30-year-old seedling tray laying robot still in use in eastern Japan

TOCHIGI, May 19 — As Japan entered the rice planting season, an agricultural robot is busy laying trays containing rice seedlings in a greenhouse in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture. Agurobo, developed nearly 30 years ago as a cutting-edge robot, can carry a total of 20 seedling trays on its two arms and place them all at once. According to the robot’s manufacturer Suzutec, only two of such robots are still in operation within Japan. The robot has greatly supported the scale expansion of rice farming in the country by automating the labor-intensive work of placing seedling trays. Kanuma, an agricultural production corporation in the city of Kanuma, cultivates rice on a … Continue reading

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Number of Japanese schools serving gibier school lunch 2.5 times in 5 years

TOKYO, May 14 – According to the farm ministry of Japan, a substantial increase is seen in the number of Japanese primary and junior high schools incorporating gibier, including meat from locally hunted deer and wild boars, into their school lunch menus. The figure has increased to nearly 1,000, a record-high and 2.5 times compared to five years ago. This trend comes amidst ongoing reports of agricultural damage caused by wild birds and animals nationwide. As the bill for the amendment of the Basic Act on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, which is expected to pass during the current Diet session, encourages the use of wildlife meat for school lunch, … Continue reading

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JA-Zench’s collaboration with TV anime of “Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin” announced

TOKYO, May 10 – The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu) announced on May 9 a collaboration with the action role-playing game “Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin” (“Tensui no Sakuna Hime” in Japanese), whose TV anime adoption was announced in March. The official account on X (ex-Twitter) of the anime program will post pictures of their challenge to grow rice using the unique ‘bucket rice growing kit’ provided by the JA group. JA is also running a campaign for you to win exclusive bucket rice sets and special stickers to offer anime fans a unique experience of growing rice at home. “Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin” is a popular action … Continue reading

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Rice planting begins at quake-hit Shiroyone Senmaida rice terraces

ISHIKAWA, May 12 — Rice planting started on May 11 at the Shiroyone Senmaida terraced paddies in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day. Some 50 terraced paddy owners from the prefecture, as well as from the Kanto, Kansai and Tokai regions, took part in the planting on some 120 paddies out of the total of 1,004. Owners are the people who pay an annual fee to rent the paddies and cultivate them under a scheme designed to support areas suffering from aging and shortage of farmers. The number of attendants at the event, organized by the Shiroyone Senmaida Landscape Conservation Council, and the … Continue reading

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Harvesting of greenhouse-grown loquats in full swing in Nagasaki

NAGASAKI, May 5 — Shipments of greenhouse-grown biwa loquats are in full swing in Nagasaki Prefecture. Nagasaki is Japan’s top producing region of greenhouse-grown biwa, holding a 90 percent share. Some 130 growers cultivate the fruit in the prefecture, according to JA ZEN-NOH Nagasaki, a local branch of the marketing arm of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group. They are expected to ship a total of approximately 200 tons this season through late May, mainly to markets in the Kanto and Kansai regions. Daiki Tomonaga, a 27-year-old biwa grower of Sasebo in the prefecture, cultivates two varieties — Nagasaki Wase and Harutayori — in the two greenhouses. Because loquats are extremely … Continue reading

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