Taniguchi Farm | Mibuna

Jan 7, 2022

The future of agriculture

Thinking of my precious family. Thinking of the area where I was born and raised. Thinking of the future of agriculture.

We also spoke to farmers who had left their hometowns for work or further education, but returned to farming in their 20s with various thoughts and feelings in their hearts. As farmers following in their grandfather's footsteps. As female farmers protecting the family business that has been passed down for generations.

We will introduce young farmers in the northern area of Kyoto Prefecture who are living in the present with a modern farming style, while facing traditional issues in agriculture such as sales channels, farmers, and farmland.

Taniguchi Farm's modern return to farming.

Taniguchi Farm (Hiyoshicho, Nantan City)

Hiyoshi-cho is a designated production area for the brand Kyoto vegetable, Kyo Mibuna, and this farm has been in business since the Edo period. There are only 15 to 16 farmers in Hiyoshi-cho who make Kyo Mibuna, and Taniguchi Farm is the only three-generation family business. Mitsuri Taniguchi (27 years old), who grew up watching her father work hard at farming, is the 15th generation to continue the family business.

Eco-agriculture from a woman's perspective.

We visited a young, full-time female farmer in her 20s, still a rare breed. Mitsuri Taniguchi runs a historic farm with her grandparents and parents, but she is also independent as a sole proprietor. "Starting this year, I've been growing vegetables in my own greenhouse with organic fertilizer and no pesticides," she said with a happy smile.

Hikari originally wanted to be a nurse, but after graduating from a welfare university, she studied agricultural management at a school in Tokyo, then returned to her hometown and took courses at the Agricultural Improvement and Extension Center's farming support course and the JA's cultivation seminar, learning cultivation techniques from her father.

"When my father took over the farm, there were many part-time farmers and few full-time farmers. My older brother, who I thought would take over the family business, decided to go down a different path. I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps as a full-time farmer, so I decided to return to farming before graduating from university."

Influenced by her organic-minded father, who grows Kyo Mibu mustard greens with less than half the amount of pesticides used in the past, Mitsuri avoids using chemical fertilizers and instead sticks to using locally produced organic fertilizers such as cow manure and rice bran.

Mitsuri, who also puts effort into using no pesticides, aims to produce agriculture that is safe and healthy for the body. "Even after I get married, I want to continue farming and have children, so even as a sprayer, I don't want to use pesticides as much as possible."

He takes pride in being a full-time farmer who is independent from his family, but he also thinks from the customer's perspective and is conscious of raising the quality of the vegetables he grows to a level that he himself would want to buy. Along with her commitment to using organic fertilizer and no pesticides, she also cares about the appearance as well as the taste. "Seasonal vegetables are similar in color, so we also consider the color when shipping them out," she said, which seemed to be something only a female farmer could do.

Cultivating the Kyoto vegetable Mibuna and protecting adzuki beans.

Mibuna, a traditional Kyoto vegetable, is well known for its crispness and tangy aroma as a Kyoto pickle. Taniguchi Farm's Kyoto Mibuna, which can be eaten raw after washing, is beautiful with a vibrant yellowish green color, and is soft and has an exceptional flavor. It is popular not only as a pickle or salad, but also when boiled or grilled.

"Mibuna does not actually require much fertilizer. We give it organic fertilizer once a year in a vinyl greenhouse and let it grow on its own." Mibuna is delicate and if it is given too much nutrients or nitrogen, it will turn black and easily rot, and its cultivation cannot be mechanized. Therefore, the properties of the soil are also important.

"The soil is based on rice paddy soil that has excellent water retention and is designed to prevent water leakage. The soil is suitable for growing mibuna but not for root vegetables, but it's not good if there is too much moisture." He grows the vegetables with fertilizer once a year and the bare minimum of water, and is careful about the amount of moisture, such as not watering before harvest.

Their family has grown rice for generations, their great-grandfather's generation grew tobacco leaves, their grandfather's generation mainly raised chickens, and they also grew flowers and vegetables, and over 30 years ago, their father took over the family business and started growing Kyoto Mibu mustard greens using organic fertilizer all year round.

At first, they started raising chickens while gradually increasing the number of greenhouses, and now that Mitsuri has returned to farming and is a full-time rice and vegetable farmer, the number of greenhouses cultivating Kyomibu greens has expanded to 24. "I want to protect the vacant farmland along with the family business," says Mitsuri. She is also thinking about how to utilize the land, and shares her enthusiasm, saying, "I plan to increase the number of greenhouses I have from the current three to eight in about two years' time."

"These seeds have been passed down for generations," he said as he showed me the outdoor-grown Tamba Dainagon azuki beans, a specialty of Nantan City. The dried pods, which looked ready to burst at any moment, were packed with large, deep reddish purple azuki beans, evoking the power of the land and the long history of the Taniguchi family.

"I want to pass on the Mibuna cultivation techniques I've accumulated over the past 30 years, as well as the scenery and farmland of the area where I was born and raised, to the next generation."

I am sure that Mitsuri's strong passion, which is the fundamental premise for developing "the future of agriculture," will be carefully passed down to the young farmers of the future, just like these azuki beans.