Given that Qatar is currently importing 95% of its food, the latest news from Japan about automated greenhouses and sensor-controlled fields that ensure constant conditions to produce high-quality vegetables all year-round, ought to be considered seriously by the authorities concerned.
If Japanese technology firms are applying their expertise in energy-saving and cloud technology to help farmers cope with shifting weather patterns, an onslaught of cheaper imports and a shrinking workforce, Qatar could utilise the same technology to augment domestic food production, a burning necessity.
Fujitsu says its Akisai cloud-based farming system means users located anywhere in the world can tend vegetables in any distant location, using a tablet to operate sprinklers, fans and heaters in response to changes in heat and moisture tracked by sensors in fields or greenhouses.
While indoor farming has taken off in the US and Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, those systems are designed more for a colder climate and are only equipped with heating, rather than cooling systems.
“The Japanese model that deals with high temperatures and humidity is more appropriate for Japan and other Asian countries,” says Yasufumi Miwa, an agricultural specialist at the Japan Research Institute.
Panasonic has developed a “passive”, low-energy greenhouse that uses sensor-activated fans, sprinklers and curtains instead of air conditioning to keep heat and humidity at a constant - whether it’s January or July. Fujitsu similarly offers solar-powered posts equipped with thermometers, humidity sensors and cameras for farmers’ fields.
Greenhouses cover 11% of the land used to cultivate vegetables in Japan, but account for 15% of total output, or $1.6bn, and farmers who use them can have double the revenue of those who use open fields as they more consistently produce high-quality vegetables.
Although Panasonic’s greenhouses aren’t cheap, at $540,000 for a set of 10, the company says the cost can be recouped within seven years, and estimates it is half the price of a system using air conditioning. A constant temperature can double harvests to eight a year, says Panasonic, which aims to sell 1,000 of its greenhouses by the year ending March 2017 and hopes the system will eventually be used to produce a tenth of Japan’s spinach output, or 26,000 tonnes.
Low on effort and high on tech, Fujitsu’s Akisai system is designed to attract young blood into a sector where the average Japanese farmer is 66 years old. Using big data to analyse climate against output over a year can help newcomers understand what conditions are ideal: one test user increased his revenue by 30% and used nearly one-third less fertiliser.
Fujitsu says it has around 200 customers for the Akisai system which it launched in 2012, including supermarket retailer Aeon, which uses it to grow and time the distribution of perfectly ripe vegetables from 15 farms straight to stores. It aims to reap $150mn in revenue by the year to end-March 2016.
The Qatar National Food Security Plan was formed and submitted recently this year for implementation. Qatar will be able to produce 40% of strategically-important food items locally within a period of 10 years as outlined in the Qatar National Food Security Plan.
Effective use of technology will undoubtedly augment Qatar’s efforts in this field. Hence it is worth considering the latest Japanese technology to boost farm production.
