What is natural style farming?We visited Hikaru Ogawa who published a book called ”Natural style cultivation of tomatoes and melons”, and his son, Mimei. We were curious about ”natural style cultivation” which is the title of the book. Although we’ve visited farms which cultivate vegetables with natural farming, but what is ”natural stye”? |
Creating an environment resembling Turkmenistan in FukushimaOriginally, Hikaru Ogawa used to be involved in research and promoting vegetable cultivation at Fukushima Prefecture Agricultural Experiment Station. He retired early and immersed himself in agriculture. The research and development he had conducted at the Agricultural Experiment Station was focused on tomatoes and melons. That is when he came into touch with the melon from Turkmenistan. Picking up on the fact that the melons were grown in a very dry region, he stayed in Turkmenistan for an extended period for research purposes. Upon returning to Japan, he cross bred the Turkmenistan melon and Fukushima melon, to make a variety that fit the Japanese environment. |
Reviving abandoned farmlandMimei told us that Fukushima Prefecture has the most abandoned farmland in Japan. He originally started organic farming in 1989. At the time, there was concern about the effect of pesticides on health, and he began to think about food safety. Since then, he has conducted extensive research leading him to this point. At the end of our visit, he stated ”There is more diversity with organic farming. There is also the desire to protect the ecosystem.” |
ACCESS
- Chardjou Farm
- 58-2 Ashikura, Kohata, Yamatomachi, Kitakata, Fukushima