NEWS

～Investigating the Feasibility of a "Sustainable Greenhouse Horticulture Model for Fruiting Vegetables" in Ukraine: Ensuring Stable Supply Even in Harsh Winters and Bridging Agriculture to the Next Generation～

Greein Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director CEO: Takashi Togami; a leading provider of AI-powered agricultural solutions including "e-kakashi" both in Japan and overseas; hereinafter “Greein”) has been selected as a grant recipient for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan's  “Emergency Support Project for Agricultural Recovery in Ukraine” for its proposal titled “Ukraine Next-Generation Greenhouse Horticulture Model Construction Project”, under its supplementary budget for Fiscal Year 2024.

In this project, Greein will verify the feasibility of a sustainable greenhouse horticulture model for fruiting vegetables in the Lviv region of Western Ukraine. This will be achieved by combining IoT sensing and AI-driven optimization of environmental control with environmentally friendly greenhouse heating technologies such as heat pumps. The aim is to establish a cultivation system that can ensure a stable supply even during harsh winters.

Additionally, Ukrainian government, university, and private sector stakeholders will be invited to Japan to promote understanding of this business model through visits to smart agriculture facilities and joint discussions.

The project is scheduled to run for nine months, from an estimated start in June of this year to the end of February 2026.

Background of the Proposal and Project Details
Horticultural crops in Ukraine have traditionally been grown outdoors, but greenhouse cultivation of fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers has been carried out to some extent in urban areas and the western region. However, many of the heating systems in these facilities are outdated, relying on fossil fuels, primarily natural gas, for winter heating, leading to long-standing issues of low energy efficiency and high environmental impact. Furthermore, since Russia’s aggression began, the supply of these energy sources has become unstable, and prices have continued to skyrocket. As a result, many farmers have been forced to abandon winter cultivation of tomatoes and cucumbers, leading to severe supply shortages and increased reliance on imports from neighboring countries like Turkey.

In response to this situation, this project aims to verify the feasibility of a next-generation greenhouse horticulture model that allows for the sustainable cultivation of fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers in Ukraine during winter. This will be achieved by introducing smart environmental control technology utilizing Greein's AI-powered agricultural solution "e-kakashi," in addition to electric heat pump technology with a proven track record in cold regions of Japan. This initiative seeks to achieve both stable vegetable supply in winter and environmental considerations, aiming for agriculture that bridges Agriculture to the Next Generation.

Furthermore, key Ukrainian personnel will be invited to Japan to visit advanced smart greenhouse facilities across the country. This initiative will provide opportunities for them to exchange ideas  with Japanese engineers and researchers, thereby fostering the development of core human resources essential for the widespread adoption of this model.

This project will be jointly implemented by Greein in a consortium with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: CIAT, Headquarters: Colombia) and Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (LNU), both of which have a history of collaboration with Greein.


Env. Control & Heating Tech Demo: Comparison

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