Agriculture innovating to secure future

Decades ago, small family operations dominated Japan's agriculture industry, but today, the gradual shift to large-scale farming is creating many new challenges. Facing a labor shortage and a rapidly aging workforce, the industry is trying to make its business more attractive to newcomers, attempting to cast aside the deep-rooted image that farming is all hard work. To bring in new blood, farms are reforming work practices, nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit, automating with robotic innovation and taking advantage of evolving information technology. "I can take a day off, as well as a longer holiday, so it's like working at an ordinary company," said Shizuka Ninomiya, 24, who has worked for over a year at a tomato farm in Saitama Prefecture. The farm is one of those run by Aeon Agri Create Co., based in Chiba Prefecture, that grows vegetables for retail giant Aeon Co., its holding company, and group stores.