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Tropical Agroecology Lab
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A lab that studies on site the relationships among people, crops, and the natural environment in the tropics.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding tropical agriculture through ecology.
The Tropical Agroecology Lab studies the various relationships between people, crops, and the surrounding natural environment in the tropics.
Graduate students conduct experiments and field surveys in countries such as Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Cameroon, but they can also carry out their research in Japan.
The lab respects students' independence, and students can approach research from a variety of perspectives as long as it relates to tropical agriculture.
Undergraduates are assigned to the Plant Production Sciences course in their third year, and to this lab within the course in their fourth year (graduate students belong to the Division of Environmental Science and Technology, Graduate School of Agriculture).
Key terms
- Ethnobotany
- The study of how people use and have cultivated plants
- Environmental stress
- Environmental conditions that hinder plant growth, such as drought, high temperature, and strong light
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the relationships among people, crops, and the natural environment in the tropics using a variety of methods. Its work includes evaluating agricultural resources, crop responses to environmental stress, and the use and distribution of tropical crops.
*Illustrative imageEvaluating Agricultural Resources in the Tropics
In upland farming regions of Thailand, the lab examines how soil water content in cultivated fields and crop growth change with the seasons. It also studies land use and agricultural technology in Vietnam and soil fertility in Africa.
*Illustrative imageCrop Responses to Environmental Stress
To find ways to grow crops well with little water, the lab studies water flow from soil to plants and the mechanisms of drought tolerance. It also works on improving and developing sensors that measure water flow in roots and stems.
*Illustrative imageUse and Distribution of Tropical Crops
This is ethnobotanical research, mainly in tropical Asia, that examines how landraces and strains of cultivated plants are distributed, from morphological, biochemical, and genetic perspectives. The lab also studies how these plants are cultivated and used.
MembersFaculty
The Tropical Agroecology Lab consists of faculty members and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHirokazu Higuchi
- Associate ProfessorTomohiro Kondo
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “Oxen in rice farm Thailand” Love Krittaya / Public domain (cropped)
- Evaluating Agricultural Resources in the Tropics: “Resettled Thai Village in Phong Lai Commune - panoramio” richowens / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Crop Responses to Environmental Stress: “Drought affected Maize crop - geograph.org.uk - 7267273” David Pashley / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Use and Distribution of Tropical Crops: “Yam Tubers at bakin dogo's market 01” Zmu'az4Z / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (土壌学分野): “Gombe state University Geography students visits an Escavated hill showing soil profile with its horizons at Waka biu, Borno state 03” Csasavage / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab
(作物学分野): “Red Rice Paddy field in Japan 005” Flickr user gtknj / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (微生物環境制御学分野): “Fungal mycelium” Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (果樹園芸学分野): “Persimmon tree with many fruits - 1” KKPCW（Kyu3） / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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