Policy / Systems / Technology

December 29, 2012

 

NEC Starts "Smart" Village Development Study Project in India Using Hydroponic and Info Technology to Improve Lives of the Poor

Keywords: Environmental Technology Food Manufacturing industry 

NEC Corp., a leading Japanese electronics, computer and IT services company, announced on August 28, 2012, the start of a feasibility study for "smart" village development in India aimed at improving the lives of people at the "bottom of the pyramid" (BOP), those in the lower income group. The term smart village refers to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve the efficiency of food production in farming and fishing communities that will also revitalize local economies and spur the use of renewable energy. NEC intends to commercialize the use of hydroponics-based agricultural practices using ICT in rural India based on the study results.

In the project, the company will introduce the same hydroponic cultivation techniques used in the Japanese town of Yamamoto, in Watari-gun, Miyagi Prefecture -- which suffered salt damage from the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 -- in a number of farming villages in India to test pesticide-free production of safe and high quality vegetables free of bacterial contamination. NEC will stabilize the supply of power needed for operating the hydroponic equipment by using its energy management systems in managing the electrical power from the grid and private power generators. The disposable incomes that come from higher earnings in farming communities will help introduce renewable energy and storage batteries while also developing their communications infrastructure.

Through the study, scheduled to run until March 2014, NEC aims to create new business opportunities in emerging countries and to contribute to ending the cycle of poverty.

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