Agricultural Ecology LAB Yamagata Univ. 山形大学農業生態学分野

Before rice is harvested from the fields, water must be well drained but the paddies still remain quite muddy so wearing good tight boots is important before commencing the activity. I learnt that there are two ways to harvest the rice; either by hand which is a Traditional method or by using a machine. Hand harvesting involves using a sickle, the rice straws are then collected in bundles and tightly bound using about five strands of rice straw in preparation for the drying process. Using the machine harvester is definitely much quicker, easier I think it is very important to implement good harvesting methods to maximize the grain yield, prevent or at least minimize grain damage which ensures a good quality end product that can be well appreciated by both the farmers and consumers

Two big mountains in this region, Mt Chokai and Mt Gassan, have finally been covered by snow, and it means the winter really comes soon, The snails in the rice paddy field is still active in the sunny day, and I am interested how they do when snow falls in the city of tsuruoka. Everyweekday I have 1 hour research around the rice paddy field and know really know the situation for those, organisms in rice paddyfield, changes very much through 4 seasons. In this year price of rice gets lower and this may enhance recent increasing of such abandoned land. Nobody knows how much and how long we can keep those beautiful rice paddies with full of interest. Occasionally I do sume farming related activity for my mother in low, and always it makes me reallized that faming is very tough work. Things are always like this, very complexed. 毎日、まぁ平日の話ですが、一時間くらい田んぼのあたりをぶらぶら、簡単な調査や観察などに時間を費やします。田んぼのみならず、農村の家並みや遠景、例えば月山や鳥海山、その他付近の山々の様子など、色々です。サルが村にやってきて居座っていた時もあったし、枯れた用水路に何か哺乳動物の死骸があったりと、色々考えさせられる日々です。これか

This Thursday, October 14, ISHIKAWA San and I went to the area of coordinates 38.75901715110058, 13981431917181067 (Araikyoda Tsuruoka city Yamagata prefecture ). The objective here is to collect more than 130 mud snails in order to adapt them in a new environment for the experimentation that will take place during the winter in the laboratory. We were able to see thousands of individuals in the rice field channel.Where the canal was dry, thousands of dead mud snails were seen. On the other hand, where there was still water, we were able to find under the grass individuals all living with algae on their backs well-hidden and preparing for winter. The collection went well and we are currently observing the specimens we obtained near the greenhouse.

  Kuigake is the activity for drying paddy as post-harvest. Before spreading dryer using fuel and fire, all of the farmers did like that in all paddy fields. I expect it was a wonderful sight to see all the paddy fields lined with so many stakes. Further, Kuigake is good for taste, because slowly drying with natural temperature enhances the sweetness. You can see the significant difference between natural and machine drying rice if you compare.  This is a culture grown in Japanese rural places that should be conserved. I really hope even 50 years later we can see like that view in the village. 稲の乾燥のために杭掛けを行います。機械乾燥が普及する以前はどこの農家もすべての水田でこれを行っていました。大量の杭がずらりと並ぶ光景は壮観だったことでしょう。杭掛けによる自然乾燥は味にも良い影響があり、そのおいしさを比べるみると差は歴然です。これは日本の農村で養われてきた文化でこれからも受け継がれていくべきものだと思います。50年後にもこの光景が残っているよう社会は変わっていかなければなりません。

  Last week in the early morning when I went to the mosque, I was surprised because suddenly something big fell from the tree beside my house. After I checked it, it's a mango! Since it's a public space where the mango trees grow, so I I'm not sure what kind of varieties it is but the taste of mangoes have different tastes and The big one I took it's really sweet! But the others were a little bit sour but still tasty. The big one that fell from the tree, it's really big. I mean it's the biggest mango I ever took from the tree! For a couple of months ahead, the mangoes would be available at my table dinner every day since the price also would be cheap in the market.By the way here is the comparison between my hand and the mango.

 Good afternoon. I  studied for the civil service examination after taking classes at home today.I participated in internships at various private companies during summer vacation.At present, I have not decided whether to work for a private company or become a public servant.However I became interested in various occupations by participating in internships and seeing various industries.The internship will be held until February next year, so I would like to set my goals firmly before I start looking for a job next year.I want to make plans and decide while imagining myself working in the future. Thank you for the reading. 今日私は、家で授業を受けたあと公務員試験の勉強をしました。夏休みに様々な民間企業のインターンシップに参加しました。今現在、民間企業への就職か公務員になるかは決めていません。しかし、インターンシップに参加して様々な業界を見たことで色々な職種に興味を持ちました。来年の2月までインターンシップが開催されるので、来年就職活動が始まる前に目標をしっかりと決めていきたいです。将来、自分が働いている姿を想像しながら計画を立てて決めていきたいです。 Writer:Mao

  The other day, we went to the paddy field in a mountain. The field has not been used since several decades ago. We are working to study there. In that time, we cleaned the canal to use water. I have heard it is hard to cultivate the field after it is deserted. I understood how hard it is. I think there are places under same like situation in many parts of Japan. Agricultural works are very tough and farmer has to work very hard to earn enough money. But food is necessary for us to live. We can not survive without agriculture. I want more people to be interested in agriculture, then agricultural sector will get good future. 先日、数十年もの間使用されていない山奥の農地に行ってきました。研究室ではこの農地で研究をする予定で、そのための開墾作業に取り組んでいます。今回は水を引くための水路の掃除をしてきました。一度農地が使われなくなってしまうと、またそれを使用できるようにさせるのはとても大変だと聞いたことはありましたが、今回はそれを身をもって体験しました。このような場所は日本各地に存在していると思います。農作業は過酷なうえに、生計を維持するためにたくさん働かなければいけません。しかし、人間が生活していくためには食料が必要です。農業なしでは人間は生存できないのです。より多くの人が農業に関心を持ち、農業分野が良い方向に向かってほしいです。

  About 1/3 of the world's food is wasted or the equivalent of 1.3 billion tons. We can imagine how much water and nutrients are wasted from these foods. In fact, food waste contributes to climate change. Our lab currently will contribute to returning the wasted nutrients to become biomass and products with economic value and environmentally friendly, with recycling food waste using black soldier fly. Recently, BSF is a trend in organic waste management. In Japan, the BSF trend has not developed much, especially in the Tohoku region. Our lab now is developing the use of BSF for the community by using food waste generated from several places in Tsuruoka. The current research and development of BSF in the lab are amazing because we can know how small animals can have a big impact on change. BSF teaches us something that we are never too small to make big changes. This motivates me so much to work better for the future.