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Ｏｕｒ Challengeｓ - Agriculture Organization
Azumino Family
Agri- Products Company Ltd.
Address: Misato Yutaka 2280-3, Azumino-City 399-8102, JAPAN
Owner - Takanobu
Nakamura
About Our
Agricultural Area
Azumino-City is located
near the middle of Nagano prefecture. The eastern side is the rural
portion, where Azumino is located, and the western side is lined by a
beautiful mountain range (namely, Japanese Alps) which makes for lovely
scenery! The southwestern section of Azumino-City is to say Misato
area. This area is separated into two zones from north to south. One is the
rice fields zone(570-600 meters above sea level) and the other is the orchard
zone(600-800 meters above sea level). That fruit growing zone is made of
volcanic soil. The climate is very nice to cultivate apples. We have around
1,100 mm of rainfall per year and the average temperature is 12 ℃(54 ℉). Although the winter months
tend to be quite long(no frost days; about 180 days), snowfall is not so much.
So it's an ideal place for growing apples!
The yield of apples is highest in our
area, followed by rice and pork. There is apple growing area on 300 ha in
total. The apples are grown on flat ground which makes them easy to operate (96
% of those apple trees are with dwarfing rootstocks e.g. M9, JM7). The brand of
"Azumino Apple" is known to the public. The area of operation is 0.72
ha on average, and most of them is managed by different families.
Unfortunately, many of the farmers are old people who cannot work hard and a
few young people have been taking over their farm. We're conserned that, it's
guessed the number of farmers will decrease to 60 % of present in the next five
years. Our company is currently the only one coporative operating orchard.
Background Of Our
Orchard
We had done farming on the side
many years ago. My father was an agricultural advisor of JA(Japan Agriculture
Cooperatives) and my mother worked as an apple farmer in a small orchard. When
I was a student at Tokyo University of Agriculture, I went to America to train
myself as an orchard farmer for one year. And then I became interested in the
large-scale farming of USA and wished to expand my familiy's corporation with
appealing operating.
Management &
Sales Transition
Beginning 1982 1.2 ha Sales:
7.2 million JPY
1991 2.8 ha Sales: 16 million JPY
Corporation
Created 1997 4.2 ha Sales: 26 million
JPY
2010 12.0 ha Sales: 54 million JPY
Our Challenges
1) Expanding our
farming
2) Encouraging
others to begin farming
3) Making various
marketing route
4) To utilize
internet website
5) To stay
ecologically friendly in cultivating
6) To spread
awareness of farming to younger people
7) To introduce a
new variety of foreign apples
8) Farming
globally
Ditails Of Our
Challenge
1) Expanding our farming
Our orchard is currently the
largest in Nagano, at the size of 12 ha and produces 22 types of apples.
The apples take up 11.5 ha. We also grow Japanese pears, European pears,
peaches and berries in an area of 0.5 ha. 10 ha of our farm land is rented
ground from neighboring farmers who can't grow apples at all. We would like to
accept such a farm land as many as possible because We believe that all this
valuable lands must be put to good use. Many farmers have said that they can no
longer manage their farms so we have taken on the task of doing so. We hope one
day to have a successor who will follow in our footsteps. In 1996 We began our
corporation and our sales have been increasing ever since. There has been much
development over the years.
2) Encouraging others to begin
farming
I feel that it is important to
encourage others to begin farming, therefore I have made corporate organization
and thought out a system of agricultural training. I think it is also important
to put time and effort into training as our staff. I have been accepting many
trainees. Seven people, six men and one woman, who were once trained on our
orchard have now become successful, independent orchard managers. They were
from Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu, Tokyo and Kanagawa. I was very impressed
with their hard work and encouraged it. I in particular try to promote skill
and a good attitude during training. After trainees have finished their
training, I assign them to specific farms. Their sales target for the first
year is 5 million JPY. Now my passion is training these people so they may work
independently on their own orchard in the future. This system is used
throughout Nagano.
3) Making various marketing route
When I began, my only buyer was
JA. Now I am trying to increase how many marketing route I have. Because I'd
like to gain more unit price of apples. Today, I have been selling them to JA
(1/3), by direct sales (1/3) and direct wholesale trade (1/3). For example, we
have a list of customers (the number is about 800), and sell our products
wholesale to pastry shops (the number is about 30).
4) To utilize internet website
Recently, I designed and launched
an internet web page. I make sells over the internet too. My customers are able
to purchase apples and other goods by e-mail or via my homepage. Many people
are interested in my work so I try to keep them up to date by also keeping up
my blog daily.
5) To stay ecologically friendly
in farming
I care about our world and try to
decrease the use of agricultural pesticides, which harm our environment. I also
care about my employees and want them to work in a safe environment. Women are
especially important as they are the ones who bear children. I decreased the
use of pesticides by 30% against conventional amount. I have been certified as
an "Eco Farmer" and I like to be considerate of our environment.
6) To spread awareness of farming
to younger people
I think a natural way of living
is important and I would like to spread farming awareness to others. It is
especially important that our younger generations know about the value of our
planet as they are our future. I think many people enjoy naturally grown
apples. I accept high school students as trainees in a short period and have an
internship program and get anyone who may want to see my farm. More than 1,000
people a year have visited here.
One of a club
activities from university - APPLE GROWING PARTY
I have been accepting students from Shinshu
University into my program since 1988, with six other farmers. Around 50
students helped us on Saturdays and Sundays. They also go to sell many boxes of
FUJI apples, weighing around 18 kg/box, at the Kyoto University Festival.
These apples are 100 JPY apiece, and the day's takings are in reward for their
working on our orchard. Their help is greatly appreciated and it helps our area
get good PR of Shinshu Apples. “These apples are so sweet and tasty!”
The students tell visitors to the Festival and for the last 18 years the apples
sell out every year. We hope that young people like them have been supporting
agriculture after that, directly or indirectly.
WWOOF Program
Many foreigners visit Japan every
year. The WWOOF program allows these people to come work, learn about Japanese
culture, meet new people and learn about organic farming organizations, like
mine. WWOOFers will usually work about 6 hours a day and we provide them with
food and shelter in exchange for this work. WWOOF is an international
organization so I registered to be a host in 2006. I have expected WWOOFers
from all over the work. We all help and teach them about the work we do. People
from Italy, Taiwan, Germany, France, America and Canada have all WWOOFed on our
farm. It has been very fun communicating with those people from other
countries.
Teaching children
about apples
I enjoy teaching local elementary
students about my orchard and apples every year. In spring students will come
to our farm and they'll be here threetimes after that. From thinning fruits to
picking fruits. The children enjoy making artwork about apples.
7) To Introduce a New Variety of
Foreign Apples
New types of apples have come to
Japan, they are sold at a high price. For example, Shinano Sweet, Shinano
Gold and Shinano Dolce from Nagano. I try to grow them positively,
we have about 3 ha of these types of apples. And I have been growing the Pink
Lady® apple from Australia and I established the
Association Pink Lady Japan. If I don't stay in contract with Australia's
APAL(Apple and Pear Australia Ltd.), the Pink Lady® would not be able to grow in Japan. April 2006, I planted 100 Pink Lady® nursery trees. I have a production plan (production target is 10,000
tons per year in all Japan) and am urging other Japanese orchard farmers to
grow Pink Lady® apples too. The Pink Lady® is a hardy apple and does not go bad easily so I think this apple is
good for storing. I am one of the APAL's (International Pink Lady Alliance
Ltd.) member and I have exchanged information with foreign farmers in other
countries. We have 690 trees of Pink Lady® now. In the near
future, I hope to have 2,000 trees.
8) Farming Globally
In 1981 I came back from America
fully trained. I then graduated from University and soon started to farm.
Because I had hoped to expand my orchard and would like to go abroad more. I
have gone to over 30 apple producing countries. In July 2003, I went to
Roumania in eastern Europe and felt a desire to grow apples there. I had a
dream to run a second farm in another country. In the southern hemisphere,
perhaps Australia or Brazil, I thought we could pick apples in the winter of
Japan. But it is difficult to accomplish such a thing because of money. And I
have seen Japanese Fuji for 20 years in many countries. I am very proud of the Fuji
apple and hope it will become more popular in other countries. In 2004 I
organized the Kama Land Fruct SRL company in Roumania and bought a Land(1.4 ha)
to make my second orchard. In the autumn of 2006 we picked apples first time
there. I couldn't sell those apples, but their quality couldn't have been
better. Romanian farmers run small farms so I hope my action will have been
helping to invigorate them. I have traveled several times to foreign countries
to train farmers in the orchard business. So far, I have been to America twice,
New Zealand three times, Australia four times, Brazil once, Italy three times
and South Africa once. I took part in an international meeting for reading
research papers many times and, in Canada and Italy, did a presentation about
the growing apples in Japan.
My Words
I do my best to stay organized in
my orchard management by keeping up a persistent spirit. And I hope to pull the
production of Japanese apple in taking a global view of agribusiness. My dream
is that many more people know about Japanese apples. My father, who is now 82
years old, still works in the orchard. He inspires me and I want to be like
him.
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