Smartphone apps that help farmers monitor crops and control costs are becoming popular as the rapid graying of the population continues to thin the ranks of skilled veterans in agriculture.
Software developers are interested in developing applications for agriculture because the threat perceived from the looming Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact is expected to push farmers to improve economies of scale and turn their farms into companies.
Last September, Yoichiro Nagai, an employee at Fukuhara Farm, based in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, waved his smartphone over IC tags on rice paddies after adjusting a water valve.