Rice full of vitality - The white stork-friendly farming method
The oriental white stork disappeared from Japan's skies in 1971. The main cause of their extinction was environmental pollution by pesticides and chemical fertilizers used in rice fields. Toyooka, along with Hyogo Prefecture, continued its steady efforts to revive the stork, and succeeded reintroducing them into nature in 2005. Since then, the number has gradually increased, and now there are over 100 storks in various parts of Japan. In order for storks to live in a human habitat as they once did, it was necessary to increase the living creatures on which they feed and improve the deteriorated environment. Therefore, people of Toyooka worked on the ‘white stork-friendly farming method’ that does not rely on pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Through their efforts, the environment gradually improved, and the production of safe and delicious ‘Stork Natural Rice’ is increasing. This video is a 22-minute summary of how the ‘white stork-friendly farming method’ achieves this. People in Toyooka felt remorse over the extinction of the storks and decided to change their environment to one where storks and people live in harmony. I sympathized with their thoughts and produced this video.
Related websites
●The white stork-friendly farming method (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives Tajima)
●The white stork-friendly farming method (Toyooka)
●The white stork-friendly farming method (Hyogo Prefecture)