Fujitsu Enhances its "Akisai" Food and Agriculture Cloud Platform with New Solutions for Greenhouse Horticulture

Tokyo, July 25, 2012

Fujitsu today announced the addition of new solutions to its "Akisai" food and agriculture cloud, consisting of a "Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS" and a "Greenhouse Environment Control box" for producers employing greenhouse horticultural techniques. Slated for an October release in the Japanese market, the Akisai cloud platform enables rapid improvements in the efficiency of agricultural management by employing ICT.

Apart from storing various sensor-data from within greenhouses on the cloud and performing analyses to optimize cultivation, the "Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS" enables equipment—such as heating units and ventilation fans—to be supervised via remote control. Furthermore, the "Greenhouse Environment Control box" performs batch operations within greenhouses, such as accumulating sensor data and performing equipment control functions. These operations allow producers to monitor information from within greenhouses, leading to more efficient production processes, while also supporting more timely control measures by employing remote supervision and remote control functions. By utilizing these features, the Greenhouse Environment Control box enables the creation of a stable supply environment that maintains high levels of quality.

Fujitsu is currently carrying out field tests utilizing its "Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS" and "Greenhouse Environment Control box" in cooperation with the Miyazaki Agricultural Research Institute. These tests relate to the research topic entitled, "The Construction of Autonomous Decentralized Systems Employing Advanced Information to Support Japan's Numerous Cultivation Areas," as part of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "Advanced Technology Development Project for Revitalizing Regional Food Production."

Background

In recent years, Japan has been facing an urgent challenge to produce high value-added crops at more sustainable supply levels, while lowering costs and using less energy, in order to improve food self-sufficiency, expand earnings, and strengthen international competitiveness in the agricultural industry. For horticultural facilities, such as greenhouses and vegetable factories, where the impact from the outside environment is minimal, considerable emphasis is placed on creating an optimal growing environment that achieves fixed levels of quality in producing crops.

In modern greenhouse horticultural facilities, farmers measure greenhouse conditions, such as temperature, humidity level, and levels of sunlight, but growing methods still rely heavily on the knowledge of the producers. Now, however, there is a growing desire to accumulate data from such measurements and perform combined analyses in order to derive the optimal conditions for achieving a high quality yield and maintaining a stable supply.

Responding to this demand, Fujitsu is enhancing its "Akisai" Food and Agriculture Cloud Platform, which will be available in October of this year, with the addition of a "Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS" and a "Greenhouse Environment Control box," which are designed to support improvements in production and efficiency for greenhouse horticulture. These new services, while curtailing fuel and other costs, enable optimal levels of control over temperature and watering conditions while also supporting a high quality, stable supply, and low cost production environment for greenhouse horticulture. Through its new platform, Fujitsu aims to bring about a plentiful future for food, where safe, secure, and delicious food products are available at any time.

Product Overview

1. Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS: a cloud service supporting greenhouse horticulture through ICT

(1) Gathers data from inside greenhouses and utilizes it to analyze growing conditions

The Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS enables measurement data taken from sensors in greenhouses, such as for temperature, humidity level, solar exposure, and CO2 concentration, as well as operational data from controlled equipment, including heaters, ventilation fans, windows, and lighting, to be automatically gathered and stored on a cloud environment at regular intervals. Apart from the ability to monitor the condition of individual greenhouses via the Internet, the service aids in achieving superior cultivation methods by utilizing information stored in the cloud to analyze changes in the greenhouse environment and their effect on crop development.

(2) Achieves real-time control operations for greenhouse systems

In a situation where temperature or equipment anomalies arise within a greenhouse, the Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS will send alert notifications in real time. If communication is suspended due to lightning or power outages, the system is able to recognize the communication error on the cloud and send an alert.

Furthermore, the service offers the ability to perform remote control via smartphone, tablet or a PC that is connected to the Internet. This enables producers to monitor the condition of greenhouses in real time, even while not on-site, and preserve optimal growing conditions within the greenhouse environment.

2. Greenhouse Environment Control box: an information infrastructure based on a comprehensive, cloud-based environmental control system⁽¹⁾

The Greenhouse Environment Control box centrally manages information gathered from various measurement sensors installed in greenhouse horticultural facilities, such as for temperature, humidity, solar exposure, and CO2 concentration. It is also able to control equipment such as heaters, ventilation fans, windows, and lighting, to maintain optimal growing conditions. The Greenhouse Environment Control box can even utilize third-party applications, conforming to the V1.0-E10 UECS communications standard, to perform measurements and controls for the greenhouse environment.

Sales Targets

3 billion yen in total sales by 2015.

Pricing and Availability

Pricing and Availability

Product Name	Pricing (excluding tax)	Availability
Greenhouse Horticulture SaaS	From 10,000 yen per month	October 2012
Greenhouse Environment Control box	From 100,000 yen

Note: This product is currently only available in the Japanese market.