Friday, April 17, 2026
- 1 Quiet activities inside the warehouse - Dense seedling and rice seed germination work
- 2 Seeds of hope spreading throughout the greenhouse - Sunny Chocolat seed sowing
- 3 Turning the earth, the precise work of automatic steering – plowing the fields.
- 4 Future work schedule
- 5 Mizuho's Report
- 6 YouTube videos
- 7 Other photos
- 8 Related articles
Quiet activities inside the warehouse - Dense seedling and rice seed germination work
"At Kitasorachi Agricultural Cooperative, the hot water disinfection process involves soaking the rice seeds in 60°C water for 10 minutes, then immersing them in 10°C water for 5 minutes, and finally drying them. This hot water disinfection of the rice seeds is a method that kills pathogens using the power of heat without using chemical pesticides, and it is effective in preventing diseases such as rice blast and bakanae disease (a disease in which seedlings grow too tall and die)," explains Tomoya Nishino in detail.
After the hot water disinfection at Kitasorachi Agricultural Cooperative, the rice seeds are first subjected to "seed soaking."
The seeds are slowly immersed in water at approximately 10°C for 10 days, gradually reviving their life. After that, they are soaked for 24 hours in a germinator containing 30°C water with added vinegar. Adding vinegar at this stage helps prevent bacterial diseases that infect seeds, including brown stripe disease.
In this "germination" process, the seedlings develop a "pigeon chest" state with sprouts and roots about 1 mm long. After that, they are carefully dried and prepared for sowing.
Currently, there are two tanks, but the amount of rice seeds will be gradually increased, eventually reaching four. The water is circulated by a pump and changed every three days.
Without rushing or panicking, we work in harmony with nature's rhythm, delivering the seeds to the soil in the best possible condition. This quiet accumulation of preparation leads to a bountiful harvest in autumn.
Seeds of hope spreading throughout the greenhouse - Sunny Chocolat seed sowing
Variety and scale
This year's sweet corn is "Sunny Chocolat," a variety renowned for its sweetness and flavor. Mizuho Co., Ltd. is now in its third year of cultivation, steadily building up experience and technology.
- Approximately 5,000 seeds were sown in one greenhouse.
- After thinning, grow to approximately 2,400 plants.
- One stem is shipped per plant (only the first plant).
- We expect to harvest approximately 14,400 plants in total across the six greenhouses.
- Each case contains 22 bottles, and we plan to ship over 600 cases annually.
- The harvest season is tentatively scheduled for July 10th to 20th.
The importance of sowing seeds – the relationship between plant spacing and growth.
We drop two to three seeds in each spot, then thin them out to one plant each time. This meticulous process supports healthy growth.
"If you don't leave some space between them, the nutrients won't reach them properly. We try to leave as much space as possible between them to promote healthy growth and aim for the largest possible offspring."
These words from Kiyotaka Hasegawa reflect a deep appreciation for crops.
From harvest to shipment – the integrity of freshness.
The signal to harvest is by feel. We determine the moment when the fruit is fully packed to the tip, harvest from early morning, and ship by just after 10 a.m. It reaches the market the next day, so freshness is paramount.
The corn is shipped through JA Kitasorachi to the sorting facility (mainly) in Uryu Town. From the land to the table, the journey of a single ear of corn is also one of integrity.
Turning the earth, the precise work of automatic steering – plowing the fields.
Masami Komatsu, Representative Director, personally oversees the creation of seedbeds.
The seedbed preparation in the greenhouse was carried out by President Komatsu himself, who got on the tractor. He used an "upper rotor," a machine specifically designed to create a fluffy seedbed by finely breaking up the soil and replacing the surface soil with the deeper soil. President Komatsu was also in charge of using the "deep tillage rotor."
A red tractor quietly moves through a 100-meter-long greenhouse bathed in sunlight that reaches the ceiling. The scene embodied both the strength and the delicate nature of agriculture.
The trajectory of an autopilot running through a rice field
For plowing rice paddies, an automatic steering tractor (Yanmar YT5113A) plays a vital role. The CHCNAV navigation screen mounted in the driver's seat displays a red line indicating straight-line automatic steering and a green area indicating already tilled areas, providing a real-time visualization of the overall work process.
"Automatic steering is more relaxing and comfortable because you don't have to hold the steering wheel. It also has air conditioning."
Operator Yuki Sato explains.
Even without the operator holding the steering wheel, the tractor maintains a precise straight line. This eliminates the subtle deviations and overlapping tillage that were unavoidable with manual operation, significantly improving time efficiency. Physical strain on the operator is also reduced.
This automatic steering system, which uses RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) positioning, is not yet widely adopted by farmers in Sorachi.
The technology that receives precise positional information from satellites and allows vehicles to navigate with an accuracy of only a few centimeters demonstrates that agriculture in Hokuryu Town is quietly but steadily moving towards the future.
Future work schedule
- Seeding work:Continued from April 27th to May 7th
- Arranging the pots:After germination, the seedlings are transferred to seedling pots and lined up in the greenhouse.
- Rice planting begins:Scheduled for May 15th (until around the 24th)
Tilling the soil, sowing seeds, and flooding the fields to welcome the seedlings—the agricultural calendar of Hokuryu Town continues to tick with a steady rhythm today as well.
Mizuho's Report
We have received some images related to intimacy from Mizuho, which we would like to share with you.
April 10th (Friday): Installed watering tubes inside the corn greenhouse.
Representative Komatsu - Deep tillage rotor application
YouTube videos
Other photos
Related articles
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