An initiative is being made at an agricultural high school in Toyama City to reproduce the same effect as duck farming, which suppresses the growth of weeds by letting ducks swim in paddy fields, using robots.
Since last year, Chuo Agricultural High School in Toyama City has been working on an experiment to reproduce the effects of duck farming with robots as part of pesticide-free rice cultivation.
In the experiment, a robot developed by a venture company with a length of about 1 meter 30 cm and a width of 90 cm was used, and it rolls up mud in paddy fields with a screw while automatically moving with solar power.
This will reproduce the effect of duck farming, which suppresses the growth of weeds by letting ducks swim and roll up mud in rice paddies to block the sunlight in the water.
The paddy fields used in the experiment are also connected to loach cages, and the water from pesticide-free paddy fields will also be used for loach cultivation.
In last year's experiment, about 360 kilograms of Koshihikari were harvested without using herbicides, and they were highly evaluated at rice competitions made by high school students nationwide, and were able to sell 2 kilograms at a price of 10,6000 yen, almost twice the usual price.
One of the students said, "Weeding work is hard, so having a robot in it is very helpful, and I hope that the rice will grow into environmentally friendly rice that is loved by everyone."
Kenji Mizubayashi, a teacher at Prefectural Central Agricultural High School, said, "This is a good opportunity for students to learn about environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture, so I would like to continue it in the future."