September 11, 2012
Keywords: Disaster Reconstruction NGO / Citizen
The Tohoku Cotton Project, members of which include farmers affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and apparel companies, began sales of jeans, polo shirts, towels and stoles on June 23, 2012. These products are made from fabrics that contain cotton grown by farmers in the quake-hit Tohoku region. Focusing on cotton, which is more resistant to salinity than rice, the project grows cotton in fields where growing rice is difficult due to the salt damage from the tsunami, and commercializes and sells goods made from the cotton, with the goal of revitalizing local agriculture and supporting reconstruction efforts.
In 2011, the project's first fiscal year, about 80 kilograms of cotton were harvested from a total of 1.6 hectares of farmland in Arahama in Wakabayashi Ward of Sendai City, and Natori City, both of which are in Miyagi Prefecture. Member companies commercialized the goods by blending the cotton with cotton grown in other areas. Jeans produced by the project, for example, are made of denim that contains five percent Tohoku cotton and were sewn by Tohoku Takuto, a sewing company based in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture.
The project aims to increase cotton yield and to establish raw cotton cultivation as an agricultural business for disaster-affected farmers.
Cotton Project Aiming to Support Recovery of Earthquake-Stricken Tohoku Area (Related JFS article)
Posted: 2012/09/11 06:00:15 AM