Change of fruitful autumn scenery “Inawara” plagues the area affected by the heavy rain November 14, 17:41

As you walk through Osaki City in the northern part of Miyagi Prefecture, you will see a strange sight of the whole farmland dyed brown. The true identity is “rice straw”. The rice after harvesting the rice is dried, and now this is plaguing the people in the disaster-stricken area who are rushing to recover from the damage caused by Typhoon No. 19.

(Sendai broadcast reporter Yugo Takagaki, Arisa Fujiya / Network reporter Yohei Kato)

What remains after the water is drawn

Yoshida River flowing from east to west in Miyagi Prefecture.
The river embankment broke down and the surrounding area was flooded on a large scale.

In particular, a part of Osaki City was originally a reclaimed swamp area, and because it was a land that was depressed more than its surroundings, there was a place where water accumulated and reached a water level of at least 2 meters.

One month from the damage.
Water was drawn in many places, but what remained after that was "rice straw".

Green onions are crushed ... annihilated

"It can only be a natural disaster ... sad"

Noboru Hatayama, who produces leeks in Osaki City, dropped his shoulder.

November 1st, almost 3 weeks after the disaster.
Finally, we started to remove the scattered rice straw from the agricultural house.

It was heavy when wet and couldn't be transported, so it had to wait for it to dry.

Green onions crushed by rice straw are starting to rot, and not all products.

Tomato is devastating damage to the whole house

The special product tomato was also damaged.

In the large-scale farm “Marsen Farm”, about 3 hectares such as large agricultural houses and offices are flooded.

The crops were annihilated, and the machines for measuring sugar content in tomatoes were broken.
The damage is over 200 million yen.

Rice straw was tangled around machines and houses, and there were places where 45 cm was piled up.

The removal of rice straw was done on a scale of 50 people, but it took 5 days, and the house covered with mud is still intact.

"I can't stop here"

Takuya Chiba said, “We don't have the prospect of receiving the necessary materials for resumption, but we can't stop here to make vegetables that will please everyone.”

Rice straw Originally appreciated

Rice straw is the dried stems and leaves after harvesting rice when harvesting rice.

Rice straw is a by-product of rice harvesting, but it is often used as a fertilizer that penetrates into fields.

In addition, it is laid for livestock feeding and for keeping the field warm, and it is useful as a valuable resource for various purposes.

What is damage caused by rice straw…

Typhoon 19 hit the archipelago on October 12.
According to Miyagi Prefecture, at this time, 90% of the rice in the prefecture has been harvested.

When harvesting with the combine, the fir and rice straw are cut off on the spot and the rice straw is sown in the rice field.

Just at this time, rice straw was washed away by a turbulent flow caused by a typhoon.

Particularly in Osaki City, where rice is growing, the damage caused by rice straw is large, and farmers have heard that they had never thought that damage would be spread by rice straw.

Step-by-step removal

The work of removing rice straw from farmland is progressing gradually.

During the three consecutive holidays in early November, many volunteers and the Self-Defense Force participated in the work to remove the rice straw in the area.

This rice straw is collected in temporary storage in each area, but a mountain of rice straw with a height of about 3 m was created in the temporary storage in Osaki City.

A lot of “rice straw garbage” is scattered in various places

According to Osaki City, the amount of rice straw that must be disposed of as waste is estimated to be as much as 10,000 tons, one-third of the annual waste generated in the city.

The same problem occurs in various places in Miyagi Prefecture, and the prefecture expects rice straw that needs to be disposed of to reach a maximum of 200,000 tons in the entire prefecture.

There is no idea how to dispose of the collected rice straw.

A large amount of disaster waste is generated due to typhoon damage.

The waste disposal sites in each region are in full operation.

First of all, you have to incinerate debris and household utensils, and the reality is that the rice straw will be put off.

There is also a concern that rice straw will rot or dry and scatter around while disposal is not progressing.

Are cattle in danger ?!

In addition, there are things that are in danger because rice straw has been washed away.
This is the “Sendai beef”, a brand of beef that Miyagi Prefecture boasts.

“Sendai beef” cannot be named unless it is a black-haired Japanese beef raised in Miyagi Prefecture and has a top-class rating of A5 or B5 among the grades attached to meat.

To that end, it must be raised to “marbled meat” with fat muscle “sashi” between the red, but what is needed is “rice straw”.

Without rice straw, it cannot be a brand cow

The point to make “marbled meat” is vitamin A.
From about 14 months after birth, sashi begins to enter the meat by the action of cells, but if you take vitamin A here, this action will be suppressed.

Rice straw is low in vitamin A, so it is useful as a bait for this period.

In particular, rice straw produced in Miyagi Prefecture is said to be optimal as a bait because it can be dried quickly due to the sunny weather after harvesting and can be obtained in good quality.

However, rice straw from farmland is washed away and is no longer available.

"Grow up properly ..."

Hiroshi Ito, who grows Sendai beef, says, “I am better now with imported grass, but I really need rice straw. I am worried about growing Sendai beef properly.”

Some skilled in the art of selling purchases rice straw, more than half of the warehouse, which has been stockpiling affected is soaked in mud, it says that it is not stand even the prospect of buying from farmers.

The number of cattle that can become “Sendai beef”, an important local brand cattle, may be reduced.

It ’s no longer difficult to fertilize or feed

Regarding the treatment of rice straw, on November 7, Miyagi Prefecture expressed its policy of giving priority to reuse as fertilizer, for example, by mixing it with farmland.

There are also voices that it can be reused as cow food.

However, when talking to the local community, there is a voice saying, “Some things are already rotten, they are in poor condition, and there are many things that are mixed with garbage.

There are many views that it is not practical to treat the rice straw that has been collected just in the form of reuse.

The spread of damage

A typhoon that hit rice in the fruitful autumn.
Ironically, the fact that rice has been harvested has affected other crops and the livestock industry.

While the coming winter is imminent, the future is not yet visible, but when I interviewed the disaster area, I feel that each person is working hard to recover.

We will continue to report and continue to communicate firmly from the field.