Blessings of the Sea Transform Soil 1997: The Dawn of Seaweed Soil Improvement Technology in Japan

Blessings of the Sea Transform Soil 1997: The Dawn of Seaweed Soil Improvement Technology in Japan

In Japan in the 1990s, the importance of soil to support crops was emphasized more than ever before due to a lack of farming village leaders, an increase in abandoned farmland, and the beginning of signs of climate change. Volcanic ash soils are widely distributed throughout the Japanese archipelago, and their lightness and low water retention capacity lay as a chronic problem in agricultural production. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) turned its attention to a common, natural material: seaweed.

The alginic acid contained in seaweed has strong water absorption and gelling properties, and it agglomerates fine soil particles to form a granular structure. This improves water retention, aeration, and drainage at the same time. This technology has proven effective on slopes prone to erosion and in fields that harden after drying.

The 1990s was a period of transition to environmentally friendly agriculture, and the use of local resources that did not rely on chemical materials was promoted as a policy. The use of seaweed components is a symbol of this trend, and research was encouraged from the perspective of effective utilization of fishery resources.

Demonstrations confirmed a decrease in erosion and an extension of moisture retention time, and farmers reported improved workability. At that time, experimental stations and extension centers were promoting the application of seaweed for various purposes, such as turf improvement and slope greening, and academic research also became more active.

The seaweed-derived soil improvement technology symbolized the ideas of the 1990s, which sought to open up the future of agriculture with natural materials, and supported the quiet transformation to sustainable agriculture against the backdrop of the cycles of sea and land in Japan.