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Our Challenges
Converting Desert into
Fertile Farmland
Kobe Bussan Group is making a long term investment in an African dryland country to convert desert areas into fertile farmland.
In 2013, we installed center pivot irrigation systems on farmland in Qena province in southern Egypt. The very next year in 2014, we successfully harvested wheat grains from the arid land that was once a vast barren desert.
To ensure a more stable harvest environment, we continue to amend our desert soil to be able to grow a variety of crops and experiment with different types of crops.
Our Challenges in Egypt
We purchased a tract of land covering approximately 2,900 hectares in the area of El-Marashda desert that lies in Qena province in southern Egypt across the banks of the Nile river.
This area was a complete desert until we built access roads, power distribution network and irrigating pipeline in a square grid pattern to install 14 center pivot irrigation systems.
Following the completion of the field test, we started running the center pivot irrigation systems in 2013, taking advantage of abundant water resources lying underground from the Nile river.
* As of December 2019
Why in Egypt?
Although Egypt is the first country in history agricultural practices took place some 7,000 years ago, today it is dominated by desert landscape. In the harsh Egyptian desert conditions, weeds do not grow much, allowing farmers to use less pesticides and weed killer.
Since Egypt is entirely desert, agriculture has not been practiced for thousands of years. Such desert land remains in a natural state without being contaminated by pesticide residue.
Qena is situated on the great bend of the Nile river in southern Egypt, and has been claimed as a potential area with abundant groundwater resources. This led us to start working on the agricultural development in the Qena bend area.
Blessing of the Nile
The Nile water not only flows past shallow banks, but also runs deep into the river bed, where water accumulates and forms a natural storage reservoir just like a huge water tank. The water that has accumulated in pockets of the river bed normally indicates that abundant groundwater is present in an aquifer, which enables us to ensure that adequate volumes of pristine groundwater can be collected from the Nile.
The water flowing from the river bed of the Nile is not just a natural groundwater, but is a precious blessing from the Nile.
We will seek to make the best use of the Nile water by leveraging our experience and technical expertise in agricultural production.
What is Center Pivot Irrigation?
Center pivot irrigation is a way to irrigate crops in arid regions by use of sprinkler pipes that collect groundwater and spray it on crops by rotating around a center point.
* Number of systems currently in use:
14irrigation systems
* Diameter of an irrigation circle: 800meters
* Land area covered by a single center pivot system: Approx.50hectares(equivalent to10Tokyo Domes)
The Innovation Turning Desert Land into Farmland
The center pivot irrigation system pumps groundwater at a constant pressure and transports it to a self-propelled sprinkler pipeline.
As the irrigation system makes its way around the pivot point, the end point of pipeline travels faster than the point closer to the center. To distribute water evenly, more water is sprayed at the ends of a pivot system than from the other.
This irrigation method enables us to grow and harvest a large amount of field crops in the vast dry area.
Currently, Kobe Bussan Group operates a total of 14 center pivot irrigation systems in Egypt.
The center pivot irrigation system pumps groundwater at a constant pressure and transports it to a self-propelled sprinkler pipeline.
As the irrigation system makes its way around the pivot point, the end point of pipeline travels faster than the point closer to the center. To distribute water evenly, more water is sprayed at the ends of a pivot system than from the other.
This irrigation method enables us to grow and harvest a large amount of field crops in the vast dry area.
Currently, Kobe Bussan Group operates a total of 14 center pivot irrigation systems in Egypt.
Wheat Harvesting & Our Future Vision
Wheat Harvesting & Our Future Vision
In the spring of 2014, we successfully harvested beautiful crops of golden-brown wheat from the arid land that was once a vast barren desert.
Other than wheat grains, we have started field tests of numerous crops, including tomatoes, alfalfa, chamomile, lemongrass and basil on our center-pivot irrigated ground.
Through the agricultural projects in Egypt, we are actively advancing activities that can contribute to the world's food supply. We are delighted to have donated a large quantity of our farm-harvested wheat to food-insecurity areas and provided specialized training to an agricultural technical school in Egypt.
Sustainable Tourism
in Harmony with Nature:
Heating Orchard with
Energy from the Earth
Kobe Bussan Group is actively developing an eco-tourism business involving orchard farms heated by geothermal energy (from a hot spring), which will ensure better use of the stunning natural and cultural resources of Japan.
We will make our best efforts to build an eco-tourism facility where all the people living in Japan and overseas can come and enjoy with their families and friends, which hopefully will offer an opportunity to revitalize regional communities.
One of the Japan's largest tourist farm & orchard
In a geothermal field located in Mori-machi, Kayabe-gun in Hokkaido, Kobe Bussan Group is currently planning to build a large-scale greenhouse heated by geothermal energy (from a hot spring) and operate it as a tourist farm and orchard.
This facility has a total area of approximately 40 hectors. In this vast land, we mainly grow sweet cherries and a variety of Hokkaido-grown berries including haskap (or blue-berried honeysuckle), along with peaches and apples in an outdoor environment. Even in rainy weather, sweet cherries can be harvested in a greenhouse heated by geothermal energy (from a hot spring).
Our plan for building a tourist facility will ensure that future tourists and visitors can enjoy freshly-picked fruits in the scenic landscape overlooking the great nature of Hokkaido.
Outdoor cultivation
In recent years, we have been striving to produce cherry tomatoes and medium-sized tomatoes in hydroponic culture in a greenhouse heated by geothermal energy (from a hot spring).
The entire greenhouse floor area is covered with a plastic flooring film for sanitation of cultivation field. To promote stable production of crops, the greenhouse is also equipped with modern technology such as automatic irrigation system.
In recent years, we have been striving to produce cherry tomatoes and medium-sized tomatoes in hydroponic culture in a greenhouse heated by geothermal energy (from a hot spring).
The entire greenhouse floor area is covered with a plastic flooring film for sanitation of cultivation field. To promote stable production of crops, the greenhouse is also equipped with modern technology such as automatic irrigation system.