March 7, 2011
Keywords: Food Manufacturing industry NGO / Citizen
Yukiguni Maitake Co., a Japanese producer and seller of mushrooms for both fresh and processed food markets, announced on October 13, 2010, that it had signed a joint venture agreement with the Grameen Group in Bangladesh and Japan's Kyushu University. This joint venture aims to develop a social agricultural business in Bangladesh, and is the first attempt of its kind involving a Japanese enterprise.
The business is to grow mung beans and sell the sprouts, Pilot cultivation will start on approximately eight hectares in Rungpur, located 350 kilometers north of Dhaka. After gauging the success of the pilot project, the company plans to shift to full-scale cultivation on about 500 to 1,000 hectares during or after 2011.
The full-scale mung bean cultivation project will require about 700 to 800 contracted farmers in Bangladesh, and sorting the harvested beans will employ about 100. Yukiguni Maitake will import around 70 percent of the harvested beans from the venture company, and the rest will be sold in Bangladesh.
The initial capital investment is US$75,000 from Yukiguni Maitake and $25,000 from the Grameen Krishi Foundation. They have agreed that any profits generated would be spent on welfare and scholarships for poor people in Bangladesh. This business is supported by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) as one of its Pilot Demonstration Projects for Development and Import Schemes for fiscal 2010.
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http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028509.html
Posted: 2011/03/07 06:00:15 AM
Yukiguni Maitake Co. of America
http://www.yukigunimaitake.com/