IDEAS FOR GOODWe are now living in an age where there is a demand for added value products. Those produced on a massive scale are starting to lose footing. In addition, the traditional method of cutting down forests to make way for plantations and farms no longer has a place in the modern era. Now is the best time to be serious in developing different, environmentally-friendly farming methods.
In Tokunoshima, an island belonging to the Amami archipelago, there is currently a project which is a candidate farming model for this new age. Miyade Coffee is working in the cultivation of organic coffee that coinhabits the same area as the forest they are grown in.
With over 2000mm of annual rainfall and an average yearly temperature of more than 20 degrees, Tokunoshima is the perfect place to launch this cultivation project. Miyade coffee has adopted a semi-forest farming method by planting trees within the forest. This method of farming encourages harmony with the surrounding environment without cutting down natural plants. It also excludes the use of vast amounts of pesticides that could prove detrimental to the area’s ecosystem. Projects for complete organic coffee production within Japan are extremely rare.
Problematic farming methods
Many farming methods (including those used outside the production of coffee) are regarded as a major issue worldwide. For example, the development of palm oil plantations on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia is becoming an international problem. Vast amounts of rain forests in Sumatra are burned down in order to create these plantations. Slash and burn agriculture has not only stripped the habitats of rare animals such as the orangutan and the Sumatra rhino. The resulting smoke carried to neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore has also strained diplomatic relations with the countries.
Because plantations begin in this way, no actual mechanism can sustain them in the long run. Plantations are usually abandoned after a few years because it is almost impossible to grow the same crops in one place over an extended period of time. As such, the next course of action is to carry out a burning technique on another part of land in order to establish a new plantation. This is a viscous cycle of farming that has long affected the environment and its natural habitats.
Sustainable organic coffee cultivation
Miayde Coffee doesn’t carry out this devastating method during their coffee cultivation. They are able to actualize sustainable farming by growing coffee trees without harming the forest. This, of course, comes with its own difficulties and hardships. Nevertheless, it is a way to introduce a new cycle that doesn’t damage the environment.
[Reference Site] Coffee Tree Apartment (aka Miyade Coffee)This article was originally published on IDEAS FOR GOOD
Translated by Maurice Skinner
