Kumamoto prefecture features first-class agricultural productivity in Japan. As the top tomato and watermelon producer in Japan, Kumamoto plays vital roles in the food production at the national level. Meanwhile, food security emerges as a critical challenge for all of mankind as the world human population continues to increase. In light of this situation, Kumamoto prefecture must optimize its agriculture and fishery production efficiencies as Japan’s major food provider.

With the recent advances in scientific technologies, basic research related to environmental and agricultural biology were able to make significant progress. Up until now, we were able to accomplish much in biological resource-related basic research fields, such as agricultural damage reduction and fishery resource enrichment, by taking advantage of the unique environment in Kumamoto University. In the near future, we hope to dramatically increase the breadth of applied research in agriculture and fishery industries.

The International Research Center for Agricultural and Environmental Biology is divided into the Department of Basic Research and the Department of Molecular Agriculture, and forms tight collaborations with researchers from diverse fields including molecular genetics, chemistry, agronomy and pharmacology. We aim to provide comprehensive findings that encompasses both basic and applied research to academics and agricultural industry workers.

We aim to maximize the potential of agriculture as Kumamoto’s primary industry, and connect our research not only within the Kumamoto prefecture, but with the international community as well. Ultimately, we aspire to drive the advancement of high level research, disseminate the result and hopefully make meaningful contributions to the society. We humbly look forward to improve this research center with your comments and criticisms.

International Research Center for Agricultural and Environmental Biology
Director
Shinichiro Sawa