Tohoku Agricultural Research Center, NARO

Field Crop Management Group

The Field Crop Management Group aims to achieve stable, high-yield crop production for the ultra-labor-saving and low-cost paddy farming system in rotational land use with rice and upland crops on large-scale fields (more than approx. 1 ha / plot) of cold climates in Japan.

The main research contents are:

  • Developing a stable cultivation technology system of paddy rice through the use of rapid diagnostic technology of rice growth such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and computer software to support the information management such as cultivation history of each field.
  • Developing a labor-saving, high-yield cultivation system without intertillage and ridging which require the most work time in soybean operation. High-speed seeding machines which can be seeded with rice, wheat (or barley) and soybeans in a speed of 8 km/hr or more are used.
  • Developing labor-saving and high-grain-yield corn production system in the paddy field crop rotation system where corn is highly demanded for livestock feed.
  • Developing an integrated management system of weeds which is one of major inhibitory factor of stable, high-yield production of the crops in the plow-tillage two-year three-crop paddy rotation system that conforms to large-scale fields.

Diagnosis of rice growth with NDVI

Group Leader

KIMURA Hideya

Group Members

Centers・Institutes