Friendly agriculture, Ethie Agricultural Products

Jan 7, 2022

The future of agriculture

It was a certain day in October, in the height of autumn's fruitful season, with a refreshing, clear blue sky.

We visited a farm in the northern area of Kyoto Prefecture that is working closely with OYAOYA to reduce food waste by focusing on ecological soil creation, organic, pesticide-free cultivation, and turning non-standard vegetables into dried vegetables with no waste.

Each farmer uses different soil, compost, and vegetable growing methods, so we got to experience the local location and get to know each person's personality. What we wanted to ask everyone was, "What is the future of agriculture?"

We used our five senses to see this new form of agriculture, which is close to the bountiful nature, explores possibilities for revitalizing agriculture, which is struggling with a shortage of workers, supports local industries, and cultivates the future.

Ethie Agricultural Products' gentle challenge.

After working as a tobacco farmer at Etie Agricultural Products in Kumihama, Kyotango City, he established a company in 2007 with the aim of farming in an environmentally friendly and people-friendly way. Since 2011, he has been working on growing JAS-certified organic rice and vegetables, and although the company has now been handed over to his son, Akihiro Koshie (45 years old), chairman Masao (71 years old) and his wife Toshie (71 years old) are still actively involved in creating a new style of agriculture.

Committed to pesticide-free and organic materials

"At first, we mainly grew tobacco. Tobacco is susceptible to disease, so we used a lot of pesticides."

I was honestly surprised by the origins of Etie Nosan, as explained by Chairman Masao. When you think of Etie Nosan, you have a strong image of farmers who are particular about using no pesticides and organic materials, so he quit tobacco farming after 10 years and started to aim for safe and secure agriculture. The reason was trivial, but it was significant when you think about "the future of agriculture," and it surprised me again.

"I heard from the dentist that herbicides can cause permanent teeth not to grow in. For the sake of my children and grandchildren, I didn't want to have to use pesticides."

In 2004, they obtained the Eco-Farmer certification, a certification system for farmers who practice environmentally friendly agriculture by using compost to create soil and minimizing the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The Koshie family has inherited rice fields for generations, so they use compost that is unique to rice farmers. "In addition to our homemade rice husk compost, we make pellets from the rice bran that is left over from polishing rice and spread them on the rice fields and fields where we grow JAS-certified organic crops to fertilize the soil."

The rice fields are 23 hectares and the fields are 7 hectares, making them as large as 6.5 Tokyo Domes. We got in a light truck and were guided to the fields at the very back of the mountain where carrots and onions are grown organically. The mountainside that can be seen around the fields is red, and the soil itself has little organic matter and is hard, looking like red soil. However, the soil in the fields is fluffy and comfortable to walk on, and even the carrot leaves look fluffy and soft.

Suddenly, my eyes fell on a red dragonfly resting on the leaves of the red radish, and a question arose. It is grown organically without pesticides, so what about the insects? Masao's answer was "Mushi (laughs)." Summer leafy vegetables are a favorite food of insects. That's why they don't grow leafy vegetables in the summer, and instead try to coexist with nature.

From colorful carrots to salad turnips.

Echie Farm's vegetable farming, which is kind to both the environment and people, started by growing radishes. Currently, they grow about 30 kinds of vegetables a year without pesticides, focusing on root vegetables.

"When pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used, the leaves are easily affected," says Akihiro, the owner of the farm. When people who know about organic vegetables visit, they are always impressed to try the leaves first. The carrot fields seemed to symbolize this visually as well. The fields, with their pale green leaves that stand out vividly, like organically grown carrots, looked just like the forests and grasslands that appear in a movie scene.

Carrots come in a variety of colors and flavors depending on the variety. The deep red Kyokurenai is sweeter the more you chew it, while the orange Oranje is lightly sweet and has a refreshing aroma. I heard that they have recently started growing other colorful and rare varieties of carrots, such as purple and cream.

"I'm into colorful things, so I'm growing Swiss chard and mustard greens in greenhouses," says Akihiro with a bright expression. He seems to be enjoying farming while trying new vegetables and increasing the number of cultivated varieties. In autumn, there are a wide variety of vegetables that can be harvested along with colorful carrots.

"People often ask me, did you wash it?" After carefully removing the soil by hand, the taro is so clean that it can be steamed as is. It is delicious with just a little salt, and its chewy taste is also popular. The moment it is dug up, a refreshing fragrance wafts through the air, and the fresh ginger that Masao gives his stamp of approval, saying, "This year's product is great," is shiny, firm, and plump when the soil is lightly shaken off. Not only is it fragrant, but its freshness and softness are obvious even to the untrained eye.

I also tried Momonsuke, a red turnip that can be eaten in a salad. It has a juicy, soft texture similar to a peach, and a slight sweetness that reminds me of fruit. I was as impressed as the person who ate the leaves, and I couldn't help but smile, just like Akihiro, who is enjoying the "future of agriculture."

Dry it or powder it.

At Echie Nosan, under the leadership of his wife Toshie, non-standard vegetables are transformed into dried vegetables and powder, and the company is also working on a processing business to ensure that the produce that has been painstakingly grown is not wasted. It all started with dried radish, as if to recall the vegetable growing that began with radish cultivation. They gradually commercialized dried radish, dried onion, and ginger powder, and currently have a lineup of about 20 types of processed products, including dried vegetables and powder.

As Toshie says, "Freshness is the key to dried vegetables as well," Echie Nosan's dried vegetables are made from fresh ingredients that make them delicious to chew, rich in aroma, and the colors of the vegetables themselves are beautiful.

"I try different cutting methods and thicknesses to bring out the colors beautifully." With the exception of slicing the vegetables and drying them using a combination of kerosene and electricity, most of the processes, such as cutting the vegetables, are done by hand, just like in farm work.

In addition to vegetables, they also process rice flour for local bakeries and confectionery companies that make Kyoto's famous sweets. They also grow JAS-certified organic Koshihikari rice from Tango, and process rice for miso. They also use scraps of rice as an ingredient for rice vinegar, making them a great way to reduce food waste associated with rice farming.

We were shown the mountain of rice husks that was piled up close to the warehouse ceiling, which is used for homemade compost, and the compost area where earthworms are already standing by, while listening to their thoughts and feelings. Smell the aroma of the earth from the naturally grown vegetables, taste the freshly picked vegetables on the spot, and experience a new form of agriculture that handles everything from soil preparation to processing of agricultural products.