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For Ito En, revitalizing tea-growing areas is not simply part of their CSR activities but it is advantageous for the company as it is directly linked to the main business, with stable procurement of raw materials for their beverages. That is why the
company can continue such activities long term. In addition, management is stabilized through buying the entire contracted amount from farmers and providing technological support. Farming on agricultural land that was once abandoned resolves
this issue for the local community and creating jobs adds social value. Thus, this
project makes all three parties happy. Ito En recycles used tea leaves into fertilizer
and feed. The company was featured in a special article titled “50 Companies That
Are Changing The World” in the American business magazine Fortune and was
ranked at number 18 out of the fifty, the highest for a Japanese company.
I’d like to introduce one more corporate initiative for farming. It is Vegetalia,
Inc., a venture business started up in 2010 that promotes smart agriculture in accordance with scientific backing.
Agricultural practices these days came into being the mid-twentieth century and
are based on the Green Revolution which has a three-piece set of high-yield varieties of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Through this, production increased dramatically but in turn led to issues such as environmental destruction and an increase in
abandoned farmland. The biggest issue is that farmers are still sticking to methodology that is more than 50 years old and no innovations have been made. In recent
years, with advances made in science, the mechanisms of how plants grow, and how
disease and insect damage are caused have become clearer. This means that agricultural production of the bio-harmonized type, which is kinder to the environment, is
not impossible.
PaddyWatch, a program developed by Vegetalia, is a tool leading to agricultural
innovation through a fusion of science and technology (Fig. 6.8). With PaddyWatch,
a sensor is inserted into a rice field to measure the water level, water temperature,
temperature and humidity. This data is sent to smartphones or tablets via an app
making management by remote control possible. Management of water is very
important in growing rice and it is quite a burden to farmers as the amount of time
spent on water management is said to make up 25% of rice-farming work time. If
this can be monitored, the working efficiency will be boosted.
Moreover, the most effective time to use pesticides and fertilizers can be determined from the data generated so even if the farmer doesn’t have much experience,
they can carry out the work practices appropriately. Satoshi Koike, president and
CEO of Vegetalia, said “Currently, agricultural production relies largely on the
experience, intuition and the master skill of experienced farmers but experience can
be replaced by scientific backing from plant science, intuition can be replaced by
the IoT sensors, while master-skills can be replaced by scientific data and AI.”
Methods developed by Vegetalia have been adopted by Niigata city’s agricultural
reform project which has been designated as a National Strategic Special Zone by
the Japanese Government. Niigata is a major farming area in Japan but even so
people there have a strong sense of impending crisis for the future of farming. The
lack of successors in farming villages coupled with the aging population is of serious concern. As farmers age and their physical strength weakens, the area that they
6.3 Coexisting in Harmony with Beautiful Nature
For Ito En, revitalizing tea-growing areas is not simply part of their CSR activities but it is advantageous for the company as it is directly linked to the main business, with stable procurement of raw materials for their beverages. That is why the
company can continue such activities long term. In addition, management is stabilized through buying the entire contracted amount from farmers and providing technological support. Farming on agricultural land that was once abandoned resolves
this issue for the local community and creating jobs adds social value. Thus, this
project makes all three parties happy. Ito En recycles used tea leaves into fertilizer
and feed. The company was featured in a special article titled “50 Companies That
Are Changing The World” in the American business magazine Fortune and was
ranked at number 18 out of the fifty, the highest for a Japanese company.
I’d like to introduce one more corporate initiative for farming. It is Vegetalia,
Inc., a venture business started up in 2010 that promotes smart agriculture in accordance with scientific backing.
Agricultural practices these days came into being the mid-twentieth century and
are based on the Green Revolution which has a three-piece set of high-yield varieties of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Through this, production increased dramatically but in turn led to issues such as environmental destruction and an increase in
abandoned farmland. The biggest issue is that farmers are still sticking to methodology that is more than 50 years old and no innovations have been made. In recent
years, with advances made in science, the mechanisms of how plants grow, and how
disease and insect damage are caused have become clearer. This means that agricultural production of the bio-harmonized type, which is kinder to the environment, is
not impossible.
PaddyWatch, a program developed by Vegetalia, is a tool leading to agricultural
innovation through a fusion of science and technology (Fig. 6.8). With PaddyWatch,
a sensor is inserted into a rice field to measure the water level, water temperature,
temperature and humidity. This data is sent to smartphones or tablets via an app
making management by remote control possible. Management of water is very
important in growing rice and it is quite a burden to farmers as the amount of time
spent on water management is said to make up 25% of rice-farming work time. If
this can be monitored, the working efficiency will be boosted.
Moreover, the most effective time to use pesticides and fertilizers can be determined from the data generated so even if the farmer doesn’t have much experience,
they can carry out the work practices appropriately. Satoshi Koike, president and
CEO of Vegetalia, said “Currently, agricultural production relies largely on the
experience, intuition and the master skill of experienced farmers but experience can
be replaced by scientific backing from plant science, intuition can be replaced by
the IoT sensors, while master-skills can be replaced by scientific data and AI.”
Methods developed by Vegetalia have been adopted by Niigata city’s agricultural
reform project which has been designated as a National Strategic Special Zone by
the Japanese Government. Niigata is a major farming area in Japan but even so
people there have a strong sense of impending crisis for the future of farming. The
lack of successors in farming villages coupled with the aging population is of serious concern. As farmers age and their physical strength weakens, the area that they
6.3 Coexisting in Harmony with Beautiful Nature