, cloud, and measurement for agricultural businesses IoT develop and provide services. PLANT DATA Co., Ltd. (Head office: Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, Representative Board Director: Hiroto Kitagawa, hereinafter PLANT DATA), Agrimind Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Representative Board Director: Koji Fujimaki, hereinafter referred to as Agrimind), an agricultural corporation that boasts one of the world's top yields in tomato cultivation, semiconductors, networks, cyber security, AI/IoT Macnica (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, President: Kazumasa Hara, hereinafter Macnica) is a total Services & Solutions provider in 2022 Year 11 Starting in March, we began a demonstration experiment at AgriMind's farm on a "smart agriculture platform" that provides total support for tomato yield prediction, employee labor management, and various measurement automation.

The decline and aging of the working population in agriculture have become social issues, and efforts to protect and develop Japanese agriculture, such as the visualization of farm management know-how and the succession of cultivation techniques, are necessary. In addition, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has set a goal of raising the food self-sufficiency rate on a calorie basis from 37.17% (2020) to 45% (2030), climate change will reduce yields and increase food loss at production sites. There are issues for sustainable and stable food supply.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems, we will use PLANT DATA 's image measurement device and photosynthesis / transpiration measurement device to measure and utilize plant biometric data at AgriMind's farm, which has a greenhouse cultivation facility with top-class productivity. We have begun a demonstration experiment by combining the technology with Macnica 's AI and IoT knowledge.

In this demonstration experiment of the "smart agriculture platform", in addition to environmental information in the greenhouse, real-time measurement of plant metabolism such as the amount of photosynthesis and transpiration, and chlorophyll fluorescence and white LED image scanning measurement of plant trait information. We aim to achieve highly accurate yield prediction by acquiring biological information that measures the growth of vegetables, accumulating model data, and performing AI analysis. As a result, it is possible to optimize resource and energy input costs and to perform appropriate labor management by grasping the amount of work associated with harvesting and shipping in advance.

Agrimind is a company that cultivates, produces, purchases, processes and sells agricultural products that continues to practice and lead smart agriculture. We have introduced the first semi-closed greenhouse in Asia, and have achieved an astonishing yield of over 70 tons of tomatoes per 10 acres. With world-leading production facilities and high applicability of AI and IoT solutions, it provides a place for extracting and implementing on-site issues in smart agriculture.

PLANT DATA is a company that provides services for measuring plant biometric information and utilizing that data for cultivation management. We provide measurement hardware and software for data utilization, such as real-time measurements of photosynthesis and transpiration, and detection of anomalies in plant environmental responses based on chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. In this proof-of-concept, we are working to create an AI execution environment for the learning phase and the inference phase, as well as the accumulation and sharing of big data, as well as the specification of use cases that will be necessary in the future to be incorporated into on-site operations, and the specification reference for that purpose. I will continue.

Macnica is a total Services & Solutions provider with an organization of AI experts and a track record of over 300 AI implementations since 2015. In this demonstration experiment, Macnica will create an AI model and conduct a PoC based on data collected using PLANT DATA 's various sensors. Based on the results, we will establish an AI model and build an IoT control system for the house environment. We will also implement hardware and software to execute the data analyzed by AI, such as LEDs for growing plants, robotics for harvesting, and dashboards.

In the future, PLANT DATA, AgriMind, and Macnica will implement smart agriculture in the field, where systems, AI, and humans cooperate with each other, with the aim of achieving a sustainable and stable food supply.

■Details of this demonstration experiment
The demonstration experiments of PLANT DATA, AgriMind, and Macnica will be introduced in the form of a conversation between the three companies at the online event MET2022, which will be held from December 5th.
https://met2022.macnica.co.jp/module/web_page/164544/0#fooda

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*The information published in the news release (including product price, specifications, etc.) is current as of the date of announcement. Please note that the information may be subject to change without prior notice.