Australis Vietnam is the largest barramundi producer in Asia and has introduced a new superfood to the market: The Sustainable Seabass®. This barramundi is antibiotic-free, mercury-free, hormone-free and high in omega-3. Located in Van Phong Bay, Vietnam, this premium brand aims to produce 10,000 tons of fish a year upon reaching maximum production capacity.

A recipient of the prestigious Seafood Choices Alliance’s Seafood Champion Award, Australis brought its innovative ocean farming approach from the U.S. to central Vietnam. It employs a hybrid system of offshore marine net pens and on-land nursery tanks using  recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). RAS, a sustainable technology that has modernized aquaculture, dramatically reduces the amount of water and space required to intensively produce seafood products.

To ensure the efficient growth of their fish, Australis Vietnam has been using Alltech’s Bio-Mos® since 2013. Bio-Mos is incorporated into aquaculture diets to support gut integrity and overall animal performance. It is effective during all phases of growth.

“Bio-Mos meets our demands for feed performance and conversion goals,” said Bao Nguyen, production manager at Australis Vietnam. “I am satisfied with the product. It is irreplaceable.”

Australis and Alltech are aligned in core values. While Australis’ mission is to pioneer climate-smart ocean farming with The Better Fish® concept, Alltech aims to deliver smarter solutions for agriculture through its ACE principle. Ensuring the quality and safety of food is a priority for both companies.

“Alltech has a great brand awareness and reputation in the feed industry, so I am assured when using Alltech’s products,” noted Nguyen. “There is competition, but we prefer Bio-Mos because of the positive results. Moreover, the Alltech team’s technical expertise is incredible.”

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Almería in southern Spain is known as the “sea of plastic” due to the numerous greenhouse structures that cover the area. In fact, the agricultural area under plastic continues to grow in the province, currently reaching over 64,000 acres according to the latest report from Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment. 

The vast number of greenhouse acres in AlmerÍa enables agriculture to remain one of the fundamental pillars of the province’s economy. Its central location provides the additional benefit of being able to supply fresh produce to markets throughout Europe year-round.

The importance of healthy soil to maintain the viability of a greenhouse is evident in the care that growers in AlmerÍa have taken to increase organic matter and nutrient availability through the incorporation of manure and naturally based products.

Raquel Martinez, Alltech Crop Science sales representative, recently conducted a trial in one of the greenhouses in the region that routinely incorporates soil management practices. The customer was looking to maximize yield and profitability, while enhancing crop quality and plant health.  

“By incorporating the Alltech Crop Science products, an improvement in soil and plant health and nutrition was observed,” said Martinez, “which resulted in greater yield and improved fruit quality in terms of weight and color.

“The grower harvested more first-class fruit and noticed a decrease in second-class and rejected fruit,” she continued. “This translates into higher profitability for the grower.”

I want to learn more about the health of my soil. 

Excess weight may cause or predispose horses to problems like joint pain, laminitis and insulin resistance, or it may indicate an existing metabolic disorder. Nutritional management of the overweight horse is key – and not quite as simple as some may think.

At what weight is a horse overweight?

Assigning a specific weight to define obesity in horses is impossible due to differing bone structure and muscling. Instead, evaluating fat deposition over the horse’s body is a better method to estimate body condition. Body condition scoring (BCS) systems have been developed to apply a numerical score to the horse’s condition based on fat coverage over target areas of the body. While BCS systems are subjective, they do provide a systematic method for evaluating body condition. One of the most widely accepted scoring systems is the 1 to 9 Henneke scale, where 1 is extremely emaciated and 9 is very obese. Horses scoring above a 7 on this scale are considered overweight. For more information specific to body condition scoring, you may visit McCauley's dedicated page.

Why is the horse overweight?

Determining why the horse is overweight can be helpful. Sometimes the answer is as simple as the horse receiving feed when little or no feed is required. Unfortunately, the answer is often much more complicated. Metabolic disorders such as Cushing’s disease, insulin resistance and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) may predispose the horse to obesity. Some horses carry extra weight simply because they are very efficient at converting dietary energy (calories) to fat.

Nutritional management of obese horses

Feed should be adjusted according to body condition and season. One of the primary keys to achieving desired body condition is to balance the number of calories consumed with the number of calories used. The number of calories used changes with age, climate and activity level. As a result, the calorie consumption will likely need to change throughout the year to maintain a healthy body condition. Warmer weather means less energy is used to maintain body temperature, and as pastures grow lush and calorie-rich, winter feeding quantities need to be decreased to maintain a healthy weight.  

If reducing or eliminating feed does not accomplish the desired weight loss, grazing on lush pastures should also be limited. This may be accomplished by splitting time between pasture and stall, using a grazing muzzle or placing the horse in a dry lot and feeding hay.

Pastures are often deficient in many trace minerals. A typical trace mineral salt block will not meet the horse’s mineral requirements. If the amount of feed provided is below the minimum requirement, then supplemental vitamins and minerals will be needed. In such cases, vitamin and mineral supplements should be fed daily rather than fed free-choice.

When feeding hay to overweight horses, choose mature grass hay. The more mature the hay at harvesting, the lower the digestible calories. Sugar and starch concentrations are usually lower as well. Many metabolic disorders require avoidance of sugars and starches, making mature grass hay the best choice for reducing calorie intake.

Horses on a hay-only diet should receive a minimum of approximately 1.5 to 2 percent of their body weight per day. Feeding hay at this rate is essential to maintain normal, healthy gut function and to avoid the development of vices like wood chewing. As always, the hay should be free of dust, mold and other contaminants.

Summary

• Use a body condition scoring system to evaluate the horse’s fat deposition.

• Reducing caloric intake and/or increasing caloric output is crucial to weight reduction.

• While calorie restriction is important, the other essential nutrients (e.g., protein, vitamins and minerals) cannot be ignored.

• For optimal health, the goal is to achieve and maintain the ideal body condition throughout the year. This may require fine-tuning the diet regularly to adjust for seasonality and other factors, such as changes in activity level.

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A good start for fish larvae is not only crucial to health and development — it also impacts producer profitability.

Weaning on dry feeds with an unbalanced diet can result in deformities and high mortality rates. High-quality starter diets are therefore essential. Providing nutritional solutions for the specific needs of larvae in their most critical life stage benefits the fish during their entire lifecycle. Supporting the healthy development of all organs, including the skeleton, for an ideal start begins with optimal nutrition.

Extensive studies at the Alltech Coppens Aqua Centre have revealed the essentials for a weaning diet, which will significantly minimize deformations in sensitive fish species. This allows us to wean fish larvae with confidence knowing that the vast majority will fully develop into healthy fry without any abnormalities.

Three things producers look for in starter feeds:

• High survival rate and minimal deformities

• Optimal skeleton development as a foundation for future growth

• High digestibility for optimal performance and water quality

Benefits for hatcheries and farms

By delivering nutrients in a way that can be handled easily by the maturing digestive tract of fresh water larvae, we can offer hatcheries more security when weaning freshwater larvae from Artemiaonto a dry diet. Deformities can be scaled back to a minimum with a more even growth rate, thereby resulting in less frequent grading. The end results are healthy larvae and fry, more revenue, more efficiency and less work.

A new generation of starter diets

Alltech and Coppens International are working closely together to bring a new generation of fish feed to the marketplace. Coppens’ Essence, designed with Alltech’s Total Replacement Technology™ and gut health technologies containing Bioplex® and Bio-Mos®, reflects this approach.

Through highly bioavailable, organically bound trace elements, we can ensure optimal skeleton development with a special larval diet that can largely replace live Artemia. Essence also promotes optimal tissue development which reduces factors associated with deformity and low fry survival rates, making this feed truly unique. Due to its high digestibility and excellent performance, this starter diet is ideal for recirculation aquaculture system farming conditions.

Essence is tailored to the specific needs of the early life stage of many freshwater fish, such as cyprinids, pikeperch, catfish, tilapia and koi, which are characterized by many as living jewels.

For more information, please contact aquasolutions@Alltech.com or info@coppens.com.  

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If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, with any luck, the chill of winter is finally lifting, and grass is taking on a long-awaited healthy, green glow. You and your horses are likely chomping at the bit (pun intended) to head outside and take full advantage of the free buffet. But before you turn those ponies loose, ask yourself: Are you thinking strategically about pasture management?

Why utilize rotational grazing?

If horses are allowed to graze on one pasture continuously, they can quickly eat down the quality forage, leaving behind weeds and potentially bare ground. Given the choice, horses will selectively graze on their favorite plants and grasses and may completely neglect certain areas while overgrazing others. Whenever a plant is grazed on, it needs time to regenerate leaves and restore energy to its root system. If grazed on again before roots are re-energized, the plant grows weaker. If regularly overgrazed, the plant will ultimately die. Rotational grazing is meant to stop this cycle from taking place.

By utilizing rotational grazing, you could potentially double the amount of forage produced and salvage this precious resource, thereby saving a great deal on additional hay costs. This is because rotational grazing allows portions of pasture to rest and recover, particularly the most heavily grazed plants and grasses. A pasture can be divided into several segments to allow ample time for rested areas to grow back to a reasonable grazing height.

How do I begin a rotational grazing program?

The way you divide your pasture(s) will depend on several factors, including climate, soil fertility, rainfall/irrigation, drainage, types of plants and grasses, and number of horses grazing. Removing horses from an area when the grass has reached an approximate height of 3 to 4 inches (using a color-coded grazing stick can be very helpful) can prevent overgrazing from occurring and allow you to take advantage of the underutilized sections.

If you are transitioning a paddock to its rest period, you will need to remove manure, trim to an even height to encourage grasses to regrow uniformly and allow approximately three to four weeks’ rest. You’ll need at least four paddocks (1 to 2 acres per horse, per paddock) to maintain this schedule. Using more will allow for briefer grazing periods and increased rest, which is even better. A smart strategy is to keep a dry lot available and feed hay when longer rest periods are warranted.

You may also be wondering how long you should allow horses to graze on pasture sections. This will be dependent on the number of horses, length of daily turnout and size of the area, as well as the other factors mentioned previously. A good rule of thumb is to plan for one week’s use of each section but to monitor closely. Walking the pastures, preferably daily, will allow you to ensure that areas aren’t being overgrazed and to check that fencing is working properly. Temporary electric fencing is generally most effective for this strategy as it can be adjusted at any time. It is also worth noting that you should keep horses inside or in a dry lot during wet weather to prevent pasture damage from hooves.

What about water?

One challenge associated with rotational grazing is that we are often using automatic waterers and the question of accessibility comes into play. Obviously, you won’t be able to provide easy access to the waterer in all instances, so you may have to get creative when it comes to providing adequate water. Setting up temporary troughs, checking them often and moving them around the paddock(s) periodically can help to avoid creating particularly muddy areas or soft ground, which could lead to pasture damage.

Is rotational grazing worth the hassle?

I know what you’re thinking. This sounds like a lot of extra work, and that’s because it is. But the time, effort and commitment can truly pay off in the end, with the potential to increase forage quantity and quality, improve horse health, save money (less spent on hay) and decrease both you and your horses’ environmental footprint, making rotational grazing a very worthwhile endeavor.

I would like to learn more about horse health.

Derek Wawack, Alltech On-Farm Support forage specialist, has been a part of the company for over seven years and visits nearly 500 farms annually. Drawing from this experience, he explains the key things he looks for when inspecting a silage pile, and the steps farmers can take to avoid costly issues.

Safety

When I go on-farm for a bunker audit, the first thing I do is inspect the silage pile for any safety concerns. Large cracks, often found when there are two crops butted together, can come down, causing an avalanche or collapse. Are there overhangs? Tires falling down? Bales that could tip over? Always exercise extreme caution when around large piles.

Mold

Molds like Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium are often found in corn silage and are common mycotoxin producers.

Colorations can help us identify molds, especially in corn silage. White-to-red/pinkish molds are Fusarium, or field-borne, molds. Blue-green molds are typically Penicillium, which is more often storage-related but can occur in the field under certain weather conditions. Aspergillus, which is very common in dry climates, is olive green to yellow in color.

When I observe large mold lines, I do not touch, inhale, grab or sample those areas. Many molds cause health issues to both animals and humans, and they can also produce a fair number of different mycotoxins.

In humans and animals, Penicillium mold alone can cause dermal irritation as well as gut health complications if ingested. Mycotoxins can also cause performance and reproductive problems.

Facing

Increased surface area permits more oxygen to penetrate the feed, triggering mold and yeast growth, which increases heating. We look for a smooth face, with little loose material at the base and edges. The proper facing and feed out equipment can help reduce shrinkage. A shaver provides a very smooth and clean face and can help reduce losses with proper management. Rakes or claws will cause tine marks, increasing surface area, but they do limit oxygen penetration during facing. Finally, bucket facing leads to a lot of oxygen penetration due to lifting the pile face.

Infrared inspection

Along with evaluating facing techniques, we utilize infrared cameras for hot spot detection on the piles. These cameras are used to look for areas of aerobic instability that could be due to yeast, mold, bacteria or even the management of facing practices. Shavers tend to not allow oxygen very deep into piles. Rakes and buckets can allow oxygen into the piles, resulting in quicker spoilage.

Other issues we see on infrared cameras are yeasts. Yeasts have a tendency to show up as a large bubble on the images and, being water soluble, will drain down the pile. Yeast can contaminate the top and then drain down through the face. In contrast, molds have a tendency to grow in a linear or spherical fashion. This means molds will stay more toward the top of the pile and will develop in lines.

Plastic

We also look at how well the plastic has been managed. Has it been pulled back too far? How many sheets are being used? Are the tires touching? Are the sides covered well and is the plastic pulled out with sand around the edges if it’s a drive-over pile? Or is it a bunker in which the plastic has been, at the very least, run down the walls and double overlaid?

Due to the curvature of the pile surface area, taking proper precautions and good management of the top of the pile can result in reducing up to a third of spoilage and oxygen penetration:

• Tires: You don’t want to see large spaces between tires; in fact, the tires should nearly be touching. For ease of weight and placement, side walls work the best and reduce water-holding capacity, which can encourage bugs and pathogens.
• Plastic: One black and white sheet with an oxygen barrier film, or two layers of black and white plastic, will protect the top of the forage from the elements and discourage animals from penetrating your feed.
• Cutting: Depending on height, conditions and other safety factors, try to keep the plastic cut 6 inches to 1 foot from the face edge. Two to three feet is common, but air, rain and other weather conditions can truly damage your forage when it is exposed to the elements.
• Treatment: Most spoilage occurs at the top of the pile, where the packing density isn’t as high. A mold inhibitor can help counter the impact of increased oxygen flow in this area.

Up to 60 percent of the average farm’s expenses are feed-related. By increasing the quality of your forage and reducing shrinkage, considerable cost savings can be achieved without even leaving the farm. To learn more about proper forage management, watch Pat Crowley, Alltech’s forage specialist, explain the “4 unwritten rules for great silage.”

In a recent webinar, Dr. Shelby Roberts, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Alltech Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, used her knowledge of ruminant health and immunology to take a closer look at calf gut health and the importance of nutrition during the first weeks of the calf’s life. Here are a few points to keep in mind in the midst of spring calving.

1. The importance of colostrum for the calf’s immune system

Colostrum is the mother’s first milk and the calf’s first source of immunity and nutrients. Antibodies from colostrum protect calves until their immune systems are fully functional. However, the first couple weeks after birth can be a period of elevated risk as the maternal antibodies disappear and the calf’s immunity is maturing, as shown in the diagram.

2. The balancing act between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria

Good bacteria (e.g., lactobacilli, bifidobacteria) are constantly fighting to keep the pathogenic bacteria (e.g., E. coli, Salmonella) in check, but the immune system is also fighting the pathogenic bacteria. The immune system and the good bacteria work together to keep the cow healthy and to suppress the pathogenic bacteria. When antibiotics are used, this clears out the pathogenic bacteria AND the good bacteria. While recolonizing the gut, the cow is at risk for pathogenic bacteria recolonizing at a quicker rate than the good bacteria, leaving the immune system as the last and only line of defense when antibiotics are removed.

3. The new research behind Bio-Mos® is here

Since the 1980s, Alltech has been conducting studies on its signature product, Bio-Mos. The calf research on Bio-Mos has shown the following results:

• Maintenance of gastrointestinal health
• Alteration of intestinal microbial populations
• Stimulation of immune activity
• Stimulation of the natural defenses of the animal 

When it comes to receiving diets, Bio-Mos has also been tested. In a study conducted in a commercial feedlot in Southern Alberta in Canada, 902 mixed-breed, newly weaned beef cattle were split into two groups, one fed a control and one supplemented with Bio-Mos. Cattle fed Bio-Mos showed improved average daily gain and maintained a healthy immune response. 

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When you hear the word “nutrigenomics,” your first reaction may be “What in the world is that?” Nutrigenomics is an up-and-coming research field that aims to understand how nutrition can influence an animal’s genome and what that means for animal health and production. It isn’t genetic engineering or modification, but rather a way of measuring changes in the activity of genes that result from changes in an animal’s diet. This field of research opens many doors that were previously closed in classic animal nutrition and allows us to better understand how “you are what you eat,” or rather, your chickens are what you feed them.

What is nutrigenomics?

Before we can talk about nutrigenomics, let’s do a quick review of molecular biology. Each animal has what’s called a genome that contains all of the genetic material, or DNA, of an animal and provides the basic blueprint for life. These carefully drawn out plans provide the blueprint for that animal’s life. However, outside influences, such as nutrition, can have a strong impact on the expression of this genetic information, or essentially how that blueprint is read.

Over the last decade, genomes have begun to be sequenced. This means that we know the approximate makeup of an animal’s entire genome. Identifying the genome sequences opened the door for cutting-edge research approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms behind everyday life. Even more importantly, we can now use genomic technologies to understand how each of the genes in that genomic sequence responds to outside influences and how this relates to the health and disease of an animal. The genomic sequence is very stable, so changes in function and activity come from up-regulating (“turning on”) or down-regulating (“turning off”) individual genes to produce (or decrease) products called transcripts in response to a stimulus like nutrition.  These transcripts code for the proteins that make up structures and functions in the cells, so the result is that changes occur in physiological processes like energy production or immune response.

Nutrigenomics is the field of research we use to study these changes in gene activities that occur because of changes in the animal’s diet. This information can help us better understand how nutrition influences animal health and production by giving us insights into what is going on within the cell in response to changes in the diet. We can measure the response in animal tissue using a technology called DNA microarrays. These tools are the basis of nutrigenomics studies and allow researchers to profile the activity of all the genes on a genome at once. The information gathered from nutrigenomics studies can provide us with a better understanding of nutrition by giving us clues to how nutrients work, why different forms of nutrients have different effects and how such nutrients can be optimized for health and production.

How can we use nutrigenomics to further poultry nutrition?

Current research can paint us a picture of how nutrigenomics is being applied to poultry nutrition. For example, recent work at Alltech has helped decipher why different forms of nutrients in the diet, such as Bioplex® organic minerals versus inorganic forms of minerals, can have very different effects on animal health. Before nutrigenomics, analyses like animal growth and tissue nutrient content gave us only part of the picture. But now, we can understand why changes occur.

Mineral matters

We know that Bioplex minerals support increased tissue levels. Through nutrigenomics, we identified changes in important transport proteins in the intestine that lead to increased mineral uptake into tissues when Bioplex zinc is used in poultry diets. In a similar fashion, we used nutrigenomics to understand why Sel-Plex® has a greater effect on reproduction than inorganic selenium. Traditional poultry nutrition studies were only able to reach the conclusion that it was due to selenium’s role in antioxidant defenses. However, nutrigenomics data confirmed this and, more importantly, indicated that selenium in the form of Sel-Plex could alter genes involved in energy production and reproductive signaling in the oviduct. In males, it made a clear impact on genes involved in tissue structure and function.

Early birds

Another area in which nutrigenomics is leading to a new understanding of the importance of nutrition is nutritional programming. This concept is the idea that nutrition, especially early in life, can have lasting imprints on an animal’s entire life. By understanding the gene expression patterns that are targeted by early life nutrition, we can begin to determine how this programming occurs and use it to our advantage in poultry production. For example, nutrigenomics studies have shown that changing the trace mineral content in the post-hatch diet can have long-term effects on genes in the gastrointestinal tract that are important for nutrient transport and for intestinal tissue structure. These genes remain changed in the adult bird weeks after the post-hatch period.

In the future, the information that nutrigenomics provides us could change the way we feed birds and make poultry nutrition a more precise field. Molecular findings can add to our understanding of how nutrition influences animal production and health and how we can use nutrition to get the best out of our animals. Nutrigenomics provides a way to know preciously what nutrients, timing of nutrients or combinations of nutrients are optimal. Through this information, we can not only streamline nutrition, but improve performance, efficiency and health.

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Unless you are suffering from an intestinal upset or are cleaning up the mess associated with an intestinal upset in your pets, you probably don’t often think about the health of the microbial population that inhabits your or your pet’s gastrointestinal tract (GI tract). However, over the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that the complex community of microorganisms residing in the GI tract not only influences digestive processes but also significantly impacts long-term and short-term health.

For optimum well-being, it is important to maintain an appropriate balance in the intestinal microflora. But what is that balance, and how do we support it?

Nutrition for a balanced GI tract

With the realization of the importance of microflora have come new nutritional strategies that influence microbial balance. Many are based on simple supplementation or diet changes, but their effects can be profound. These approaches are revolutionizing not only the way we view our gastrointestinal health, but also that of our animal companions.

Digestive aids that include specific feed ingredients, exogenous enzymes, probiotics, organic acids and plant-derived oils can be coupled with nutritional management practices to beneficially manipulate intestinal microbial populations. One of the most successful documented uses has been supplementation with small doses of yeast-based polysaccharides (prebiotic fibers) to influence the composition of the gastrointestinal microbial population.

We know that these supplementation strategies not only limit the proliferation of detrimental bacteria and pathogens but are also associated with improved immune function and nutrient absorption. These approaches allow us to eat our way to improved health, but how exactly they work had not been understood…until recently.

The science behind the nutrition revolution

A nutritional revolution is at hand, with new tools for reliably demonstrating and predicting how dietary and supplementation approaches can influence the intestinal microflora and gastrointestinal health.

Detailed nucleic acid sequencing techniques now allow for an in-depth description of the composition, profile and function of the most beneficial microbial populations in the intestinal tract. It is now possible to clearly pinpoint the effects of nutrition on the critical components of these complex populations and to determine the most effective balance of intestinal gut microbes. Rather than focusing on individual types of microorganisms, these techniques allow us to identify the optimal microbial populations that promote good intestinal health. This clarity takes the guesswork out of diet formulation and can strategically improve health, from the most minuscule gut microbes to overall well-being.

Having been in business for 42 years, the history of Yoshida & Hirata, a distributor of agricultural inputs, mirrors the path of the fruit and vegetable market in Brazil. The company, which services vegetable producers who supply big cities in the state of São Paulo, focuses on sustainability, transparency and professionalism. 

Founded by Makoto Yoshida and headquartered in Biritiba-Mirim in the state of São Paulo, the distributor is already being led by the second generation, with Yoshida’s three children included among the partners.

Alberto Yoshida presents during a crop science breakout session at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference

“Working with family is challenging,” explains Alberto Yoshida, Makoto’s son and partner in the company. “Currently, we are finalizing our corporate governance for the business, because we try to treat the history of Yoshida with professionalism.”

These values and the company’s positioning have been reflected in its numbers. Yoshida & Hirata already has branches in Mogi das Cruzes (São Paulo) and Ibiúna (São Paulo), representing a growth of more than 20 percent of its business.

“In the beginning, we only had one small store,” says Yoshida. “Currently, we have two branches and approximately 80 employees.”

Grocery store chains are investing more and more in the fruits and vegetables sectors, increasing demand and requiring growers to be able to answer questions on certification, origin and traceability.  With these points in mind, Yoshida emphasizes the use of biological products on crop production. The company has seen a large increase in the demand of products like those found in the Alltech Crop Science line.  

“It is clear that the use of alternative products is a growing sector, which shows a greater interest in the microbiology of the plant,” he says.

Yoshida also highlights that this type of crop care contributes to food safety.

“The final consumer is able to access information through the products’ traceability,” he adds. “Therefore, we try to produce vegetables in a very conscientious way.”

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