Japan joint venture to build 4 ha tomato greenhouse

The Japanese companies Asai Nursery, Inc. and Denso Corporation announced a joint venture to create a next-generation model for horticulture using large-scale greenhouses and agricultural technology. The company, titled AgriD, will build one of Japan's largest agricultural greenhouses and develop technologies to improve cultivation productivity for growing vegetables. The 4 hectare project is scheduled to be built next year.

Construction of the greenhouse will take place in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture. According to the initiator, this location offers ideal amounts of solar radiation for greenhouse cultivation.

Growing and selling

The initiative is set up by Denso and Asai Nursery, with Asai owning 51% of the company. The company's capital is 50 million yen and Yuichiro Asai, president of Asai Nursery, will be the president. Goal of the company will both be growing and selling fresh vegetables as well as developing and demonstrating a model for next-generation greenhouse horticulture in a large-scale greenhouse.

Asai Nursery is growing tomatoes in their own facility and is profiling itself as a research and development company, focusing to help control and enhance competitiveness in Japan, especially for tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. They want to add value by optimizing agricultural value chains from cultivation management to distribution development. Ultimately, the company strives to develop a new and sustainable model for agricultural management.

Denso is a developer of products for controlling environments within greenhouses to improve productivity and reduce climate risks in agriculture.

The Asai nursery headquarters in Tsu, Mie, Japan

Efficiency

Together, as AgriD, they aim to increase the efficiency of agricultural practices through large-scale cultivation. "Through agricultural production management, we will develop technologies for better controlling the environment in greenhouses, improve efficiency through automation and ensure growth and cultivation control", they explain. They plan to employ a variety of development technologies from both Asai Nursery and Denso, including national distribution channels, air conditioning systems, engine control and robot technologies.

Denso

For Denso there's more agricultural news to share. In 2015, Denso released its "Profarm-Controller" product and has supported cultivation in collaboration with Toyotane Co., Ltd. In December 2018, DENSO will establish another joint venture with Daisen Co., Ltd. and Toyotane. In May 2019, the company will release "Profarm T-cube", which is a semi-closed agricultural greenhouse.