Different tomatoes from Kagome this season

MUMBAI, INDIA: NEC has developed a new large-scale farming analysis solution for crop cultivation to increase crop yields and agricultural efficiency.

As a first step, the company has signed a cooperation agreement with Kagome Co to develop cultivation technology for processing tomatoes. Since March 2015, the two companies have conducted tests utilizing this solution at a farm in Portugal belonging to a Kagome subsidiary.

The solution:

The solution creates virtual fields based on weather, soil and vegetation data obtained from sensors, satellites and drones as well as farming activity data such as irrigation and fertilizer use. The solution enables optimized use of water, fertilizer, and agrochemicals in accordance with the growth of crops and weather conditions.

It then creates growth simulations for these virtual fields, providing customized insights for farming the land, predicting future yields and appropriate harvesting times.

Some of the early findings:

•    Visualization of the water saturation and nitrogen stress levels of specific sections of cultivated land and analysis of the causes of yield differences between plots

•    Development of optimized cultivation methods

•    Prediction of the appropriate time for harvesting and maximizing yield as much as one month prior to harvesting

"Since October 2015, Kagome has worked in collaboration with NEC to conduct tests utilizing this solution with an Australia-based subsidiary. In order to respond to the increase in demand for tomatoes due to rising global populations, Kagome is implementing initiatives to increase the unit yield (yield per area) in existing production regions. This latest development of cultivation technology for tomatoes is one such initiative," said Takeshi Saeki, Chief Financial Officer, Global Tomato Company, Kagome.

"NEC focuses on the development of social solutions utilizing its in-house analysis, forecasting, control and mathematical analysis technology to deliver value to the agriculture value chain, including materials, production, processing and distribution," said Osamu Fujikawa, General Manager, Corporate Business Development Division, NEC.