Dreaming from Tohoku: The Future of Agriculture Through Information Technology ~ Stage Farm Representative Director Nobuo Harui

3.From Tohoku, 11 years later, there are people burning with the ideal of spreading new agriculture. Among them is Nobuo Hariu, a 15th-generation farmer in this region. He believes that leveraging IT can enable new forms of agriculture and even solve the problems currently facing farming and farmers. In fact, the application of big data and sensor technology to agriculture is also gaining attention within the IT industry. This time, we asked him to share his passionate vision for the future of agriculture in Tohoku, centered on the theme "Agriculture × IT."

(Interviewer: Yuzo Ono, Planning Promotion Department Manager, Dentsu Digital Inc.)

Cultivating the Concept of "Sixth Industry" in the Dawn of Personal Computer Communications

 

──How did you first encounter the internet?

Harui: I've had a long relationship with computers. Before the internet emerged, I connected via telephone lines for computer communications. That was around 1990, I believe. I researched agriculture and observed what customers were seeking from a user-in perspective. Today, we talk about "sixth industry" (where primary industries like agriculture integrate with secondary and tertiary industries such as food processing and distribution). I think I was already deciphering that concept back then. Within the world of computer communications, there were companies not just growing crops, but also processing them, and stores selling the finished products. Back then, there were few books on such topics, so I enjoyed exploring what wasn't readily available, almost like a virtual sixth industry. People often say my thinking isn't typical of a farmer, and I believe it's because of this experience from that era.

──So personal computer communications and the internet made it feel like a whole new world opened up?

Harui: The feeling of surfing the net, where new themes keep expanding and merging, is something you can't experience through books. I think what's crucial is this kind of human "sixth industrialization" – absorbing ideas from people in different industries, integrating them into agriculture, and making them work.

──The relationship between agriculture and IT is gaining attention recently, but is IT adoption in the agricultural world still not very widespread in general?

Harui: It varies by generation, but recently, even without specialized knowledge, people can master IT, so IT is accelerating its entry into primary industries. In agriculture too, efficiency gains through IT, like remote management and big data utilization, are spreading. However, I believe IT utilization should inherently expand more multifacetedly. For instance, it would be fascinating to install live cameras on farms, like a real-life version of a farm game, allowing users to experience the journey of vegetables from seed to plate with immersive realism and enjoy the harvest. We need such innovative ideas. Until now, sales relied on consumers empathizing with farmers' values and personalities. Moving forward, we should make the actual production process of crops visible—presenting it much like a live sports event. This prevents deception and showcases dedication. This is uncharted territory.

──That's an interesting idea. Seeing the actual safety and security builds trust, and viewers feel like they're participating in the process, making it enjoyable.

 

The key is "green collar" workers who understand both management and agriculture.

 

Harui: In agriculture, people often talk about "bedrock regulations" that cannot be easily relaxed or abolished, but I think there is something called "bedrock thinking" that comes before that. Farmers take it for granted that they will be protected, and their business risks and responsibilities are half-hearted. However, IT highlights reality, making it possible to match user needs with the actual state of agriculture, and I believe it can create a new income structure. For example, pesticide-free farming currently offers added value, but as farmers age, conventional farmers who use pesticides will soon face a generational shift. If all young people start practicing pesticide-free farming, it will no longer be possible to differentiate oneself. I believe IT will quickly fill this future gap. As the entire industry declines, IT will play an important role not only in improving work efficiency but also in shaping the future of Japanese agriculture. Agriculture used to be a "family business," but now it needs to become a "corporation." As companies enter this field, IT will become increasingly vital. Family businesses focus on primary industries, with the idea of bringing products to market through secondary and tertiary industries, turning their ideas into products. When companies enter the market and collaborate, they can take a marketing-based approach, listening more to customer feedback to develop products. This allows for diversity by preserving family businesses, while also allowing "enterprises" to grow. Trying to grow a family business leads to expansion rather than growth, and ultimately bankruptcy. This is because family businesses tend to have a weak sense of cost consciousness. There are terms like blue-collar and white-collar, but we are thinking of "green-collar" personnel. They are new management-type personnel who have both a field perspective on agriculture and a perspective on managing numbers. At my company, Butai Farm, we are trying to expand this category. In order to grow Japan's sixth industry in the future, it is necessary to increase the number of green-collar personnel.

 

Not just efficiency, but using technology to create deliciousness and safety

 

──I think so-called plant factories are symbolic of the combination of agriculture and technology. I've heard that data management using IT is extremely important for controlling the environment in which plants grow. I understand that Butai Farm also operates plant factories where tomatoes, strawberries, spinach, and other crops are grown. I hear the total area is 2.8 hectares.

Hariu: We are conducting research on growing vegetables with organic fertilizer using hydroponics (a method of cultivation using only water, without soil) as part of a JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) project. This involves using fertilizer made from demineralized bonito broth. There are few examples of collaboration between agriculture and fisheries, but from the perspective of local production for local consumption, we thought that turning the residue from the fisheries industry into fertilizer would create a good partnership between fishing and farming. Agriculture thrives from spring to fall, while fisheries peak in winter. Their busy seasons differ. From a business owner's perspective, we realized significant untapped assets exist even before considering sixth-sector integration. Areas affected by the tsunami are ideal for utilizing these assets, making Tohoku the perfect place to implement this. Growing vegetables using organic fertilizers in hydroponics adds value and creates a competitive advantage. Current hydroponics focuses on efficiently producing large volumes as its competitive edge. However, compared to organic vegetables grown in open fields, its value is lower. Taking that next step allows us to create competitiveness using Japanese technology, unaffected by weather risks, and leveraging Japan's abundant clean water despite its limited flatlands. To break down existing fixed concepts, companies like ours need to take on roles akin to research institutions.

──Current plant factories are moving toward using technology for efficient mass production, but you're suggesting a different path: creating deliciousness and safety.

Harui: Exactly. There's no fundamental reason hydroponic farming can't produce sweet tomatoes. By utilizing data to control factors like water volume, it's achievable. The reason it hasn't happened is the equipment is too expensive. Farmers lack the capital to invest in equipment, so they can't afford to reduce productivity to grow tastier produce. I believe new possibilities will open up if we can develop a division of labor: while we work with farmers to increase labor productivity, we also have elderly people or those with disabilities manage the careful cultivation of delicious vegetables, with the equipment being remotely controlled.

Tomato cultivation in a plant factory

Converting soil data into big data to share expertise and create new added value

 

──Do you think there's still significant potential for utilizing IT in fisheries, livestock farming, forestry, and other sectors?

Harui: Absolutely. Using IT first increases efficiency, but right now we're at the stage of organizing big data for that purpose. Once that's done, we can eliminate wasteful movements, streamline sales, and achieve mass production. Taking it a step further, I believe the role of big data and IT is to slice the 24-hour day into segments. For example, it could enable new work styles like farming only in the morning and doing other work in the afternoon. I believe there are many people who would like to farm but find 24-hour farming impossible. Furthermore, leveraging big data will spread "precision agriculture" (a farming method using data for detailed management). In the near future, automation and unmanned agricultural machinery will make it realistic for young people in cities to remotely control and operate farms. It also becomes possible to involve urban job seekers and low-income individuals in agriculture. I believe IT is what adds appeal to agriculture and changes the workstyle of primary industries.

──When speaking with people who want to start farming, one challenge seems to be the lack of agricultural know-how since they are new entrants. Could using IT also make sharing that know-how easier?

Operating screen for plant factory environmental control system

Harui: Big data is a crucial point for getting various people to enter agriculture. Using big data for farming essentially means creating manuals. While reading the characteristics of soil and microorganisms, which vary by region, has been considered a farmer's skill, if soil information is also converted into big data, that skill becomes unnecessary. In that case, we must create new value. If big data becomes the starting line, new entrants nationwide can begin at the same high level. From there, creating new added value can increase income. Lifestyles will change too. I think building and running such an engine is the way forward.

――Technologies like GPS, unmanned helicopters, and robots are gaining attention lately. Is there potential for their use in agriculture?

Harui: I think they're wonderful, but I have reservations about power suits (wearable devices powered by artificial muscles, etc.). Making elderly people with back pain wear power suits to lift heavy things makes me think, "Are we still making them work?" It would be fine if younger people or women with less strength used them. I suspect agriculture has a strong concept of hereditary succession, where farmers feel they must do the work themselves, creating invisible barriers. When introducing robots or similar technologies, we must approach it with a certain logic. That is, we cannot solely pursue productivity; we must create a system where including less efficient producers is acceptable. Expecting farmers who worked grueling, long hours since the Showa era through the high-growth period to wear power suits is utterly disrespectful. We need to build a prosperous society where everyone accepts that the elderly can work about half as much as they did in their youth and still break even. To create value, we must first cultivate consumers' mindset toward primary industries. Rather than solely pursuing efficiency, I think it would be good to use IT to "visualize" and develop a societal system where agricultural products born from appropriate labor volumes circulate at fair prices.

 

Using "Tohoku" as a keyword, we must engage in agriculture with serious commitment.

 

――What is the biggest challenge when connecting agriculture and IT?

Haruo: Ultimately, it's about people. Building things means building people; creating systems also means building people. At Stage Farm, when cultivating talent, we strongly emphasize that they are joining us as employees of a company, not just inheriting a family farm. Having gained experience as an agricultural professional, I understand where problems arise and the specific challenges newcomers face when joining a farm. For those entering the field, it's crucial not to forget that kind of attentiveness, consideration, and empathy. Furthermore, by changing work styles and creating flexibility—like allowing people to work multiple jobs—we make it easier for good talent to get involved in projects, which I believe generates even greater power. And another challenge is TPP. This stands for "Thoroughly (T) Steal (P) and Steal (P) to the Max" (laughs). It's about "TPP-ing" everything that's working well, whether it's talent or markets. Analyzing why things succeed or fail can all become our strength. Agriculture often relies too much on individual passion, but I think the mindset of copying others is also crucial.

――After 3.11, you spoke about creating "Made in Tohoku" products that can be promoted globally, and building a new, "Japanese-style" agriculture. Do you think there is a "Japanese-ness" that can be expressed precisely because we are in the age of IT and the internet?

Harui: You don't notice what's uniquely Japanese when you're inside Japan. That's precisely why IT, which efficiently circulates diverse information globally, becomes our greatest weapon. Right now, globally, keywords like 3.11 and radiation issues exist, and it's a time when everyone is concerned about Tohoku. I hope we can turn that into a positive keyword. To achieve that, I think it would be wonderful if we could create distinctive business models in Tohoku, and on top of manpower and platforms, realize a broader initiative where people from various fields seriously engage in agriculture.