Mr Kyoichi Hirasawa from Hirasawa Farm
Ibaraki
(Grower of potatoes, burdocks etc.)
I commercially grow potatoes in 7.5ha, Chinese cabbages in 5ha, and burdocks, carrots and cabbages in 30ha. I love farming and try to grow new foreign crops; but I am also quite busy everyday being asked to fulfill various appointments or give lectures in dietary education.
I have been using Kawabe’s machines for many years, and my current favorite is Super Soiler. It’s SV1-BD for sub soiling, and by fixing an optional attachment, I use it for harvesting burdocks as well. The great thing about this machine is that it prepares soil without bringing up the subsoil to the surface. On the surface subsoil would remain hard making soil preparation extremely strenuous. With Super Soiler, tillage goes down as deep as 50cm, which dramatically improves drainage and rooting of the crops. Indeed, the quality of my burdocks is now so good that I can only supply to JA’s direct stores because of their quick selling.
I check my soil myself every year, but this year, I had a specialist from the manufacturer to check it professionally. He endorsed the quality of my field, saying the plow layer was good 35cm deep.
