Adaptation by Next-generation Agricultural Technology and Management System
FARMDO Co., Ltd.
| Updated | June 19, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Publication date | May 22, 2018 (Posted on June 23, 2022) |
| Sector | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
Company Overview
With its corporate philosophy, “support agriculture; make efforts towards an increase in farmers’ incomes,” FARMDO Co., Ltd. (FARMDO) has opened 32 "Shoku no eki" (direct sales stores of agricultural products and processed local products that directly connect farmers and consumers), and "Chisan Marche" (small-scale farmers’ market in the Tokyo metropolitan area), and is expanding further. Centered in Gunma Prefecture we have developed a new form of agriculture, the Solar farm® project (solar sharing), which simultaneously conducts advanced agricultural production and solar power generation by regenerating abandoned and idle farmland. We have also been aspiring to develop a system to increase the farmers’ income through higher crop yields and selling electricity, and expand our franchises to 1000 locations in Japan and 30 locations in 10 countries around the world.
Adaptation Initiatives
Agriculture requires a cultivation system that grasps and responds to the changes in the climate with sound management. In an effort to adapt to climate change, we have been addressing these issues over the years by strengthening the financial base of agrobusiness to be able to cope with extreme weather events that cause damage to cultivation facilities and crops.
FARMDO Group is engaged in a new form of agriculture business that makes use of abandoned and idle farmland to simultaneously perform advanced agricultural production and solar power generation. Additionally, this system is being developed to increase the income of farmers by increasing crop yields and selling electricity.
Our “Solar farm” system that simultaneously conducts agriculture and power generation can be installed by placing our original transparent solar panels on the roof of the greenhouse that allows enough sunlight to fall onto the crops to grow. This system changes the transmittance depending on the crops, adjusts the light-receiving rate, temperature, moisture, and fertilizer by automatic environmental control using IoT. We also use a cultivation system that automatically control the impacts of climate change to realize an environment-controlled agriculture that is not largely dependent on weather conditions. This system can contribute to strengthening the financial base of farmers through providing dual income streams (agriculture and electricity). This system has already been partially deployed in Mongolia and other countries abroad.
