Workers pick strawberries inside a greenhouse in New Zealand. PHOTO COURTESY OF JAS
CHIBA, April 3 — JAS, an agricultural production corporation in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture, began growing strawberries in New Zealand where seasons are opposite.
The corporation aims to realize year-round supply of strawberries by producing them abroad during summer when domestic yield is low.
It manages the crops remotely from Japan using its own environmental control system.
JAS grows strawberries including the Benihoppe and Oi C Berry varieties on its 1.4-hectare farm with the annual yield of around 70 tons.
It ties up with farms in four locations nationwide to engage in other businesses such as sales of seedlings and agritourism.
At all of the farms, including the one in New Zealand, the environmental control system is used to water and fertilize crops automatically based on temperatures and humidity. Fruit thinning and picking are done by staff.
The firm agreed to work with Tatsumi Shokai Co., an Osaka-based logistics company, in 2017 to set up a business in New Zealand with an aim to maintain year-round supply of strawberries.
They established Tatsumi New Zealand, a local subsidiary, in 2019. The firm took a Dutch-made glass greenhouse and production materials from Japan to New Zealand and built a 2-hectare greenhouse to cultivate the Albion strawberry variety of the United States.
Harvesting began in January. The cultivation in New Zealand will be conducted throughout the year with a plan to produce 50 to 60 tons in 2023, out of which 80 percent will be shipped to Japan.
“We are also preparing to cultivate the Japanese variety Nyoho,” said an official of the company. “We hope to expand the size of the crops to secure stable supply in summer.”