14 DAY TRIAL // In March, it will have been a year ever since the earthquake and tsunamis that struck a major blow to Japan, killing tens of thousands of people and inflicting immense destruction.
The nuclear meltdown that followed made everything even worse.
Still, even though the radiation from the power plant is a prime concern of the Japanese government, the nation is striving to recover in all other areas too.
The latest announcement came from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Apparently, robots will be used in the effort to revive some of the farm land that bore the brunt of the tsunami.
It is unclear how the soil contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima plant will be recovered.
Either way, there are many acres of non-irradiated land that need to be repaired as well.
The ministry will invest about $51 million (40 million Euro) on the project and will receive extra funds from the private sector as well.
Hitachi, Sharp, Panasonic and Fujitsu are just four of the contributors, driving the final sum to $129 million (101 million Euro).
“We hope the project will help not only support farmers in the disaster-hit regions but also revive the entire nation’s agriculture,” said a ministry spokesman.
The revival plan is called “Dream Project” and is about as hopeful as it can be, given just how badly Japan was crippled by the March 11, 2011 onslaught.
Unmanned tractors and robots will be tending the fields, as well as harvesting and boxing the crops (wheat, rice, soybeans and other vegetables and fruits).
Approximately 618 acres in the Miyagi prefecture have been set aside for the plan and will, ideally, become a self-sustaining ecosystem, with chemical fertilizers replaced by the carbon dioxide emitted by the machinery tending the area.
The experiment will extend throughout the next six years or so.