DXAS, a Joint Venture Established by Kagome and NEC, to Provide AI Farming Advice and Automated Irrigation Control Services for Pulse Drip Irrigation

DXAS Agricultural Technology, a joint venture between Kagome Co., Ltd. and NEC Corporation, 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.

CropScope Functions and Value Delivered

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.

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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.

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In order to solve these difficulties, Kagome 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.

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.

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