12 Years On: Tropical Fruit Farming on Rise in Cold Fukushima

Fukushima, March 11 (Jiji Press)--Some people have succeeded in harvesting tropical fruits out of soil left with scarce nutrients after radioactive decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture, known for its cold winters.

Farming was suspended on almost all of the agricultural land in the prefecture's Hamadori coastal area in northeastern Japan, due to the fallout from the triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Nutrient-rich topsoil was removed during the soil decontamination process, leaving behind a land lacking in soil fertility.

Despite the dire situation, Koichi Tamura, a member of a company wholly-owned by the Fukushima town of Hirono, said, "I'd like to energize this town by taking on a challenge."

The company set up greenhouses in Hirono, starting to grow bananas in 2018. Currently, the company tends 250 banana trees, harvesting around 30,000 bananas every year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]