Farmers in Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture are conducting a first-of-its-kind experiment to confirm the safety of vegetable cultivation as the evacuation order for the town has been partially lifted. The order was issued following the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima nuclear power plant in March, 2011.
Aiming to rebuild the agricultural sector, the town hopes that shipment restrictions will be relaxed before the end of this fiscal year.
The experiment is taking place on 600 square meters of decontaminated farmland in three locations of the town's Morotake district, where the evacuation order was lifted. A similar experiment was conducted last year before the order was rescinded, but the crops were devastated in floods caused by Typhoon No. 19. To prevent this from recurring, decontaminated ridges were raised this year.
Under a scorching sun on Aug. 27, 11 members of the Morotake district farmland maintenance and management committee planted seeds and seedlings of five vegetables -- komatsuna greens, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and turnip.
If they grow as planned, they can be harvested from mid-October to early November. If their radio-cesium levels are below the national standard of 100 becquerels per kilo, the town will apply with the government for shipment restrictions to be lifted.
All residents of the town are still under evacuation orders, but they aim to start returning to the town in the spring of 2022. "We feel that we have finally reached this point 10 years after the nuclear accident," the 78-year-old head of the association said. "We hope for good results, but farmers have aged after living for such a long time as evacuees, so it is difficult to foresee the future of the town's agriculture."
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