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Farming Efficiently
Bags full of rice chaff are lined up on a harvested rice paddy in preparation to create a new drainage system. 99.11.10/Temperature: 6C/ Weather: Partly cloudy / Wind Direction: NE
Start: Nikahoch Latitude: 39 18 21 N Longitude: 139 58 05 E
Destination: Misaki Park, On the border between Akita and Yamagata Prefecture Latitude: 39 07 00 N Longitude: 139 52 33 E
Distance Traveled: 26.5kmWalking along the coastal area of southern Akita Prefecture, I came across the autumn scenery of local farmers preparing for the winter and furthermore, making improvements in their fields for better efficiency.
Mt. Chokai stands in back of terraced rice paddies. The small coastal villages of southern Akita have the towering Mt Chokai (2236 meters) to the east and the rough Sea of Japan to the west. Nestled in between these two natural wonders are the homes and fields which make up the villages. Tiled ‚©‚í‚ç roofs reflected the early morning sun as I walked down the street. Since the foothills of Mt. Chokai run almost all the way to the ocean, fields and rice paddies have been terraced. This is one of the most scenic places I have passed through yet.
Walking along a small road through the maze of rice paddies and soy fields, I noticed large bags of rice chaff (rice husks) placed in rows along the already harvested rice paddies. Then off to the side were even more bags of chaff. The stack of bags reached all the way up to my shoulder. I couldn't imagine what they might be doing with such an extraordinary amount of chaff, so I asked about it.
The sun sets on the west coast of Japan. It's beauty never fails me. "We are improving the drainage of the rice paddy," said one of the workers. He wore a white hard hat and a navy blue rain suit. Taking off his work gloves he explained, "We'll dig trenches 10‚Ťalong the rice paddy every 10 meters. We will put a drainage pipe along the bottom of each trench, then fill most of each trench with the rice chaff. Soil is then filled on the top. If the fields don't dry well, it is very difficult for tractors to work them. The chaff doesn't retain water like dirt does, so drainage will improve. It doesn't biodegrade very easily so the drainage system will last for a long time. And, we make use of chaff that would otherwise be waste."
I stand with an air pollution measuring device pieced together by students of World School Network. The air here proved to be pretty clean. According to the construction worker, many fields are being improved to increase efficiency. Fields that do not dry well can not be easily harvested by tractor. Another farmer I spoke with shared a similar opinion. "We have improved all of our fields in order to better our efficiency," he said pointing to the 3 hectares that he and other members of the local farmers' coop manage jointly. "It is difficult to compete in a market which is becoming more and more full of inexpensive foreign products. We improve our fields but still can't compete with big countries like America."
I swallowed deeply and wondered how much the policies in my own homeland America have effected agricultural communities in Japan.
New ways to improve the efficiency of Japan's limited agricultural resources seem are progressing. I was excited to see that natural materials are being used in the process. Today I also learned that the aims of this efficiency might be the tip of a large iceberg, which involves a lot of politics and economics.
Greg
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