Research Overview in FY2013
Academic Prizes and Awards
2013 NISTEP Award (also known as “The Researcherswith Nice Step”): Development of a method for global
crop yield prediction at three months before theharvest”

Researchers:
Research on Insect Sex Pheromones and Other
Semiochemicals
Biodiversity Division, Jun Tabata, Senior Researcher

Researcher: Toshichika Iizumi
Dr. Toshichika Iizumi, a Researcher at the AgroMeteorology Division, won the 2013 NISTEP Award.
The National Institute of Science and Technology Policy(NISTEP), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT), gives this award
to selected scientists who have achieved significant
contributions to science and technology (S&T). Since
2005, about 10 scientists across all disciplines of S&T
have been selected every year for this prize, including
Prof. Shinya Yamanaka who is a winner of 2012 Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine (he won NISTEP Prizein 2006). In this case, the prize recognizes Dr. Iizumi’s
significant research outcomes as a young scientist.
Dr. Iizumi and his colleagues found that, in about
20% of the global harvested area, rice and wheat
production are reliably predictable at three months before
the harvest using ensemble seasonal climatic forecasts
and statistical crop models. The reliabilities of estimatesvaried substantially by crop. The reasons for variation in
the reliability of the estimates included the differences incrop sensitivity to the climate and the technology usedby the crop-producing regions (e.g., irrigation). Given
the increased dependency of consumers, including poor,on food imports, national governments and commercial
entities in food-importing countries are therefore paying
increased attention to the cropping forecasts of importantfood-exporting countries as well as to their own domestic
food production. These findings demonstrate theusefulness of seasonal climatic forecasts in predicting
crop failures and will encourage the adaptation of foodsystems to climatic extremes under changing climate.

Humans chiefly use language (sounds) tocommunicate, but other organisms often use chemicals
to exchange information. For example, the sex
pheromones secreted by female moths to attract males aresemiochemicals that send a message by means of smell. I
am conducting research to reveal the chemical structuresand functions of such substances, and the mechanisms
behind their production and reception. I hope to usethem as biologically derived techniques to prevent insect
damage with a low environmental burden.

Research on Simple, Quick and Versatile Residual Crop
Pesticide Analysis Methods
Organochemicals Division, Eiki Watanabe, SeniorResearcher

2013 (Sixth) NIAES
Young Researcher Encouragement Awards
To stimulate younger researchers at our institution,
this award is presented to those researchers and research
fellows (post-doctoral researchers) under age 40 and
employed at the National Institute for Agro-EnvironmentalSciences, who have conducted particularly outstandingresearch. The award ceremony and speeches by recipientswere held on December 5.

40Pre-shipment tests and other inspections for residual
pesticide analyses are performed to assure agricultural
crop safety. Requirements for analysis methods usedin such situations are simplicity and rapidity, as wellas versatility and economy. In consideration of the
global environment and working environments of those
performing the analyses, it is also important to minimize

the use of hazardous organic solvents. To fulfill theseconditions, I developed an analysis method that uses
water to extract water-soluble pesticides, and reduced theamounts of organic solvents used for analyses.

Research Fellows
Elucidating Molecular Mechanisms to Reduce
Concentrations of Arsenic and Cadmium in Crops
Soil Environment Division, Masato Kuramata, NIAES
Research Fellow

Rice accounts for a high proportion of the cadmium
and arsenic that the Japanese ingest from food. I therefore
endeavored to elucidate the mechanism by which rice
plants absorb these heavy metals. For cadmium, I
identified the absorption gene and developed a DNA
marker for it. For arsenic, based on studies of arsenic
metabolism by rice plant rhizosphere bacteria, I identified
the arsenic methylation gene and discovered a newarsenic compound. My research found that arsenic exists

in various forms in the rice plant rhizosphere, and that thefactors influencing arsenic absorption by rice plants wereunexpectedly complex.

Research on Using Calcium Cyanamide to Reduce theNitrous Oxide Emitted from Farmland
Carbon and Nutrient Cycles Division, Akinori Yamamoto,
NIAES Research Fellow

The largest source of the powerful greenhousegas nitrous oxide is agriculture; the reduction of theseemissions by agriculture is a major challenge. I therefore
explored techniques using calcium cyanamide, a chemicalthat is distinguished by its effectiveness both as an
agricultural chemical and fertilizer, to reduce nitrous
oxide emissions from farmland. I found that for tea
plantations and poorly drained upland fields converted
from rice paddies, use of calcium cyanamide can reduce
nitrous oxide emissions compared to ordinary chemicalfertilizers.

41