【News】 Gibberellin plant hormone improves fruit-to-flower ratio of Kiyo plums from 2.6 percent to over 15 percent: Kumamoto institute (April 3, 2015)

  Kumamoto Prefectural Agricultural Research Center’s Fruit Tree Research Station has confirmed that a fruit-to-flower ratio of Kiyo plums improves greatly if a solution of gibberellic acid (GA), a hormone found in plants, is sprayed over the trees which underwent artificial pollination. The center pruned the trees, trimming mainly short fruit-bearing branches, hand-pollinated them thoroughly and then sprinkled 100 to 200 ppm of GA solution twice, 20 days and 50 days after full bloom. Kiyo is a large-size, good-tasting plum variety which is marketed at high prices. But since it is a triploid variety, it does not always bear fruit only by pollination. Sprinkling GA solution on young fruits resulted … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 More debate needed in revising agricultural co-op law, taking into account farmers’ views (April 3, 2015)

  The Cabinet is expected to approve the bill to revise the Agricultural Co-operative Society Law on Friday, April 3. The Diet is likely to start full-scale deliberations on the bill after the unified local elections. Although the bill has gone through preliminary review, doubts and concerns over it remain. Members of the Diet, who represent the Japanese people, must conduct constructive debate which will lead to an increase in income of farmers – the main player of agricultural co-ops – and a better rural farming and society. The basic outline of agricultural co-ops reform, approved by the government’s headquarters for agricultural revitalization in February, became a bill after being … Continue reading

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【News】 Over 40 percent of Japanese consumers prefer domestic meat: poll (April 3, 2015)

  More than 40 percent of Japanese consumers prefer to buy domestically-produced chicken, pork and beef despite relatively high prices, according to a survey released by the Japan-Cooperative General Research Institute on Thursday, March 26. The survey, conducted on 2,178 people nationwide in November over the Internet, asked what factors they care most when purchasing meat products, allowing multiple answers, and the largest number of people responded they make sure the products are domestically-produced. The percentage was highest for chicken with 51 percent, followed by 48 percent for pork and 44 percent for beef. Although the ratios were 2 to 3 percentage points lower compared with a year before, the … Continue reading

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【News】 “Nyu-washoku” Japanese cuisine using milk gaining popularity (April 2, 2015)

  Efforts by the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu) to spread the use of milk in Japanese dishes are bearing fruit, with such dishes increasingly being served at many of nursing care homes run by farm co-ops. As part of its “stay healthy until 100” project, JA-Zenchu has been offering cooking classes and lectures nationwide on using nutrient-rich milk in Japanese-style meals, which is traditionally uncommon, as it also contributes to cutting down on salt. It says some 3,500 people have attended the classes and lectures in fiscal 2013 and 2014. JA-Zenchu receives advice from cooking expert Hiroko Koyama, 43, who invented the term “nyu-washoku” (a play on the … Continue reading

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【News】 10,000 “matobi” bonfires (March 29, 2015)

-Lightings to welcome spring and ancestors’ souls (Kamikoani Village, Akita Prefecture)- Kotaro Yamada On the Spring Equinox Day, great big Chinese characters are lit up on fire in the villages alongside the Koani River in the northern part of Akita Prefecture. The seven-day period starting three days before Spring Equinox Day and ending three days after is called “higan”, which is a time when people in Japan pay their respects to ancestors. These special bonfires are called “matobi”, which literally means “10,000 bonfires,” and placed on the night of the spring equinox to entertain ancestors’ souls. This unique festival is held in Kamikoani and other villages in Akita Prefecture as … Continue reading

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