AGRIST Corporation and Macnica sign collaboration agreement with Miyazaki Prefecture on next-generation agriculture project to realize sustainable agriculture with bell bell pepper harvesting robots - Promoting smart agriculture in Miyazaki Prefecture by realizing optimal operation of harvesting robots and humans -.

AGRIST Inc. (headquarters: Shintomi-cho, Miyazaki Prefecture; Board Director: Junichi Saito and Hiroki Hata; hereinafter "Agrist"), developer of the automatic bell pepper harvesting robot "L," and Macnica (headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter Macnica"), a total Services & Solutions provider in semiconductors, networks, cybersecurity, and AI/IoT, announced today that they have concluded a collaboration agreement with Miyazaki Prefecture (Governor: Toshitsugu Kono) with the aim of commercializing a next-generation agricultural business aimed at realizing sustainable agriculture using bell pepper harvesting robots, in order to advance innovation in agriculture in Miyazaki Prefecture in the wake of the hosting of the G7 Miyazaki Prefecture Agriculture Ministers' Meeting.

In recent years, in addition to the declining and aging population working in agriculture, issues in food and agriculture have been attracting attention, such as climate change, an increase in large-scale natural disasters, food loss, and a decline in the food self-sufficiency rate. Even in Miyazaki Prefecture, which has many nationally-known branded agricultural products such as green peppers, there are few new workers due to concerns about profitability, such as "cannot harvest at the right time", "have to dispose of the crop because it cannot be harvested". Amidst the challenge of realizing sustainable agriculture, such as problems such as

Therefore, Agrist, Macnica, and Miyazaki Prefecture have teamed up to develop next-generation agriculture using the robot by exploring and realizing the optimal cultivation environment, cultivation method, and effective data utilization, with the green pepper harvesting robot developed by Agrist as the core. We will continue to work on building technology to achieve this.

Agristo is developing an automatic green pepper harvesting robot "L" that solves the labor shortage at the time of harvesting. In addition to harvesting by robots, highly efficient tailoring and cultivation methods using robots, high-yield cultivation that combines high-eaves greenhouses and hydroponics, and highly productive “human x robot agriculture” using data. We are also working to reduce CO2 emissions. We will embody the above elements in our own agricultural corporation and establish next-generation agriculture. In addition, we will provide these as a "next-generation agricultural package" to companies that wish to enter agriculture for the first time.

Macnica has a track record of introducing AI to many companies, and in the field of agriculture, it offers "Farmalize by macnica.ai," which uses sensing, AI, and dashboards to improve plant factory work efficiency and support cultivation recipe development. In addition, the company has a great deal of knowledge in the use of semiconductors and sensing that it has cultivated over the years, and will gather cutting-edge technologies from around the world to support the development and marketing of AgriSt's "Next Generation Agriculture Package".

[Main contents of the agreement]
■Regarding early on-site implementation of green pepper harvesting robots
・Development and functional improvement of green pepper harvesting robot
Utilizing Macnica 's cutting-edge semiconductors for Agrist's robots, we develop boards and process designs that optimize costs for mass production specifications.
・Development of cultivation methods suitable for green pepper harvesting robots
We aim to further improve profitability by improving the greenhouse environment and crops to accommodate robot movements and increasing harvest efficiency.
・Consideration of adding functions to green pepper harvesting robots, etc.
We aim to improve labor management and profitability during harvesting by utilizing the camera attached to the robot and predicting harvest volume through AI cooperation such as data acquisition and analysis.
■Regarding human resource development for the spread of green pepper harvesting robots
・By disseminating these solutions widely within the prefecture, we will be able to develop human resources that will enable stable agricultural management into the future.

【role】
Agrist: Development and provision of harvesting robots, provision of cultivation know-how suitable for robots
Miyazaki Prefecture: Performance evaluation of harvesting robots, development support on how to prepare green peppers suitable for robot harvesting, etc.
Macnica: Support for basic development of harvesting robots (hardware/AI), support for robot production and sales

In the future, Agrist, Macnica, and Miyazaki Prefecture will continue to aim for sustainable and highly productive agriculture, strengthen the use of data through AI collaboration of harvesting robots at farms in the prefecture, and establish cultivation technologies and methods suitable for robot harvesting. We aim to realize optimal operation between harvesting robots and humans.

<Automatic green pepper harvesting robot “L”>

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AGRIST Co., Ltd. Public Relations
TEL: 050-5602-3317 (Osawa)
E-mail: info@agrist.com

In charge of Macnica Food Agritech Business
TEL: 045-470-9841
E-mail: mac-agritech@macnica.co.jp