Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, and Yatsugatake Agriculture College Sign Partnership Agreement: Promoting the Demonstration of Data-Driven Agriculture and Training of Next-Generation Agricultural Human Resources

The Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Location: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo / Dean of the Graduate School and Faculty: Kazushige Touhara) and Yatsugatake Agriculture College (Location: Hara-mura, Suwa-gun, Nagano / Chairman: Soichiro Minami) concluded a partnership agreement on April 8, 2026, aiming to contribute to the development of agriculture in Japan and the training of farmers who will lead the next generation. Japanese agriculture is facing various environmental changes, including climate change, soaring material prices, and supply chain shifts. In light of this situation, there is a growing need to explore new forms of production, management, and human resource development that are not bound by conventional frameworks. This agreement was signed against such a background.

■ Aiming to Balance Knowledge Creation and Social Implementation in Agriculture Centered on a 'Data-Driven' Approach

The Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo is advancing research on data-driven agriculture and selective breeding by comprehensively utilizing genomic information, AI, and environmental data, based on the fusion of statistical genetics, data science, and phenomics (Note 1). In particular, through field phenomics, which highly accurately measures and analyzes crop growth in fields, and modeling initiatives utilizing data science, they aim to sophisticate cultivation and breeding.

Meanwhile, Yatsugatake Agriculture College utilizes its vast campus to offer practical agricultural education ranging from production to product planning and distribution. Under Principal Yusuke Maruyama, who took office last April, they are working to sophisticate agriculture based on technology, science, and marketing, such as using AI and sensing data for production management and decision-making.

Through this partnership, the practical fields of Yatsugatake Agriculture College will be connected with the academic insights of the University of Tokyo to achieve both the creation of knowledge and its social implementation. Both parties will advance empirical initiatives in data-driven agriculture and engage in the development of agricultural human resources for the next generation.

(Note 1) Data-driven system: A method that cyclically executes a series of processes to sophisticate operations: 1) data collection, 2) accumulation, 3) analysis and modeling, and 4) decision-making based on the analysis results.

Overview of the Partnership Agreement

With the aim of contributing to the development of Japanese agriculture and training next-generation farmers, the two parties will cooperate and collaborate on the following matters:

- Joint research contributing to the sophistication and sustainable development of agricultural production and management.
- Education and mutual cooperation for students and trainees through fieldwork, practical training, and surveys.
- Examination of methods related to creating high added value in agriculture, generating value for agricultural products and technologies, and their social implementation.
- Human resource development, information exchange, and dissemination of results related to the preceding items.
- Other matters deemed necessary through mutual consultation.

■ Expected Specific Collaboration Examples

Based on this partnership agreement, the following initiatives are planned to be advanced:

- Joint research on smart agriculture (e.g., smart potato cultivation)
We will consider joint research utilizing fields in the Yatsugatake area aimed at sophisticating agricultural production using data utilization and sensing technologies.

- Implementation of university-wide experiential seminars using Yatsugatake Agriculture College as a field
University-wide experiential seminars will be held using Yatsugatake Agriculture College as a field for students (applicants) of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo. Through field inspections, agricultural experiences, and dialogue with practitioners, students will learn about the realities and challenges of agriculture. The first session (3 days and 2 nights) will be held this July.

- Holding lectures and salons on agricultural entrepreneurship
With Principal Maruyama of Yatsugatake Agriculture College, who possesses expertise in business development and management, serving as the lecturer, lectures and salon-style exchanges of opinions on agricultural entrepreneurs will be held for students (undergraduates and graduates) of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo.

Comments

Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Biometrics)
Comment by Hiroyoshi Iwata

'I believe this partnership will be an important opportunity to advance initiatives that move back and forth between theory and practice in both education and research. To nurture human resources capable of taking on the social implementation and creation of new value in the agricultural field, both a field-rooted awareness of issues and the academic insights to support them are essential. Our graduate school is advancing research on data-driven agriculture and breeding, but to implement those results in society, demonstration in environments close to actual production sites is crucial. Through our partnership with Yatsugatake Agriculture College, we hope to connect practical fields with academic knowledge, thereby developing education and research in a unified manner, and leading to initiatives that contribute to the training of human resources for next-generation agriculture and the realization of sustainable agriculture.'

Profile: Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo in 1995. Completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the same university in 2000. In the same year, he became a researcher at the National Agriculture Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (now NARO), and took the position of Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo in 2012. He became a Professor there in 2023. Specialty is biostatistics.