The Japanese government has announced plans for a futuristic farming project on land swamped by the March tsunami.
According to a report by the AFP, the country’s agriculture ministry plans to invest ¥4bn (US$52m) over the next six years to develop a farm where unmanned tractors work the fields and LED’s are used in place of pesticides. Robots would be used to pack produce.
Up to 250ha of land in the Miyagi prefecture, which was inundated by seawater during the 11 March tsunami, has been ear-marked for the development that has been dubbed the ‘Dream Project’.
Carbon dioxide produced by machinery on the farm would be used to boost the growth of crops and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, reported Japanese newspaper the Nikkei.
It is hoped the project would provide a much-needed boost to the region's agricultural sector that has been heavily impacted by the 11 March Tsunami and Japanese high-tech companies have been invited to join the project. These include: Panasonic, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Sharp, and NEC, the Nikkei reported.
'We hope the project will help not only support farmers in the disaster-hit regions but also revive the entire nation's agriculture,' an agriculture ministry official said.
It was reported that farming would commence once salt was removed from the land.
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