Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. (CEO: Yukihiro Maru), which operates the  Leave a Nest Forest Project, has started a joint research project with the Agrinome Lab, Co. Ltd. (CEO: Yosuke Miyauchi) on seed ball seeding technology from drones.

Agrinome Lab, Co., Ltd.  is a company that pursues a sustainable agricultural production with the vision of “contributing to sustainable food production through the realization of fully recycling-oriented agriculture.

The Leave a Nest Forest Project is taking a multifaceted approach to research and development in order to “realize an autonomous social system of forests and people”. In the area of seeding technology development, one of the areas of development in the project, we are developing related technologies such as the selection of trees suitable for the region, seed balls that function as seedling pots, and drones with a seeding function. In this joint research, we will drop seed balls from drones and verify the germination and initial growth of trees from seed balls in cooperation with Agrinome Lab, Co., Ltd.

1) Verification of germination and early growth of trees with different seed ball materials.

To date, the effect of different materials on seed germination in seed balls has not been clarified. It is known that in the case of trees that develop main roots, growth failure occurs when the growth of the main roots is inhibited after seeding, so a coating material that does not inhibit germination and subsequent growth is required. In this experiment, we will examine the effect of different materials on the inhibition of germination and initial growth of trees.

Seed balls in development

(2) Verification of seed ball seeding technology from drones

The relationship between seed ball seeding by drone and subsequent tree germination and growth has not been clarified. Therefore, in this experiment, we will verify the relationship between seed ball seeding from a drone and the growth of trees after seeding. In the future, we will look at tree production using drone seeding in Japan.

The Leave a Nest Forest Project will continue to promote research and development of various technologies to regenerate, manage, and use forests, aiming to build a new social system that allows forests and people to circulate “autonomously.