Case Study: Osaka Prefecture University achieves smarter greenhouse monitoring and higher crop yields with Microsoft Azure from Microsoft Corporation

Japanese university uses cloud software to develop smart agriculture solutions

Osaka Prefecture University in Japan is advancing smart agriculture research to support plant factories and help address challenges facing the country’s aging farming industry. Using Microsoft Corporation’s Azure-based Midori Cloud solution from partner Seraku, the university needed a low-cost way to remotely monitor greenhouse conditions, crop growth, and facility status with better visibility and control.

Microsoft Corporation’s Azure services, including Azure Machine Learning and Azure Notification Hubs, enabled Midori Cloud to collect sensor and webcam data, send real-time alerts, and scale without on-premises servers. The system helped improve crop management and prevent losses, including one case where an alert helped avoid nearly 30 million yen in damage; Seraku had shipped more than 200 units by March 2016.

Osaka Prefecture University

Yoshifumi Nishiura

Doctor of Agriculture and Associate Professor