On 5th of July, a group of dedicated environment-lovers of APU students lead by Professor Mahichi spent a whole afternoon in participation of a local seminar on utilizing seaweed as organic fertilizer and globally important agriculture heritage systems (GIAHS) of Kitsuki Peninsula and the importance of underground water cycle.
Unlike many seminars aquatinted by APU students, the seminar was targeted for the local stakeholders from government, business and agricultural sectors, targeting Japanese audiences and conducted completely in Japanese. The homogeneity has profoundly intrigued the APU members, meanwhile, brought quite a challenge especially for the non-Japanese speaking members. Thanks to our bilingual students, the core contents were explained before and after the seminar, and for most of the students, this homogenous experience came just as important as the knowledge and expertise acquired during the event.
Afterwards, the APU group was lead to a local farm that applies seaweeds as fertilizers to the Yuzu plantation, which is 'allegedly' to boost yields and anti-pests effects. This was a rather educational experience since students these days have little contact with farming in the real world. And the concept of sustainable organic farming would indeed benefit the local farmers if this pilot agricultural project would produce good outcomes in this autumn. The biggest question remains where to sell these 100% organic projects and how.
On the way back, Prof. Mahichi inspired a fruitful discussion on the bus, one of which is 'how to solve the concerns of the farm owner to sell his organic products?' We would sincerely hope, project of such would eventually be successful, with the help from the APU team. And our gratitude goes to Prof. Mahichi, event organizers, and students of APU for making this Saturday afternoon effort-worthy and inspiring.
Reported by ZOU, Xiaolong (Edison), Ph.D. student.