Japan - Organic farming

T/I: 10:39:10 Forty-eight-year-old Yoshinori Kaneko has been farming organically at Ogawa, just ouside Tokyo, for the past 26 years. Throughout the year he grows some 80 different types of fruits and vegetables along with rice and wheat. His produce is popular with consumers who worry about the use of chemicals in agriculture. Mr. Kaneko feeds his livestock with weeds and vegetable scraps. The animals provide eggs and milk for the dinner table, and manure which plays a vital role as compost. The manure from his cows even provides methane gas, which he uses as cooking fuel in his home. It's placed in a fermentation vat underground. Micro-organisms are added to break it down and create gas. In winter, when the micro-organisms are less active, a solar heater warms the vat to encourage decomposition. The methane gas is then piped from the vat to the farmhouse kitchen. The gas is similar in quality to that found in the city. After all the methane gas has been released, the liquid by-product from the decomposed manure is spread on the fields as fertilizer. Mr Kaneko enjoys a lifestyle that provides a comfortable relationship with nature. He is frequently visited by students coming to learn about organic farming. He also uses solar generated electricity and wind energy to power water pumps on his farm. And he re-cycles cooking oil as fuel for diesel engines. There are no sulphur oxides in oil so there are no unpleasant odors. SHOWS: OGAWA, NEAR TOKYO, JAPAN RECENT WS and ZOOM to farm; WS greenhouses, CU organic farmer Yoshinori Kaneko digging his land, Kaneko pulling out vegetable; Kaneko collecting cow manure, CU cow, manure being tipped from wheelbarrow into methane gas producing unit; CU solar panel used to heat the methane producing compost in winter, CU bricks on ground where the pipe containing methane gas leaves the ground, pipes of methane gas, CU gas hob, food being cooked, Kaneko and students who are visiting his farm eating a meal; SOT Yoshinori Kaneko in Japanese: "In our surroundings we can find limitless sources of energy, such as the sun, wind and daily waste we throw away as garbage. I'm just trying to make good use of this constant energy flow." WS wind pump on the farm, CU wind pump propellor on farm; Wind operated water supply being used to water plants in greenhouse; CU cooking fat in pan, CU chimney of tractor which uses cooking fat-based fuel, farmer on tractor, farmer smelling fume-less cooking fat fuel exhaust, WS tractor at work; CU liquid residue of decomposed cow manure being scooped; WS field which is fertilized with liquid cow manure, weeds being cut for use as cow fodder; Kaneko brushing cow in stall. 3.00 You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/38a46ff8a4315034e085635b0cca3862 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork