NoshoNavi Co., Ltd., established by agricultural corporations and farm-related organizations at Chuo-ku, Tokyo, will begin next April to sponsor a common “platform for Nosho (literally, professional farmers),” which is a network host of several providers of cloud computing service respectively operated by a farm machinery manufacturer and computer firms, in cooperation with ZEN-NOH (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations), agricultural cooperatives’ national business organization.
It will be possible for farmers and their organizations throughout the country to make access to information and data provided by those cloud systems through the common platform.
The NoshoNavi expects some hundred farmers and agricultural corporations to be users of the platform for the time being, while its users will hopefully increase to more than 10 thousands in the future.
It is also expected that many users of producers will accumulate information regarding their farming practices in the platform, with which information the platform will be able to support user farmers in improving their production and farm management by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI).
“NoshoNavi” has been launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) within a framework of MAFF’s project for reducing rice production cost. The project aims at realizing a 40 percent-cut in the production cost by using information communication technology (ICT).
With a view to achieving the aim of the project, NoshoNavi was set up this May. ZEN-NOH has decided to embark on a business of platform operation as a joint partner of the NoshoNavi.