JAXA Startup Tenchijin Wins Copernicus Masters BayWa Smart Farming Challenge 2021, a Business Idea Competition Promoting Sustainable Agriculture by Utilising Satellite Data!

By winning Copernicus Masters BayWa Smart Farming Challenge 2021, Tenchijin collaborates with ESA (European Space Agency) and BayWa, a German organisation with a strong presence in the global agriculture market, to develop solutions for efficient and sustainable agriculture by leveraging state of the art AI technology and Copernicus satellite data. Moreover, Tenchijin was granted by ESA access to high spatial, temporal and spectral resolution commercial data for free. These data are part of the Copernicus Climate and Land monitoring services.

BayWa provides a diverse array of services ranging from distribution of architectural and agricultural materials to providing digital solutions, and has been leading Germany's agricultural sector for over 90 years. As sustaining environmental security and securing food demands for the growing global population becomes a pressing matter, BayWa strives to improve the efficiency and sustainability of farming. BayWa Smart Farming Challenge 2021 was organised as an opportunity to collect ideas that interweave satellite data, AI, and other data sources to solve 3 major issues:

• Pasture Management
• Early Crop Disease Identification in Agriculture and Horticulture
• Yield Prediction in Horticulture

Within the competition, Tenchijin suggested a platform that utilises satellite data and AI technology to analyse a given landstrip for effective land-use. Tenchijin was evaluated on four criteria, (how innovative the solution is; if the platform providing satellite data gives added value to the end-user; if technology is implementable; and if technology is executable in the market) and has been declared the winner. As a reward, Tenchijin will be able to collaborate with BayWa and participate in Copernicus Masters, a business idea contest seeking innovative strategies to use satellite data, as a finalist considered for the overall winner's position.

Accordingly, Tenchijin will use this experience as a trigger to continue building solutions and to increase international sales, thereby actively participating in climate change resilient agriculture tailored for a location world-wide; and to strengthen the efforts to reduce greenhouse gases emission.

[Company Profile]
Company name: Tenchijin, Inc.
Location: Sumitomofudosan Onarimon Tower 9F 1-1-1 Shiba-kouen, Minato-ward, Tokyo, Japan
Representative: Yasuhito Sakuraba
Provided services: Land evaluation consulting using satellite data
Site URL: https://tenchijin.co.jp/?hl=en