NEC and Sumitomo put AI to work down on the farm

TOKYO -- NEC and trading house Sumitomo Corp. are teaming up on an agricultural support service that uses artificial intelligence to analyze data to help improve yields while saving resources, aiming to support stable production amid frequent extreme weather events from climate change.

Sumitomo is involved in the agricultural materials business, including pesticides and fertilizers, in 40 countries. NEC will leverage Sumitomo's sales network to begin full operations this year in places like Brazil, India and Thailand. The service will first focus on sugar cane before expanding to grains such as wheat and soybeans.