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Crop Science Lab
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A lab that observes crops in paddy and upland fields and studies how to produce high, stable yields.
AboutAbout the lab
Watching crops in the field to solve production challenges.
The Crop Science Lab studies crops such as rice, soybean, and buckwheat, aiming to produce high-quality crops stably and in large quantities.
The lab's research spans a wide range of scales, from genes and proteins to production at the field and regional levels, while placing importance on observing crops directly in the field.
The lab conducts surveys not only in the university's experimental fields but also in farmers' fields in Japan and abroad, and it is advancing joint research with overseas partners.
Undergraduate students are assigned to the Plant Production Science course in their third year, and to this lab within the course in their fourth year (graduate students belong to the Department of Agronomy, Graduate School of Agriculture).
Key terms
- Ratoon rice cropping
- A rice cropping system in which the shoots (ratoon tillers) growing from the stubble of an already harvested rice plant are grown to produce grain for a second harvest
- No-fertilizer, no-pesticide farming
- A farming method that grows crops without any chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or organic amendments
- Field
- A paddy field or upland field where crops are grown. In research, it also refers to fields used for experiments
NewsLab news
Paper by Assistant Professor Taniyoshi et al. published in Journal of Experimental Botany
Paper by Professor Katsura et al. published in Smart Agricultural Technology
Paper by Professor Katsura et al. published in European Journal of Agronomy
Paper by Professor Katsura et al. published in Plant Production Science
Associate Professor Tanaka receives the 68th Crop Science Society of Japan Award
ResearchResearch themes
The lab explores knowledge for producing high-yielding, high-quality crops stably and sustainably. It covers a wide range of topics, including low-environmental-impact cultivation, labor-saving rice farming, crop monitoring with drones and machine learning, photosynthesis, and crop quality.
*Illustrative imagePaddy fields without fertilizer or pesticides
Using no-fertilizer, no-pesticide farming, which applies no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or organic amendments, as a model, the lab seeks to explain through field surveys and AI, from the perspective of nutrient cycling, how paddy fields can maintain yields over many years.
*Illustrative imageIncreasing yields in ratoon rice cropping
Ratoon rice cropping, in which the stubble left after harvest is grown again to produce a second crop of grain, is attracting attention as a labor-saving way to grow rice. The lab uses field surveys to study cultivation management and variety traits that allow high, stable yields.
*Illustrative imageMeasuring crops with drones and AI
The lab is developing methods that use drones and image analysis to efficiently collect crop growth information from large fields and to identify the factors that limit yield. It is also advancing international joint research with Thailand and Indonesia.
*Illustrative imageIdentifying production challenges with machine learning
The lab analyzes survey data from smallholder farmers in Madagascar and 50 years of cultivation trial data from the Philippines using machine learning, then interprets the results with agronomic knowledge to identify the factors that determine productivity.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Crop Science Lab include faculty, commissioned researchers, administrative staff, and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2026
- ProfessorKeisuke Katsura
- Associate ProfessorTomoyuki Tanaka
- Assistant ProfessorKazuki Taniyoshi
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Red Rice Paddy field in Japan 005” Flickr user gtknj / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Paddy fields without fertilizer or pesticides: “Paddy field - rice drying, Japan 001” Kropsoq / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Increasing yields in ratoon rice cropping: “Ratoon Rice 1” Cca Raheem / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Measuring crops with drones and AI: “Dülmen, Hausdülmen, Felder am Mühlenweg” Dietmar Rabich / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Identifying production challenges with machine learning: “Improving Farming Technology ( )” USAID in Africa / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (栽培システム学分野): “Circular Rice Paddy At Hida Folk Village (30203457)” Mark Bucayan / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (植物生産管理学分野): “Orchard near Fields Farm - geograph.org.uk - 246169” Simon Carey / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (熱帯農業生態学分野): “Oxen in rice farm Thailand” Love Krittaya / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (海洋分子微生物学分野): “XBio illustration – Bacteriophage (Phage)” explorebiology / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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