Translator: Reiko Bovee
Reviewer: Ellen Maloney This is a common roadside weed
that we can see anywhere. I took this picture several days ago. Since this kind of weed
can be seen anywhere, I am sure that this won't give you
any particular impression. Spreading its roots fastened deep
into the cracks of asphalt, it is growing. Even under this hot sun,
it is robust like this; its topnotch survival power is undeniable. No matter how many times
weeds are trampled on, they are resilient enough to come back. If we don't do anything to them,
their roots run riot, and they become out of control. What if this hardy weed becomes this tall? This giant plant is called "Erianthus." If you stand by this plant
and look up at it, I bet you will feel like you have shrunk. This five-plus-meter tall
giant plant is also grass like the roadside weed
that you have just seen. I wonder what you are thinking, looking at this giant plant. When I first saw this plant ten years ago, I felt overwhelmed by its enormous size, and I was sure that this could be good
for something useful for us. Since then, I have been
doing research using this plant. Looking at this plant, Erianthus, what kind of thoughts came into your mind? You must be wondering if we could make good use of this. Since Erianthus was first introduced as livestock feed to Kumamoto Agricultural
Experiment Station, it has been growing here in Kumamoto. So, Erianthus is "made in Kumamoto." Erianthus can repeatedly regenerate itself
many times from the same strain and live more than a whopping 30 years. It is a plant with a long life. This shows how they look in early summer. In summer, they grow vigorously
as if they spew out all the nutrients that they suck up
from deep under the ground. In autumn, they become much taller
getting plumes at their tops, and they are now gigantic plants,
more than five meters tall. In winter, the bottom parts
touching the cold ground wither, but they still stand firm. And they get dry as standing upright
outside in the fields. Being harvested as they are, they become a good source of fuel
that has good keeping. From this same strain,
fresh new green leaves come out. They get plumes in autumn and get dry
in winter, and we harvest them again. This cycle can be repeated
over and over again. Dried grasses burn well, don't they? So, the first thing I tried
was to turn them into fuel. When we used them as fuel
instead of biomass wood pellets, it turned out to be an inexpensive
and excellent source of good fuel. Where we cultivate Erianthus, there appears a forest of them. In summer, their leaves grow so thickly that they prevent the sunlight
from reaching the ground, and weeds don't grow
underneath Erianthus. The number of pests
is reduced, so are diseases. After sucking nutrients
from deep under the ground, Erianthus brings them up
to the land surface, so eventually the soil gets fertile. This is what the field looks like after we harvest them. When we harvest them, we find little weeds
as you can see in this picture. Like this, the more we grow Erianthus, the less we get weeds and diseases, and the more fertile the soil becomes. So, after successfully
cultivating Erianthus, we grew wheat in that fertile soil. We can grow wheat and Erianthus
at the same time in the same field. Erianthus grows surrounding wheat. They look like as if they were
nurturing the crop, while growing themselves. We could also grow buckwheat
in the same way. Since we could make fuel with Erianthus, we decided to cultivate them in Fukushima. In Fukushima, their farmland's condition
has deteriorated, due to lack of manpower
after the disaster, and it is hard for them
to keep farming there. To cope with this problem,
by growing Erianthus, we can prevent further
farmland deterioration and deforestation, and concurrently produce biomass energy. This new approach with Erianthus
has just begun being undertaken. If we can successfully start
growing a lot of Erianthus, since they just grow like weeds, they require not much care. All we have to do is to harvest them. In order to keep farming,
this will be an excellent way. I heard that an increasing number
of people are quitting farming, after the earthquake disaster
here in Kumamoto. If we cultivate Erianthus
in the abandoned farmland, we can not only save
the agricultural land, but create employment for the new way of farming
and new industries that will be born out of it. Erianthus has the power
to bring in something new that has never existed before, and the power to help rebuild
the disaster-stricken areas. This picture shows
how we are growing Erianthus. The field in which Erianthus grows
looks full of energy. All you need to do is to harvest
the agricultural crops, and all the grasses become
sources of energy - fuel. They absorb CO2 fast
and convert it into energy with their most powerful
photosynthesis system. I cannot help feeling that Erianthus' unlimited power. Moreover, there is something
motherly about this plant that embraces its environment
and nurtures it. I believe that this weed power is going to change the future
of agriculture and the energy world. And I don't doubt that this weed power is going to be utilized to help
reconstruct quake-stricken Kumamoto. Thank you very much. (Applause)
