KASHIWAZAKI, Niigata -- A materials manufacturer and retailer in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, has begun growing bananas using exhaust heat from its waste incineration facility.
Shimoda Industry Co., which can produce the fruit year-round by maintaining temperature levels inside its greenhouses, aims to make its first shipment of bananas in 2020.
The city government, a local financial institution and other entities are joining hands to create a new brand for the fruit of tropical origin grown in a snowy area.
The bananas are grown at Shimoda Farm, an orchard built at the company's industrial waste processing facility.
The firm built two greenhouses of 1,100 square meters each for about 100 million yen, with about 200 seedlings nearly 1.2 meters high planted inside. The adjacent incineration facility heats water circulating inside the greenhouses to keep temperatures at or above 24 C, just right for growing bananas.
Company President Akira Shimoda thought of the idea when he heard a woman from the Philippines saying the bananas she ate in Japan tasted terrible.
Almost all bananas sold domestically are imported after being harvested while still green. They ripen during shipment, which causes their flavor to deteriorate. Believing there is demand for domestically grown bananas, Shimoda decided to try growing the fruit in greenhouses using exhaust heat.
Cultivation started in August using Gros Michel seedlings from an agricultural corporation in Okayama that grows Okayama Mongee Bananas, a popular premium variety. Sweet and fragrant, it can be eaten whole -- peel and all. Breed improvement has also made it resistant to the cold.
Shimoda Industry employees spent three months on-site learning cultivation techniques to monitor ventilation and temperature inside the greenhouses.
The first shipment is scheduled for June. If production goes as scheduled, the company expects to harvest 1,000 bananas a week or 50,000 a year. They plan to sell them for around 700 yen apiece.
The banana project has been selected under a public-private initiative to help establish local brands, which involves the municipal government, Kashiwazaki Shinkin Bank and Mitsukoshi department store's Niigata branch. They will provide assistance in thinking up the product name for the banana and package designs, as well as developing sales channels.
"Ripe bananas are nutritious and healthy," Shimoda said. "I hope people will appreciate the flavor of freshly harvested ones."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
