Agricultural and Rural Development Project
Project Leader
Prof. Koji Inosako, Faculty of Agriculture
Project Organization
Agriculture Production Technology Group
Leader: Prof. Satoshi Yamada, Faculty of Agriculture
Sustainable Irrigation System Group
Leader: Prof. Katsuyuki Shimizu, Faculty of Agriculture
Rural Development Group
Leader: Prof. Kumi Yasunobu, Faculty of Agriculture
Project Introduction
“Creation of agricultural foundation for enabling sustainable livelihoods of people living in developing countries, including drylands”
Environmentally friendly agricultural production technology, sustainable irrigation systems, extending of service life of agricultural irrigation facilities, and resilience models of rural communities
In order to contribute to improving the lives of people living in rural areas of developing countries, including drylands, we are elucidating the socioeconomic conditions relating to the development of productivity improvement technologies for agriculture, which is the main industry of these areas; development of sustainable irrigation systems and maintenance methods that support agricultural production technologies; and the spread of agricultural technology and development of rural communities. Specifically, we are aiming to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural production technologies. We are paying attention to the problems of drylands, which include the depletion and salinization of water resources; drying, salinization, and alkalinization of soil; and the crop growth failure that occurs due to these problems. We will build agricultural production technologies to address these issues, such as nutrient management cultivation technologies, soil temperature lowering sand bed cultivation technologies, sodic soil remediation technologies, and seawater-based aquaponics technologies. We will work on agricultural utilization of the abundant renewable energy resources of drylands, extension of the life span of agricultural irrigation facilities, and development of low-cost irrigation technologies with various scales, in constructing sustainable irrigation systems and developing its maintenance and management methods which is a basic technology that supports agricultural production. We will seek to connect these agricultural production technologies and basic agricultural technologies to the actual improvement of the quality of livelihoods for the people by clarifying the relationship between individual farm management, agricultural production organizations, and rural communities by proposing improved organizational approaches for the development of farm management. These studies are conducted in the field in developing countries, including drylands, where they will be conducted with local collaborators. In this project, we will bring together the wisdom of agriculture and endeavor to solve problems so that the people in these regions can live rich and sustainable lives.
