Attention to what we have due to soaring fertilizer prices December 20, 16:54

You may not be able to eat the food that is lined up on the table as a matter of course.

Have you ever thought about that?

Japan depends on foreign countries for the fertilizers that are essential for food production.

Once the international situation suddenly changes and it becomes impossible to procure fertilizer, the stable supply of food could be shaken.

But there is a possibility that one of us can save the crisis.

What exactly is there... (Katsuto Toda, reporter at Kobe Broadcasting Station)

How to protect the lives of Japan, which is dependent on imports

Professor Nobuhiro Suzuki, Graduate School of the University of Tokyo

"The era where you can buy food and production materials with money is over. Japan, which is highly dependent on foreign countries, must circulate resources domestically and make the most of unused resources. If we don't do this quickly, we can't protect the lives of the people."

Professor Nobuhiro Suzuki of the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo, who has served as a member of the government's agricultural policy committee, warns about Japan's fragile food situation.

Behind this point is the low self-sufficiency rate of chemical fertilizers used to grow vegetables.

Japan relies on imports for almost all of its chemical fertilizers.

The price of phosphorus, one of the three major nutrients, has risen sharply since China, which was the largest exporter of phosphorus, restricted exports last year.

The soaring price of phosphorus is a major blow to farm management, but if exports are restricted as it is, there is a possibility that we will not be able to procure enough phosphorus necessary to grow vegetables.

It may be possible to grow them organically without using chemical fertilizers, but at the moment it is difficult to harvest a sufficient amount.

A troublemaker in a treasure trove

Under such circumstances, the modern version of “manure dam” is attracting attention.

Kobe City and others are working to extract nutrients that are important for growing vegetables and rice from the excrement that we flush down the toilet and reuse it.

At sewage treatment plants in Kobe City, the sewage that flows from households has been cleaned and discharged into the sea, and the rest has been landfilled as industrial waste.

The amount is more than 800 tons per year.

However, it contained a lot of the nutrient "phosphorus" necessary for fertilizer.

Hiroshi Teraoka, Planning Section Manager, Sewerage Department, Kobe City

"Actually, Rin was a troublemaker for the treatment plant."

Mr. Teraoka, Planning Section Manager of the Kobe City Sewerage Department vaguely revealed.

From the perspective of those involved in the processing plant, Rin is a "troublesome person".

The reason is that it causes a chemical reaction and becomes as hard as stone, blocking the pipes.

At the treatment plant, we asked a specialized contractor to perform high-pressure washing on a regular basis.

However, about 10 years ago, the city started an initiative to extract phosphorus from sewage in cooperation with a private company to see if it could be reused.

This is a machine that has been maintained for 600 million yen to recover phosphorus.

To recover phosphorus, sewage sludge is washed and dried.

The powdered phosphorus is then mixed with other nutrients in the optimum ratio for each crop, such as vegetables and rice, and has been sold to farmers in the city under the name "Kobe Harvest" for the past seven years. increase.

At first, the city of Kobe felt that this initiative was lucky because it would reduce waste and eliminate troublesome people.

However, the tide turned when fertilizer prices began to soar after the first sale.

Raising fertilizer prices is a matter of life and death for farmers

Masaki Yamamoto, who grows cabbage in Kobe, has switched to fertilizer made in Kobe about five years ago.

We use 6 tons of fertilizer a year, so if the price rises, it will have a big impact, but we were able to avoid it.

However, some farmers in the city are saying that they want to stop production due to soaring fertilizer prices.

Even if the price of fertilizer soars, supermarkets will try to purchase even one yen cheaper for their customers.

There is also price competition between domestic production areas, and if you raise the selling price, you will switch to other production areas, and there is a situation where you can not raise the price, and the soaring fertilizer price is a matter of life and death for farmers.

Cabbage farmer Masaki Yamamoto:

“We cannot reduce the amount of fertilizer we use because it will lead to quality deterioration.

Bringing Kobe's efforts to the whole country

Amid soaring fertilizer prices, Kobe City's sewage treatment plants are being visited one after another by other local governments.

According to the city, more than 50 local governments have visited this treatment plant.

In addition, the government, which paid attention to this initiative, also announced a policy to promptly work on domestic production of fertilizer using technology like Kobe City at a meeting held at the official residence in September.

Prime Minister Kishida

"Expanding the use of unused resources such as sewage sludge and compost to promote greening while promoting domestic production and stable supply of fertilizers" (September 2022 Headquarters for Stable Food Supply and Strengthening the Infrastructure of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)

Food production that protects people's lives

Regarding Kobe City's efforts, experts point out that expanding this nationwide will lead to protecting the lives of the people.

Professor Nobuhiro Suzuki, Graduate School of the University of Tokyo

: “By building a solid food production process that reuses sewage, we can protect the lives of the people at all times. It's important to spread it across the country."

Creating a recycling society with unused resources

Mr. Yamamoto, a cabbage farmer whom I interviewed this time, told me this at the end of the interview.

“There is a word “local production for local consumption,” but the fertilizer we use is the opposite. We grow vegetables using the products produced in the city and ship them to the city. I think that's what it means." I

look forward to going to the toilet every morning when I realize that toilets can contribute to agriculture and contribute to national security.

Kobe Broadcasting Station Reporter Masato Toda Joined the station in

2018

Covering

Kobe City Government and economy

from August 2022