Agriculture and Rural Development Project
Project Leader
Prof. Hisashi Tsujimoto, Arid Land Research Center
Project Organization
Drought-Tolerant Crop Breeding Group
Leader: Prof. Hisashi Tsujimoto, ALRC
“Development of crop breeding materials for drylands”
Cultivation Technology and Plant Resource Development Group
Leader: Prof. Tsuneyoshi Endo, Faculty of Agriculture
“Development of advanced agricultural techniques in drylands”
Irrigation and Water Resources Management Group
Leader: Prof. Koji Inosako, Faculty of Agriculture
“Establishment of sustainable agricultural systems through appropriate development and management of water resources and farm lands in arid region”
Veterinary and Animal Science Group
Leader: Prof. Mitsugu Hishinuma, Faculty of Agriculture
“Development and improvement of animal hygiene, disease control and reproductive techniques for sustainable animal production in drylands”
Rural Development Group
Leader: Prof. Kumi Yasunobu, Faculty of Agriculture
“Proposal for sustainable agriculture and rural developmental models by food demand and agroeconomic, farming and disseminating technologies in dry land”
Project Overview
“Create the agricultural foundation to bring rich and sustainable lives to the people in drylands”
Most of the people living in drylands are suffering from poverty due to lack of water and food caused by the harsh and resource-poor natural environment. This struggle leads the people in drylands to attempt activities that have negative effects on the nature and environment such as excessive pasture and cultivation, and inappropriate irrigation practices. The agriculture and rural development project is conducting research aiming to develop and implement agricultural technologies for rural agricultural communities in hope of ending the vicious cycle and bringing livelihood and sustainability to the dryland communities. To be specific, the first goal of the project is to come up with solutions to reduce stress impacts on dryland crops by analyzing their genes associated with environmental stressors. taking the results of these analyses, crops and fruit-tree rootstocks with abiotic stress (e.g. drought and heat etc.) tolerance can be bred.
The project is also trying to find solutions to ensure the stable crop production in drylands by increasing the crops’ drought tolerance utilizing mycorrhizae and chemical compounds, and to restore soil quality and improve cultivation methods. Furthermore, the project is working to device water conservation methods and sustainable irrigation methods suitable for drylands. Production of livestock is one of the very critical aspects in drylands. The project also aims to improve the technologies for disease control and reproduction of these livestock animals. In order to transfer technologies developed as outputs of the project, we are conducting the feasibility survey in the local communities. The current project is mainly carried out in arid areas of Sudan and Thailand engaging local researchers. The ultimate goal of this project is to bring livelihood and sustainability to the people of drylands by bringing all expertise from agriculture, veterinary science and livestock science together.
