PRESS RELEASE - The Japanese agriculture industry has long been admired for its resilience, productivity, and ability to overcome daunting challenges. Despite a greying agricultural workforce and the fact that only approximately 20 percent of the land area in the island nation is suitable for cultivation, Japan has emerged as a global leader in agricultural innovation. Through a combination of forward-thinking strategies, advanced technologies, and a deep respect for tradition, the rest of the world can draw valuable lessons from Japan's agribusinesses.
One of the key factors behind Japan's success in agriculture is its unwavering commitment to innovation. The country has been a pioneer in implementing advanced cultivation techniques, utilising precision farming methods, and leveraging automated robotics systems and agricultural drones to overcome the challenges of limited resources. As such, in anticipation of the forecasted water shortages by 2030, Japan has actively been investing in IoT and AI solutions to have predictive analytics algorithms that can optimise resource allocation.
These efforts have allowed Japan to not only sustain its agricultural sector but also thrive in a highly competitive global market. In 2022, the value of agricultural commodity exports from Japan witnessed significant growth from approximately JP¥313.6 billion in 2013 to around JP¥886.16 billion last year. This major pivot can be traced back to Japan’s adoption of automated machinery, remote sensing, and GPS-guided systems that allow farmers to achieve higher crop yields, reduce resource waste, and optimise land usage.
A realisation of smart and digital agriculture developed in Japan can be seen on a tomato farm in Shizuoka prefecture. Aside from a climate-controlled greenhouse that can produce a consistent harvest year-round, robotic sorting machines equipped with image recognition software, which can track damage and the size of each tomato, are also used. This, along with multiple other commitments, has paved the way for groundbreaking advancements in agriculture, ranging from robotics and automation to sustainable farming methods.