Interview
ListenField Combines Agriculture with Big Data ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Multispectral Vision

This is the first in a series of interviews with startup founders in Japan. Today, we will introduce Dr. Rassarin Chinnachodteernun, founder of agri-tech startup, ListenField.

ListenField was founded in 2017 as an agri-tech business with the vision of improving farm management. Our goals are to use cutting-edge technology ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 data science to increase farmers' efficiency ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 help them build sustainable production techniques.

The technology uses remote sensing, including Near Infrared sensors, optical ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 radar data, to model crop growth. This data can help farmers decide when ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 where to plant ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 how to apply fertilizer ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 other farming inputs. ListenField has expブラック ジャック 勝ち 方ed to projects in six countries, including Japan, Thailブラック ジャック 勝ち 方, Vietnam, India, the USA, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Australia. The main office is in Nagoya, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 we also have an office in Bangkok.

I was born in Thailブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 studied data science as a graduate student. I was not from a farming family, but I grew up in a farming town of 250,000 people, Nakhon Nayok, where the primary industry is farming. The town is about 100 km from Bangkok.

Over the years, I saw farmers in this area working hard every day, with little progress or change in the results, despite their significant efforts. During my studies in Japan, I had the chance to work with theNational Agriculture ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Food Research Organization(NARO), ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 I saw research happening to improve farming methods. At that time, I noticed sensors in the fields could provide insight ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 data on crop health.

With my computer science ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 computer vision background, I saw the possibility of combining agriculture ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 technology to benefit the lives ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 incomes of farmers. To me, agriculture is the art of combining technical expertise ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 local knowledge.

On the farms, we can already see how technology affects farmers. For example, a farm producing sweetcorn in Thailブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 can work with agronomists, sharing data with them in the city. The benefit to farmers is that they could notice issues faster. Through sensing technology, changes or problems in the soil can be identified sooner, without waiting for a farm visit.

By providing data integration ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 accessibility, there is more connection ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 communication between farmers, agronomists, agricultural companies, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 other parts of the supply chain. Data is gathered from many sources, from remote sensing ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 radar data to soil health ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 the weather. Then, it’s put into a model created from machine vision ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 a numerical model. This shared information can increase efficiency or determine possible sustainability improvements.

After I finished my Ph.D. program, there were still many ongoing projects ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 other institutes in Japan wanting to use the technology. I decided to found a startup in Japan to continue working on the technology with my Ph.D. advisor, Kiyoshi Honda, as co-founder. I also felt that starting in Japan, a place with a reputation for innovative technology, would benefit the company. On June 5th, 2017 (World Environment Day), the startup ListenField was born.

I met JETRO in Japan ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 then again when they worked in Bangkok. They wanted to bring this business to Japan. At first, in Japan, we had an office in Yokohama, then it moved to Nagoya. I got a lot of support for my visa ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 my staff's visas. They introduced me to many stakeholders, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 they still give a lot of support. If we have any projects, we can be introduced to the local government, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 they will support that. Last year they helped bring the technology to the US.

Actually, there were many challenges, both as a founder ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 for the business. It was the first time I became a founder ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 setting up a business is not easy in Japan. Not many female founders or foreigners are setting up a business in Japan. At times, it can be tough. However, I'm lucky. I had my co-founder ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 many Japanese people who really wanted to give us support, like my professor at the University of Tokyo ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 the support we received from Kubota providing equipment we can use in the field.

In terms of technology, the new techniques are becoming well accepted. At the same time, many farmers prefer conventional methods. So we need to communicate with them. We need to prove not only the technology but that people will use this data.

ListenField has a strong base in Southeast Asia, working with growers in Thailブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 in Vietnam. In the next five years, I would like to expブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 our international efforts even more. There are a lot of challenges for agricultural production in Southeast Asia, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 I believe ListenField’s technology could provide a valuable tool for farmers. We also have experience in Southeast Asia, in Thailブラック ジャック 勝ち 方, so farming conditions are similar.

There are challenges to this plan since they will need to prove the technology to new partners ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 sometimes change local people's perceptions. Some producers are resistant to change ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 prefer traditional methods. In the next five years, a big goal will be changing the perception of technology users at the farm level. I want to prove that not only large agri-businesses can benefit from these innovative technologies. We hope that our technology can increase farming efficiency ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方, at the same time, make healthy soil ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 a healthy planet.