Sugar Beet Seeding in Japan

Today, I try to explain how sugar beet in japan is grown on the field.
今回はつたない英語でビート生産について説明します。
どうしてかというと、世界中探しても日本しかこの移植作業のビート生産はないからです。
しかもここ北海道がメイン。かなり珍しいやりかたというのもあり発信しようと思いました。
日本語でのビートの播種について昨年以降のを見てください。
ポチ⇒
Firstry, I have to mention two ways of seeding.
1. transplanting: Maybe, this is the original way of seeding in Japan.
Also, main production of sugar beet in Japan is Hokkaido prefecture.
       
2. Direct seeding: This is the stadard way of seeding in the world of sugar beet.
Background: the reason why majority of Hokkaido farmers choose the transplanting system is below,
1. Get longer growth period ⇒it makes yield get more than direct seeding.
2. One of the importnat points is secure of getmination. Because transplanting beet is controled at the greenhouse, it make certainess of germination than that of direct seeding.
Demerit
1. transpalanting: take higher cost, labor imput, use fuel for heating the green house
2. direct seeding: germination rate and floust damage at spring. But recently some of the farmers have been gotten high yield more than farmers of transplanting.
Anyway, my farm have been transplanted sugar beet for almost 30 years, let me show you how it made.
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1. Storage of soil: Almost of all farms stock soil into the green house for seeding beds because of rejecting freeze soil during winter.
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2. Level ground: It is very important to level ground for better hundle of seed bed. Since paper pot is made by a piece of paper, it might be eazy to break a piece if ground is heaved.
3. Prepar machinery: soil shatter machine, conveyers, soil stuffer, etc.
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4. Stuff soil into paper pods. Shattered soil with fertilizer is stuffed into paper pods.
Paper pods are set by the board which has projections.
This projection (about 1cm depth) makes paper pods seed holes.
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5. Seeding: there is two ways of seeding, manual and automatic by the vacume seeders.
Seeds have to be sowm seed holes of paper pods properly.
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6. Cover soil including fungicide on the surface of seed holes.
Fugicide is for avoiding stand off.
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7. Arrenge pods at the green house
Special carrier make it easear. At my farm, Almost 600 pods are lined at a green house.
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8. Set up curved bars for making a tunnel.
Tunnel makes sugar beet pods warm and reduce heating cost.
9. After a few days from seeding, start water sprey.
For enhancing germination rate, it is very important to give seed pods water equally by a pump spray.
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10. Keep warm and give water properly for better germination
When irregular sprout of beets is occured, it might be difficult of nursing it, and be occured time cusuming,
Than’s why nylon sheet is covered air duct for circulating air.
Wind in the tunnel is able to avoid freezing out, stagnation of germ.
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11. After 45 days from seeding, get ready to transplant beets on the field.
In our region, Tokachi district of Hokkaido, farmers start to tranplant from last week of April.
Also, direct seeding starts this period.
However, we have to be careful strong spring wind, and flost.
Weater forecast is usufull imformation of farmeres in the world, as you know it.
12. 2 times a day, our farm have green tea time for short rest.
Everybody lough at taking about nothing and enjoy green tea time for relaxing.
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