"I think I can create a farming environment that can give hope to Fukushima farmers."
These are the words of Takemi Shirado, the driving force behind a unique enterprise. With its headquarters in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, less than 50 km from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Iwaki World Tambo Project (IWTP) has been reaching out. Perhaps "reaching out" does not do justice to Shirado and his colleagues, who have gone as far as Queensland, Australia, to plant Japan's favorite variety of rice, Koshihikari, for marketing back in Fukushima.
Rice cultivation is a A$1 billion-a-year industry in Australia, with virtually all the country's crop being grown in the fertile Riverina district of New South Wales, some 600 km west of Sydney. Nonetheless, the tropical Burdekin River Irrigation Area in northern Queensland is now the site of a fascinating experiment.