Carbon Labels Attached to Japanese Strawberries: Efforts to Reduce CO2 Emissions

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan announced on the 6th that a "carbon label" indicating the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the production of strawberries at a leisure farm in the southern part of central Nagano Prefecture, from raw material procurement to disposal, has been attached to the product. This is the first time a carbon label has been attached to strawberries in Japan.

Image Source: GPT4.0

The Nagano Agricultural Improvement Station is responsible for attaching the carbon label and will continue to support this farm and invite experts to help rationalize fertilizer management, improve operational efficiency, etc. The aim is to reduce CO2 emissions.

The Nagano Agricultural Improvement Station calculated the 'carbon footprint', which visualizes the amount of CO2 emissions, for 400g of strawberries in plastic cases produced at the leisure farm 'Taichi Ecological Rest Farm'. Adopting the standards announced by the Ministry of the Environment, the total CO2 emissions were found to be 1.1kg.

In terms of work stages, the 'raw material procurement stage', which includes seed production and transportation, field preparation, cultivation, and harvesting, accounted for the largest share of emissions at about 69% of the total. Among these stages, emissions from fertilizers, automatic irrigation systems, and seed-related processes were particularly high.

The Nagano Agricultural Improvement Station emphasized that it will encourage more companies and manufacturers to produce products with lower CO2 emissions, and by encouraging consumers to purchase products with carbon labels, they will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, in strawberry cultivation, maintaining the appropriate temperature during the low-temperature season is important. The Nagano Agricultural Improvement Station conducted experiments on planting time postponement cultivation and appropriate temperature treatment to enhance cold tolerance for different varieties. As a result, it was found that the variety 'Utsukushii' (Beautiful) exhibited good growth and yield when planted on November 20th and cultivated at 15℃.

Furthermore, in experiments with the melon variety 'Ibaraking' for high-density cultivation, fruit quality and yield were found to be best at 17-19 leaves at the fruit setting stage, with a daytime temperature of 32℃ and a nighttime temperature of 25℃. Meanwhile, for stable cabbage cultivation in high-temperature and humid conditions, a planting density of 40×30cm, tunnel + windbreak net covering material, a daytime temperature of 25℃, and a nighttime temperature of 20℃ were found to be optimal conditions.

In high-altitude field crop high-yield experiments, the glutinous rice variety 'Hanchalbyeo', the soybean variety 'Geumgangkong', and the potato variety 'Desire' exhibited good yields at planting densities of 30×15cm, 60×20cm, and 60×30cm, respectively. For climate change-responsive high yields, the rice variety 'Saenuri', the wheat variety 'Saehanmil', and the barley variety 'Saehanbori' were used, with a planting density of 30×15cm for rice and 15×10cm for wheat and barley being suitable.

Through variety and cultivation technology research, the Agricultural Improvement Station is continuously improving crop production environments and technologies, striving for sustainable high-quality and high-yield cultivation.