How we green the desert

It goes without saying that we are facing worldwide desertification. What is accelerating this problem? I think the global population growth is the one. Under these circumstances, securing food is paramount. As the monetary economy is spread around the world, there is no way to self-serve food and people develop nature for life. According to the famous story of Ladakh（region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir）, people who were living in harmony with nature were interviewed about the situation being controlled by the monetary economy.（Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh for a Globalizing World is a book by Helena Norberg Hodge） Another one is the overgrazing. They are required from buyers to breed sheep and goats with an emphasis on economic rationality. The root cause is the same, people cut and sell nature to live on.

One of my life's purpose is how widely I can green the world. Also, the greening should enrich people's lives. It is the technology that prevent the desertification and recover it. I will show it.

Quote from EU Science Hub（The European Commission's science and knowledge service）

・Over 75% of the Earth's land area is already degraded, and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.

・   Globally, a total area half of the size of the European Union (4.18 million km²) is degraded annually, with Africa and Asia being the most affected.

・   The economic cost of soil degradation for the EU is estimated to be in the order of tens of billions of euros annually.

・   Land degradation and climate change are estimated to lead to a reduction of global crop yields by about 10% by 2050. Most of this will occur in India, China and sub-Saharan Africa, where land degradation could halve crop production.

・ As a consequence of accelerated deforestation it will become more difficult to mitigate the effects of climate change .

・By 2050, up to 700 million people are estimated to have been displaced due to issues linked to scarce land resources. The figure could reach up to 10 billion by the end of this century.

Good soil based cultivation by using High temperature bacteria_05

When we plow the high temperature bacteria fertilizer Kira-Ace into the field, it gives heat to the soil, then the plowed area is hard to freeze even on the snowy day in winter.

This means the farmers can cultivate even in winter. Moreover many Kira-Ace farmers earn about 10,000 thousand JPY or more per 1,000m2 farm in a year. There are three reasons.

The 1^st is they can earn in winter. The land is difficult to freeze even when the temperature is minus 10 degrees. If farmers can grow in winter, their income will increase accordingly.

The 2^nd is the products are high price vegetables. Although they are necessary to develop sales destinations, it makes it possible to grow organic premium vegetables. In Japan the organic farmers are only 0.4%（about 20,000 farmers）among the 2,530 thousands farmers (*). Yes, Japan is the “pesticide paradise” because the regulation is loose. There are many health-conscious consumers, so, differentiating from other farmers leads to high income. 

(*) Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 2010

The 3^rd is efficiency. For example, if the farmers need not treat the weed, they can transfer that effort to other tasks. The main job of a successful farmer is harvesting. If other work can be saved, it can be shifted to that work.

I expect that this farming method will be useful for farmland conversion such as the cold Gobi desert.

Good soil based cultivation by using High temperature bacteria_04

The high temperature bacteria fertilizer Kira-Ace is made by the mushroom bed in the factory. It is 60℃.

Good soil based cultivation by using High temperature bacteria_03

When we think about the pH（potential of Hydrogen）of the soil, many people say neutrality is the suitable condition, so they try to adjust it（e.g. To enter the Ligite lime）. But we know the strong acidity（pH3）is the better one. We show the reasons as follows.  

1.       The weed species cannot grow because of the strong acidity.

2.       The strong acidity disturb the entry of the harmful bacteria.
3.       The above results, the objects grow well without being deprived of nutrition.

When we work on the organic farming or the pesticide-free farming, removing the weed is the hardest jobs, then many farmers struggling about it. But in the strong acidity soil, it is resolved and next problem is the harmful insects. Mr.Kamiya who invented the Kira-Ace says that the odor cause the damage by the harmful insects. If we give the dilution solution to the objects, the problem is going to solve.　（dilution rate 100~700 times）

Good soil based cultivation by using High temperature bacteria_02

It is said that the drainage is one of the most important essence in the soil based agriculture. If the soil contents too much water around the root, it is going to cause root rot because of the lacking of the oxygen. So, most of the farmers cultivate their farm to improve the drainage and some reasons as follows.

1.     To supply the air in the soil

2.     To soften the soil to extend the root smoothly
3.     To mix the fertilizer and the soil
4.     To activate the microbe and kill the mold and the harmful bacteria by the sun light

Generally speaking, it must be done by the farmers. However, if it will automatically be done by the local microbe, the way of the soil based agriculture will change dramatically. The organic fertilizer Kira-Ace enable it. 

Good soil based cultivation by using High temperature bacteria_01

I introduced the hydroponics is better than the soil based cultivation in the agricultural style. As said before, if we keep the harmony to the nature, we must keep the soil natural in order to activate the native microbe. Recently, the agricultural practice accelerate the soil contamination worse, and the environmental condition of the microbe become worse.

However, I know the good organic fertilizer named Kira-Ace. This fertilizer include the high temperature bacteria. This bacteria live more than 45 degrees Celsius preferably and is called archaea (Latin) and is a kind of Protobiont (Life having a state just after the life birth). 

This bacteria bring the tremendous effect to the soil based agriculture.

Hydroponics with micro/nano bubble generator_02

Most of the farmers are thinking how to get more earnings. The elements which determine the price of the vegetables are taste (sweetness, oiliness, resiliency, etc.), flavor, appearance（color, coquettishly, shape, standard or not）, freshness, nutrients, etc. But the most impactful one is weight. If the quality of the products are same, mostly the buyers decide the prices by the weight. If that's the case, the farmers may think that they try to grow their products heavier. More than 90% of the weight of the vegetables is water. It is simple to do it, but it is difficult to achieve. As above, giving too much water cause root rot of the objects. But the oxygen micro/nano bubble water can solve it.

Hydroponics with micro/nano bubble generator_01

I definitely believe that the hydroponics is the advanced style of the agriculture, in other words “the agriculture of future”. Recently, it is proven that many plant factories are constructed, these are the figure of the hydroponics. The plant factories can utilize the land to the limit and these just looks like the factory not farmland. Under the scientific management, they produce plants very effectively, the singular problem is the sunlight, but they can provide it by the LED, in a sense, these are the final model of the agriculture.

The hydroponics needs fertilizers, then we cannot call it Organic food, but Pesticide-free vegetables, in other words Liquid fertilizer cultivation. The liquid fertilizer is the high purity inorganic one which include the appropriate macro elements and trace elements of vegetables. The soil based cultivation cannot do the same thing. I always think this appropriateness of the elements is very rational. The important thing for cultivation is to give the elements in proper quantities. It is not only good for the harvest, but also good for the lands. If we keep the harmony to the nature, we must keep the soil natural in order to activate the native microbe. If we need much more food globally, we must cultivate without placing stress on nature.  

However, when we give water too much to the vegetables, the root of the vegetable begin to go bad. This is the main subject of the hydroponics. But we can overcome by using the micro/nano bubble generator. 

The style the agriculture should be

I think the agriculture is the most valuable industry for human beings, but it is treated coldly. This situation is not only in Japan but also in other countries. What brought this? I don’t have exact answer, but I guess that they believe the agriculture is the easiest job and everybody can do it, then the laborers aren’t respected and required physical hard work, so they shall treat as stragglers in the recent intellectual society. The plantation in modern times is it. It is still the same, the famers are farthest position from the people who pay money, and therefore they can’t decide the prices of their products. In Japan, Japan Agricultural Cooperatives（JA）strengthen this trends. The positive side, JA buy their product and deliver to the market, but JA doesn’t release their initiatives to decision of the prices, the rights not to buy the nonstandard products and to take delivery fee from the farmers. Moreover, JA sell the agricultural chemicals, fertilizer, equipment, etc. to the farmers positively. It is common knowledge, JA is the principal offender who bring the farmers poverty.

I think if the farmers want to be richer, they need to make efforts about followings.

1.     The farmers must think the agriculture as business, and invest to the facilities, equipment, labors, knowledges, etc. if needed.

2.     The farmers must have the lands which is large enough, continuous, near big consumption area, and good location.

3.     The farmers must try to keep learning and develop the better products which have surprises beyond the customer’s expectations.

4.     The farmers must promote their products and have their own route to the customers.

As above, the greenhouse cultivation is one of the solutions following this principles because the farmers can develop the quality and quantity of the harvest, not influenced by the environment such as typhoons, cold wave, wild animals, and harmful insects. Moreover the hydroponics is more useful style of agriculture than the soil cultivation. The vegetables don’t need soils if they get enough fertilizers, and the only role of the soil is to keep standing them. They need the macro elements and trace elements of vegetables, but the soil include other nutrients such as the harmful insects like. Therefore the soil based organic cultivation is very difficult way for farming, so I recommend the hydroponics rather than the soil based ones.

Synchronize global population growth and consumption of fishery products

It is common knowledge, we will face the global population growth. Until 2050, that will be 9.3 billion people on the earth. From this fact, we shall think about the food first, can the blessings of nature satisfy our hunger? If not, we must manage to produce food for ourselves. And the following data show that the global population growth and the consumption of fishery products are synchronize. So we must find a way not for capture the limited the blessings of the nature but for improving the agriculture and aquaculture more sustainably and effectively. Because if we place stress on nature, the ecological balances are very easy to fail. I think RAS is the one in the aquaculture and the hydroponics in the agriculture is same.

Quality of micro/nano bubble Vannamei

The Vannamei we raised are admired not only the size and freshness but also the taste. The buyers of the big supermarkets and restaurants say that the products have good flavors, tastes, and sweetness. We already have orders,

How to get rid of the stench of the livestock sludge

In many cases, when we are at the countryside, we sometimes experience the barn give off a bad smell. Of course, the cause of this is by the livestock excrement, urine, bodies, blood, etc. We know this problems are the common things through the world. But nowadays, these stench bring protest actions to the farm owners and these actions become a trigger to changing the regulation harder. We the civilians welcome it, but for the farm industry it is a matter of life or death, because many farm owners don’t know how to get rid of it on the budget. We heard that many famers of southern China gave up to continue their business because of the regulation change.

We have solutions of it. The Protein skimmer is the one.  

Protein Skimmer

We know more useful way about using the micro/nano bubble generator. That is the Protein Skimmer. They are always used at the aquarium in order to separate the dirt and the water by absorbing the bubble. In the aquaculture pond, the protein which is in the left overs, excrement, etc. produce ammonia, and the ammonia (one state of Nitrogen) is a deadly poison, and it is a cause that the object dies, so it is better to take away.

The micro/nano bubble generator can produce the bubble which the Protein Skimmers require. Or more like that we shall use the micro/nano bubble generator, because the bubbles which the micro/nano bubble generator produced are small and  it is charged with electricity to minus, then it adsorb a charged thing in a plus（*）.  

（*）It needs the adjustment about the size of the bubbles etc. by the specialist.

Quote from マイクロバブル・ナノバブルの最新技術

The floatation separation is used for purification disposal of large-scale water and soil such as factories, but plays an active part in the imminent place. It is purification of the water for marine fish. The purification of the breeding water is required to let a creature live long, and various filters are usually used, but the floatation separation by the microbubble called the protein skimmer is used frequently if only a marine fish says. This is because relatively easy to produce a microbubble in the seawater. The protein skimmer removes the dirt which it is hard to be divided by bacteria including protein and the lipid, and is easy to be adsorbed by border of bubble and water, and the foundation stone is the same as a surfacing separation device.

Oxygen for ammonia control

I defined the key of the Nitrogen control is to raise the nitrifying bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria live everywhere but they don’t work so soon. This is the reason “Making water” need certain level of time. If that's the case, we need to know how we take action to activate them. The answer is Oxygen. The scientific evidence is the following chemical formula.

[Formula①] Ammonia(NH3,NH4⁺) →　Nitrous acid（NO2⁻）

NH3 + (3/2)O2 → NO2⁻ + H2O + H⁺　（①）

[Formula②] Nitrous acid（NO2⁻）→　Nitrate（NO3⁻）

NO2⁻ + (1/2)O2 → NO3⁻　（②）

[Formula①＋②]

NH3 + 2O2 → NO3⁻ + H2O + H⁺

The above result, in either process, Oxygen is related and the nitrifying bacteria (aerobic bacteria needs Oxygen) help this process. When we need result faster, giving more Oxygen is the good solution and using the micro/nano bubble generators is more effective because they can dissolve more Oxygen in the water.

As far as I have experienced, in case we use the micro/nano bubble generators for it, and we recommend about 1 month.

Control for Three state of Nitrogen

In the aquaculture industry, when they usually say the abstract words “Making water”, it means the preparation before they enter the objects into the culture pond. Some farmers say it spends 3 or 6 months, other farmers say 2 or 3 weeks, so beginners wants to know what does it mean?, what is the correct span of the preparation? As far as I know the answers are follows.

1.     The word “Making water” means making the system of the food chain in the nature in a pond.

2.     The most important thing of the food chain in the pond is making the system of control for three state of Nitrogen. Because the ammonia (one state of Nitrogen) is a deadly poison, and it is a cause that the object dies.

3.     When we think about making the system of control ammonia, it is better to use the bacteria in that location rather than to use machines and chemicals

4.     We don’t know the span of making the cycle of nitrifying bacteria, but it must be faster by using micro/nano bubble generator.

The above thinking is based on the followings that I mentioned at 1st article of this blog.

Common character of good green products

1. It is in accordance with the law of nature.

2. It use the resources in that location.
3. The above results, it is low cost.

Appendix

About the toxicity of the nitrite. Ammonia shows direct cell harm characteristics, whereas the nitrite shows the breathing toxicity by inhibiting the oxygen-carrying capacity of the red blood cell. Because nitrite changes blood hemoglobin, this is caused. Generally, it is called a hemoglobin blood symptom and nitrite poisoning.

The hemoglobin blood symptom is caused by the nitrite multiplies underwater.

The toxicity of the nitrite relates to a chloride ion that the chloride ion molecules compete with nitrite and enter in blood from gills.

In case of freshwater fish it is easy to be affected by nitrous acid because the environmental water has very few chloride ions, whereas in the case of a saltwater fish because chloride ion exists abundantly in the environment water it is hard to be affected by nitrous acid.
Quote from  「増補改訂版　養殖の餌と水（2014）」杉田治男（恒星社厚生閣）

RAS (recirculating aquaculture system)

RAS of Seaside Consulting is simple but efficient for intensive aquaculture. It consist of 2 culture ponds and 1 sedimentation tank. All the electric devices is 2 pumps and 1 micro/nano bubble generator. 

In the global aquaculture industry RAS is not popular yet, flowing irrigation style is the majority because the managers can keep water condition easier and the cost is lower. But this way of thinking were not mature, because the global environment which cannot say anything must pay the cost instead of the owner of the aquaculture farm. In the aquaculture pond, there are many suspended matters（the leftovers, excrement, urine, etc.）and the materials produce ammonia, nitrous acid, then these conditions bring the butt-load Virus, Bacterium, etc. If they abandon them to the nature, the balance of the ecological system will broke down. It is a matter of public knowledge. 

At the risk of being misunderstood, we should not do with the exception of RAS.

The keys of using RAS are the high level water clarification technologies.

micro/nano bubble for aquaculture_02

To keep DO (dissolved oxygen) high level is an effective solution in aquaculture. I proved it at my aquaculture facility in Hyogo prefecture Japan. I have raised prawns (Litopeneus Vannamei) more than half a year and succeeded in super intensive conditions. Standard number of per 1m3 intensive is follows.

1. Blue shrimp 20

2. Japanese shrimp 30
3. Black tiger 60
4. Vannamei (Southeast Asia) 60
5. Vannamei (China (standard)) 300
6. Vannamei (China (max)) 800
7. Vannamei (U.S.A (standard)) 1,000
8. Vannamei (U.S.A (max)) 1,900
9. Vannamei (Seaside Consulting) 5,000
(*) Seaside Consulting Inc. : subsidiary of Global Green Marketing Inc.

As above, overwhelming result of Seaside Consulting was brought by using the micro/nano bubble generator and the RAS (recirculating aquaculture system).

micro/nano bubble for aquaculture_01

When you think about the aquaculture, you can easily understand micro/nano bubbles are good for the objects. Most of the aquaculture farmers use air blowers/stones to provide oxygen to them. If it provides enough oxygen, air blowers/stones are not so bad, but sometimes lack according to aquaculture objects growth. Specifically the later part of the aquaculture, the products grow big and consume oxygen well, then DO (dissolved oxygen) decrease. When DO decrease, anaerobic bacteria (Vibrio is the one) activate and all the objects may die at once. This often happens in aquaculture farm here and there.

Using the micro/nano bubble generator at the aquaculture pond, the benefits are follows.

1.     It can keep DO high level. (ideally more than 5.0mg/L)

Micro/nano bubbles stay and float in the water much longer than the mm level bubbles. Therefore even if the switch of Micro/nano bubbles generator is off for an hour, DO of micro/nano bubble water keep high level, but DO of air blower/stone decrease soon. 

2.     It can promote the consumption of the breed.

If the fish eat well, the leftovers become less and grow well. As a result, the food conversion ratio (feed/harvest) goes down.

3.     It can facilitate the speed of the growth.

4.     It suppress the occurrence of anaerobic bacteria.

5.     It can reduce cost.