Sojitz Corporation established My Vegetable Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary, on April 1, 2014. My Vegetable will grow fresh vegetables at a farm in Chiba City’s Midori Ward, with sales to start in May 2014.

My Vegetable will begin growing fresh vegetables using a raised-bed sand culture technique. This agricultural method was developed jointly by Toray Construction Co. Ltd. and Shigehirogumi Co., Ltd. and was advanced by Green Farm Co., Ltd. using the patented facilities. Toray Construction, Shigehirogumi, Green Farm, and My Vegetable concluded a business alliance agreement to adopt this agricultural method nationwide.

Examples of raised-bed sand culture   *Photos courtesy of Shigehirogumi Co., Ltd. and Green Farm Co., Ltd.

Raised-bed sand culture is a greenhouse-based agricultural technique that uses raised beds filled with sand in place of soil in greenhouses. The technique offers a number of benefits including avoiding barriers to growth resulting from successive plantings, improved taste and freshness, and stable cultivation throughout the year and makes it possible to time cultivation based on demand for diverse fresh vegetables. In addition, the raised-bed technique reduces the burdens of agricultural labor and can be applied in any location facilitating employment of newcomers to the field, senior citizens, and  persons who use wheelchairs.

My Vegetable plans to expand operations to a total of 20 ha in suburban areas nationwide and build a year-round supply system with multiple farms. By linking the production times of seasonal fresh vegetables at each site, My Vegetable will seek to achieve stable, year-round supply of fresh vegetables with uniform quality.

Reference Information

Overview of My Vegetable Corporation

Representative	Yoshiyuki Honda
Established	April 2014
Location	Midori-ward, Chiba-city, Chiba prefecture
Business activities	Cultivation and sale of fresh vegetables
Scale of facilities	Initially 1 ha with plans to expand to more than 3 ha by 2016
Production items	Greens (small green onions, lettuce, bok choy, basil, etc.) Vegetables (high-sugar cherry tomatoes, radishes, etc.)
Cultivation method	Greenhouse cultivation (raised-bed sand culture)

Overview of Toray Construction Co., Ltd.

Representative	Motoyuki Tomiyama
Established	October 1997
Location	Kita-ward, Osaka-city, Osaka prefecture
Business activities	Construction and real estate

Overview of Shigehirogumi Co., Ltd.

Representative	Shigeru Tanaka
Established	September 1976
Location	Neyagawa-city, Osaka prefecture
Business activities	Scaffolding and earthwork construction, civil engineering and construction

Overview of Green Farm Co., Ltd.

Representative	Shigeru Tanaka
Established	November 2010
Location	Shijonawate-city, Osaka prefecture
Business activities	Sand culture farming, employment support for disabled persons, private vegetable gardens