NEC Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation have signed a strategic partnership agreement to expand global sales of NEC's agricultural ICT platform CropScope. Based on this partnership, NEC and Sumitomo aim to develop markets mainly in South America and the ASEAN region by utilizing Sumitomo's global network. To this end, NEC will expand the range of crops from the tomato farming support it has been focusing on and add functions to optimize and streamline a series of processes from cultivation to harvesting and processing. Through this partnership, CropScope is initially being introduced on a trial basis to major sugar companies in Thailand and Brazil.
Since population growth and economic development are projected to increase global food demand, there are concerns that ongoing climate change will cause a serious impact on crop production. In addition, recent pandemics and unstable global situations have caused a sharp rise in prices of agricultural materials and stagnation of exports, threatening the stable supply of food. Increasing agricultural productivity is essential for ensuring food security on a global scale, and countries where agriculture is a key industry face the challenges of upgrading production technology and increasing the efficiency of farm management.
Summary of the Partnership
1. Expand sales of CropScope to emerging countries
Sumitomo has a network of regional organizations in 65 countries around the world and is engaged in sales and distribution of agricultural materials such as agrochemicals and fertilizers in about 40 countries. Through this partnership, Sumitomo will utilize its global network to expand CropScope's sales area to Thailand, Brazil, and India, aiming for business growth.
2. Expanding the range of focus crops and integrating management from cultivation to processing
CropScope has been expanded to support sugarcane, wheat, soybeans, and corn, as focus crops in addition to processed tomatoes. AI functions will be applied for these new crops, learning from past farming and harvesting data to recommend the optimal time and amount of harvest, and a harvest planning function will be added to manage harvest planning and results. Combining this function with the existing optimization of fertilizer application and irrigation will enable comprehensive management from cultivation to harvesting and processing.
Future developments
NEC has been continuously enhancing the functionality of CropScope and collaborating with various partners to meet the diverse needs of customers involved in agricultural production. This partnership with Sumitomo, which has a broad global network and extensive knowledge in the agricultural and food fields, will be a significant milestone in the expansion of CropScope's global sales.
Sumitomo has been focusing on developing new businesses that contribute to sustainable food production with high efficiency and low environmental impact by utilizing advanced technologies, in addition to expanding its existing business base in the agriculture and food fields. One of the most important themes is smart farming, which contributes to the realization of safe and highly efficient food production by utilizing such technologies as automation of agricultural operations and data analysis. This collaboration with NEC, which has established AI technologies in agriculture and other fields, will be an important initiative.
NEC and Sumitomo will continue to expand the range of focus crops and functions of CropScope while responding to issues and needs of agricultural production and processing sites. This will be performed as part of the companies' support for environmentally friendly and profitable farming globally, and to contribute to sustainable agriculture and global food security.
