Design and development of a simulation-based decision support tool to improve the production process at large-scale greenhouses in Japan

Crop monitoring and yield estimation are essential tasks of the production in large-scale greenhouses to promote effective use of agricultural resources and increase profits of growers. If they have information about the amount of yield they can expect, they can harvest their tomato prior to harvest, often securing a more competitive price and better quality than if they were to wait until after harvest. Despite its importance, a decision-making tool is still not common at a large-scale greenhouse in Japan. The reason why crop production is a very complex process, influenced by many factors including both the crop status and the environment conditions. However, such a situation is changing due to advances in sensors and IoT devices. These devices made it possible to collect environmental data easily at low cost. In addition, due to the development of PC and simulation technology, it is easier to estimate yields and environmental changes by calculation. With such a background of accumulating data and knowledge, we developed a tool to estimate greenhouse environments and support grower's decision making. By using this tool, we can know the estimated temperature of inside greenhouse up to several days ahead. We believe that using this tool will allow growers to know the expected greenhouse environment and improve the quality of decision-making. We would like to report the introduction of our tool and deployment to the site.