Contribution to realization of sustainable and vibrant society(16) Research on maintenance and management of agricultural infrastructurein the snowy cold regions contributing to improving food supply
Research period: FY 2016-2021
Program leader: Director of Cold-Region Agricultural Development Research Group

Research Summary(1) Development of technology for maintenance and management of large-sized paddy ﬁelds
1 piece of paddy ﬁelds isapproximately 260m × 90m

Water is brought
up to topsoil fromunderdrain.

Sluice that cancontrol thegroundwaterlevel
Pipe forirrigation

Surface irrigation

Surface drainageIrrigation and drainage using underdrain

R&D Program

Example of large-sized paddy ﬁeld after
improvement: the size of 1 paddy ﬁeld isabout 8 times that of the traditional
ﬁeld.

Construction of large-sized paddy ﬁeld:
Decision on selection of machinery andconstruction timeframe based on the soil
diagnosis is required.

Drainage

Mechanism of groundwater level control system(2) Development of maintenance and renewal
technology for irrigation facilities(3) Development of irrigation and drainage technology balanced with surrounding environment

Storage facilities of adjusted dairy
cattle manure slurry

Scattering dairy cattle manureslurry on pasture

Example of waterway repair

Example of deterioration of irrigation facilities:
pier of the headworks with wear and frost
damage, and gate with wear and corrosion
Large-scale dairyland: appropriate circulation of organic
resources and preservation of water environment are required.

The target of the self-sufficient rate was set a 45% with the calorie-base in
the "Food, Agriculture and rural basic plan (March 2015)" of Japan while
the relationship between food supply and demand has become tight.
The importance of the agriculture in Hokkaido, with the large foodsupply capacity, is increasing to achieving this. The urgent need of thedevelopment of food production infrastructure using the new technology
is required. For this reason, we develop technology for the following
topic related to implementation and maintenance of the agricultural
infrastructure.
(1)	Development of technology for maintenance and management
techniques for large-sized paddy field		Accommodating with decline of workforce/aging populationand expansion of the farming scale, we propose the following
technologies; improvement of large-sized paddy field in accordancewith the soil properties, advanced utilization technology ofgroundwater level control system in large-sized paddy field,irrigation and drainage technology harmonized with thesurrounding hydrological environment in the maintenance sectionof large-sized paddy field.
(2)	Development of maintenance and renewal technology of irrigation
facilities		Deterioration of irrigation facilities have been progressing and
now appropriate maintenance for these facilities are required. We
develop methods of diagnosis and evaluation for deteriorationby combined effect of freezing damages and wear occurred in
the irrigation facilities in the snowy and cold regions. We also
develop methods of repair and reinforcement appropriate for these
problems, and planning technology for disaster response to risks
needed for large-scale disasters.
(3)	Development of technology for irrigation considering harmony
with the environment		With requirement of agriculture in harmony with the environment,
we propose the energy-saving type of treatment technique fordairy cattle manure slurry in slurry irrigation facilities, and evaluation
technology and measures of water quality environment in dairy
farming area.
PUBLIC WORKS RESEARCH INSTITUTE 201621