Rice cultivation in Southeast Asia
1. The Motivation Behind Establishing This Collaborative Project
In recent years, global climate change has manifested as more frequent high temperatures, droughts, and torrential rains. On the ground, agriculture faces serious issues such as unstable yields and quality, and even a weakening of the seed and seedling supply itself. With the world population expected to approach 10 billion by 2050, achieving increased food production while coexisting with environmental variability is a challenge humanity cannot avoid.
Conventional breeding takes more than 10 years to develop new varieties, making it difficult to keep pace with rapid environmental change. Genetic modification1 faces social acceptance challenges, and genome editing2 is often constrained because the genes that can be effectively targeted are limited, which can restrict impact.
To overcome these hurdles, we have focused on technology that controls the epigenome of seeds. The epigenome acts like a switch for genes. Without altering the genome itself, we optimize the epigenome during seed formation by applying external cues such as temperature and moisture—akin to “prenatal education”—and have succeeded in rapidly enhancing tolerance to complex environmental stresses, including heat and drought. We see strong potential for societal deployment, given the technology’s ability to expand a variety’s environmental adaptability while preserving its identity.
By upgrading “seeds,” the most upstream element of food production, we aim to support food security and enable increased food production in an era of environmental change.
2. Overview of the Collaborative Project
This project will verify the technical and business feasibility of the epigenome control technology developed at Kyushu University.
On the technical side, during the demonstration period we will cultivate Japanese rice without applying the technology (untreated), using varieties already distributed in Thailand whose plant breeder’s rights have expired, and measure traits such as appearance, yield, and days to maturity. Through these evaluations, we will determine whether the challenges of cultivating Japanese rice in Thailand can be addressed by this technology and identify common local considerations (e.g., pests and diseases). In fiscal year 2026 (outside the project period), we plan to grow epigenome-optimized Japanese rice alongside untreated Japanese rice to confirm the technology’s superiority.
On the business side, we will assess profitability by surveying local cultivation costs and market prices, gauge market size by investigating demand for Japanese rice in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, and review regulations governing seed distribution to refine the business model for societal deployment of this technology. Specifically, our work will focus on two perspectives: economics and laws/regulations. For the economic assessment, we will survey the current distribution of Japanese rice in Thailand, production costs, and sales prices. Regarding laws and regulations—which are critical for future business—we will primarily review legal requirements for exporting Japanese rice from Japan to Thailand.
Rice cultivation
3. Introduction of Co-Creation Partner
Technical verification will be led by Kyushu University’s Crop Science Laboratory, while business verification will be led primarily by Guan Inc. The Crop Science Laboratory at Kyushu University has conducted research on plant responses to environmental stress for more than 100 years. In recent years, it has also intensified research and development on the epigenome. In particular, for seed-related epigenome databases and epigenome control technologies, it is among the world’s leading research groups and is the only institution possessing the specific technology to be verified in this project.
Guan Inc. employs consultants specialized in the food and agriculture sectors and has a track record in supporting startup business strategy and new business development for major companies. Leveraging the strengths of both parties, we will prepare for societal deployment of the technology.
4. Message to the Public and Call for Collaboration
■ Agricultural corporations, trading companies, food manufacturers, and other stakeholders capable of utilizing Japanese rice with enhanced environmental stress tolerance are invited to participate.
■ Partners for joint research funding to support project expansion, as well as investors for the social implementation phase, are sought.
■ Breeders interested in upgrading seeds using epigenome-based seed modification technology are invited to collaborate.
[1] 生物多様性と遺伝子組換え（基礎情報）：農林水産省 （Japanese）
2 ゲノム編集～新しい育種技術～：農林水産技術会議 （Japanese）