- Title: JAPAN: Indoor rice paddy displays possibility of year-round farming
- Date: 7th October 2010
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (OCTOBER 7, 2010) (REUTERS) PASONA GROUP BUILDING CEILING LIGHTS AND PEOPLE LINING UP IN RICE PADDY MORE OF PEOPLE LINED UP AND PREPARING TO PLANT IN RICE PADDY RICE STALK BEING PLANTED PEOPLE PLANTING RICE STALKS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PASONA GROUP CEO AND PRESIDENT YASUYUKI NAMBU SAYING: "By planting rice in the fall as well, we hope to be able to transform agriculture from something that allows one to only plant once a year into something that can be done two or three times a year. We can actually harvest it three time a year in spring, fall and winter." PEOPLE WALKING INTO PADDY TO PLANT PEOPLE HOLDING RICE STALKS PEOPLE PLANTING RICE STALKS MORE OF PEOPLE PLANTING RICE STALKS WOMAN PLANTING RICE STALK MORE OF WOMAN PLANTING RICE STALK (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 35-YEAR- OLD INSURANCE EMPLOYEE RYOKO SATO SAYING: "If this sort of environment is possible to produce, I think it would be nice to have in more places. Its quite strange having this rice paddy inside a building." (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 35-YEAR-OLD INSURANCE EMPLOYEE MAYUMI TAGUCHI SAYING: "It was odd going from the sound of the cars to the sound of the running water. The feel was very different from a normal office, and was alot more natural." RICE IN PLATE BESIDE RICE PADDY RICE IN PLATE
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Science / Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVACYQE469GK1NXD34JAA8GCS4PZ
- Story Text: Visitors and staff at Japan's Pasona group Tokyo office took part in an indoor rice planting exercise on Thursday (October 7), something rarely associated with downtown Tokyo.
Even more unusual was the sight of office workers in business suits putting on their rubber boots to slosh around in the indoor rice paddy, planting individual stalks of rice by hand.
The room where the rice paddy is located uses about a hundred 1000-watt lights, a mix of high-pressure sodium and metal-halide lamps to to provide energy for the plants to photosynthesize and allows the rice to be grown year-round, even six months ahead of the traditional rice planting season in this part of the world.
"By planting rice in the fall as well, we hope to be able to transform agriculture from something that allows one to only plant once a year into something that can be done two or three times a year. We can actually harvest it three times a year in spring, fall and winter," said Pasona group CEO and President Yasuyuki Nambu.
Currently Pasona only has one indoor rice paddy, but some of those who participated saw a future in additional indoor paddies.
"If this sort of environment is possible to produce, I think it would be nice to have in more places. Its quite strange having this rice paddy inside a building," said 35-year-old Ryoko Sato after just planting rice stalks.
As Pasona's office is located only minutes from bustling Tokyo station, others saw it as a great way to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city center even for a few moments.
"It was odd going from the sound of the cars to the sound of the running water. The feel was very different from a normal office, and was alot more natural," said 35-year-old Mayumi Taguchi after participating in the planting.
The rice that will be eventually harvested will be served in the staff cafeteria, the company said, with the previous harvest in September yielding more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) - short of what one average japanese consumes a year.
This is, according to government statistics, also certainly nowhere close to replacing the 8 million tons of rice produced in Japan last year, in which it is just about self-sufficient. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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