Clean rice thanks to ducks that "eliminate pests".
These ducks are tasked with protecting the rice fields by eating grass, worms, and harmful insects.
According to Japan's The Mainichi newspaper,The use of ducks in organic farming in Japan is reaching its peak, now fulfilling the aspirations of farmers who want to produce clean food.
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| Mr. Takao Furuno and his duck are protecting his organic rice field. |
In Japan, approximately 10,000 farmers currently use this method of "pest control" for rice fields using ducks, after the man hailed as the father of this unique method – Mr. Takao Furuno (born in 1950) from Keisen village on Kyushu Island (western Japan) – publicly announced his success about a decade ago. The method, also known as "Aigamo" – named after the breed of ducks Mr. Furuno used in his rice fields – was quickly adopted by many countries with developed rice farming industries such as Vietnam, China, India, and the Philippines, and has since been expanded to developed Western countries like France and the United States.
Raising ducks in rice paddies is not uncommon for Japanese farmers, as well as those in many other rice-growing countries. However, the key point that Mr. Furuno discovered about this method is that ducklings, about two weeks old, when released into rice paddies only eat grass, weed sprouts, insects, and harmful pests, and do not harm the young rice plants like adult ducks do.
The ducks' natural movement also loosens the soil and makes the rice plants healthier. In addition, using ducks to control pests allows farmers to freely raise fish in the rice paddies without worrying about pesticides killing the fish. As for the duckweed in the rice paddies, instead of eradicating it, Mr. Furuno utilizes it as food for the ducks and fish, and as a natural source of nitrogen. Each hectare of duckweed can produce 9 tons of nitrogen.
The impressive result was that Mr. Furuno's rice yield, thanks to the "Aigamo" method, increased by 20% to 50% compared to before. He was honored in the book "80 People Who Changed the World" by authors Sylvain Darnil and Mathieu Le Roux. The book about this Japanese farmer's farming method, titled "The Power of the Duck," published in 2010, also gained widespread acclaim around the world.
