Have you ever heard of an entire farming system has been changed to conserve an endangered bird? Come to Japan, you hear about “Stork Natural Rice”, a special type of organic rice from Toyooka city, Tajima region. Here to support the conservation of once extinct oriental white stork, local inhabitants adopted organic rice farming practices in their agriculture field so that current stork population, which has been released from the captive breeding program, can get their food from their preferred habitat. A special type of rice farming known as “white-stork friendly farming method” was introduced to increase the number of organisms inhabiting the rice field and incentives have been declared for farmers who adopted the practice. The rice, known as “Stork rice” is devoid of agricultural chemicals, and considered as a premium product in the market. The initiative boosts organic farming awareness in the region, promotes premium product payment system and local ecotourism.
Photo credit: Toyooka City2
Collector: Rajasri Ray
