Press Releases

Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Head Office: Nakano-ku, Tokyo; President: Michiya Kadota; hereinafter "Kurita") is pleased to announce that it has delivered a set of agricultural water treatment facilities to Nexus Farm Okuma.Inc, a strawberry producer based in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Okuma-machi. The facilities are now in operation.

Nexus Farm Okuma.Inc is a large-scale farm that operates in consideration of environmental conservation, workers' safety and food safety. It acquired GLOBALG.A.P. certification (*) in April 2020 as a plant factory using sunlight and embarked on year-round cultivation of strawberries. The farm cultivates summer and winter strawberry varieties. Summer strawberries are harder to cultivate than winter varieties and are grown by relatively few farmers in Japan. The cultivation technology requires fine environmental control with respect to brightness, temperature, humidity, wind, fertilizers, water quality, organisms and bacteria.

The water treatment system that Kurita delivered supplies pure water. It is used in forms of mist for temperature and humidity control key to the maintenance of a cultivation environment ideal for summer strawberries. It also serves as water essential to electrolyzed water for space sterilization. A future use of this water for cultivation is under consideration. It will support stable cultivation of summer strawberries with safety and reassurance. The farm places emphasis on these two features.

Summer strawberries cultivated this past summer at this farm were mainly used for business purposes by confectioners producing cakes and by operators processing them into jams and semi-dry fruit. In pursuit of safety and reassurance, the Farm produces strawberries as a symbol of the revival of the town of Okuma-machi in Fukushima Prefecture. It thus contributes to the town reconstruction plan.

In its MVP-22 (Maximize Value Proposition 2022) medium-term management plan, the Kurita Group positions the fulfillment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the heart of its business management and works to Create Shared Value with Society. It will continue its efforts to contribute to society by offering water needed for the development of people's lives and industries.

• (*)International certification awarded to businesses practicing sustainable agricultural production management and production activities