Protected Horticulture after the Great East Japan Earthquake in Iwate Prefecture

Abstract

Agricultural lands in the Kesen area, which is located in the coastal area of Iwate Prefecture, were severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Empirical research was undertaken to promote agricultural restoration and reconstruction. This project was conducted to realize low-cost protected horticulture utilizing local resources effectively. In this area, where forestry was popular, there was abundant unnecessarily thinned timber. Three types of low-cost greenhouses were developed, including a wooden frame house built using lumber derived from thinning. A stove to use thinned timber as a fuel was also developed. To establish protected horticulture at a low cost, greenhouses that could be constructed with accessible materials were developed along with a device for sterilizing nutrient solutions using charged plasma. An environmental control program was developed based on a "ubiquitous environment control system (UECS)" for small-scale facilities. Disease control using hot water for long-term cultivation was carried out. Strawberry and tomato production was conducted to demonstrate the use of these developed elements and resulted in yields significantly higher than those obtained for these crops before the disaster.

Adoption of Horticultural Innovations by Smallholder Farmers in North Lombok - Indonesia

“…As results, they did not focus to manage their farms, but to rebuild and reconstruct their houses. Significant and critical efforts need to be taken to address the adverse impacts and bring the agricultural production into normal such as those reported by Japanese researchers to address the adverse impacts of big earthquake in Japan in 2011 [14][15][16]. The findings on the impacts COVID-19 pandemic found in this study are also consistent with the findings reported by other researchers on the impacts of COVID-19 on agriculture [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Possibility of Harvesting June-bearing Strawberries in a Plant Factory with Artificial Light during Summer and Autumn by Re-using Plants Cultivated by Forcing Culture

“…As the appearance and taste of the imported fruits are not highly appreciated in the Japanese market, in addition to concerns on pesticide application and post-harvest treatments abroad, domestically produced strawberries are preferred (Imada, 2007). Therefore, everbearing strawberries are planted in cold areas for off-seasons to increase the production of domestic strawberries in summer and autumn (Yamazaki, 2015;Ohta and Yasuba, 2019). On the other hand, as confectioneries claim that everbearing strawberries have a poorer taste than that of June-bearing strawberries (Shibuya, 2010;Hamano et al, 2020), they want a year-round stable supply of June-bearing strawberries.…”