JAPAN GROWS TOMATO TREES 

A FEW DECADES AGO PEACE AND TRANQUILITY REIGNED IN THE IVORY TOWERS OF WINDSOR, OSHAWA AND DETROIT AS CANADIAN AND AMERICAN CAR MANUFACTURERS RULED THE AUTOMOTIVE WORLD. ANY REMARKS CONCERNING THE DISTANT THREAT OF VEHICLE SUPREMACY EMANATING FROM THE FAR EAST WERE CONSISTENTLY DEROGATORY. OUR AUTOMOTIVE WORLD HAS PAID THE PRICE FOR ARROGANCE AND NON-OBSERVANCE.

TODAY IN GRAIN AND VEGETABLE FIELDS AND ORCHARDS LITTLE THOUGHT IS GIVEN TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT TOTALLY NEW METHODS OF CREATING FOOD MAY EXIST, AND THAT SUCH "CROPS" MAY MAKE TOTALLY OBSOLETE OUR PRESENT METHODS OF FOOD PRODUCTION.

FOR THOSE WHO TRY TO MONITOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS EMERGING TRENDS, A SENSE OF DEJA VU, AT LEAST TO THIS OBSERVER, IS NOTED IN THE FIELD OF WHAT USED TO BE CALLED AGRICULTURE.

ONE RECENT DEVELOPMENT BY THE JAPANESE IS A NEW WAY TO GROW TOMATOES. AEROPONICALLY. NO SOIL, NOT EVEN WATER IN THE SENSE OF HYDROPONIC AGRICULTURE. INSIDE AND IN THE SHADE. AND PRODUCING 13,000 TOMATOES FROM A SINGLE SEED. A SEED NOT EVEN GENETICALLY ALTERED !!

I WITNESSED, OVER A SIX-MONTH PERIOD, THE GROWTH OF ONE SUCH PLANT. IT EVENTUALLY REACHED A HEIGHT OF 30 FEET AND WAS 60 FEET ACROSS, HANGING ON AN EXTENSIVE TRELLIS SYSTEM.

THE CONTROL OF SUCH A PLANT WAS COMPLETE. AS A BABY PLANT IT RECEIVED -- AEROPONICALLY -- "BABY FOOD". DURING THE "GROWTH" STAGE IT RECEIVED APPROPRIATE FOOD. "FLOWERING" FOOD FOLLOWED, THEN A DIET SUITABLE FOR OPTIMUM PRODUCTION OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT. THE DEGREE OF SWEETNESS WAS CONTROLLED, AS WAS THE MOISTURE CONTENT. MORE JUICE IF THE TOMATO WAS DESTINED FOR JUICE, KETCHUP OR TOMATO SAUCE. LESS IF THE MARKET CALLED FOR TABLE USE.

HOW DO THEY DO THIS? ON THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING HOUSING THE PLANT A SERIES OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE SATELLITE DISHES ENCLOSED IN LARGE PLASTIC BALLS, TRACK THE SUN. NEARBY OTHER SOLAR COLLECTORS CONVERT SUNLIGHT INTO ELECTRICITY AND STORE IT IN A BATTERY BANK.

ON EACH SATELLITE DISH ARE SEVERAL SMALLER "DISHES", ABOUT THE SIZE OF A CUPPED HAND. A FIBRE OPTIC LINK, LEADING FROM THE BACK OF EACH SMALL "DISH", FEEDS THE CAPTURED SUNLIGHT DOWN TO THE PLANT. ENROUTE THE INFRA-RED AND ULTRA-VIOLET RAYS ARE EXTRACTED BY A PROCESS CALLED "LIGHT SHIFT". THE HEAT, IF NECESSARY, IS USED TO HEAT THE BUILDING. THE "PURE" SUNLIGHT FED DIRECTLY TO THE PLANT ACCELERATES THE PHOTOSYNTHESIS PROCESS NECESSARY FOR GROWTH IN VEGETABLE MATTER.

WHEN THE REAL SUN SETS IN THE EVENING, THE MASTER DISH ROTATES BACK AUTOMATICALLY TO FACE THE EAST IN PREPARATION FOR CATCHING TOMORROW'S SUNLIGHT. AT THAT TIME THE BATTERIES THAT STORE SURPLUS SUNLIGHT DURING THE DAY FROM THE ADDITIONAL SOLAR PANELS TURNED ON -- AUTOMATICALLY, OF COURSE -- AND TAKE OVER DURING THE HOURS OF DARKNESS. THE PLANTS CONTINUE TO GROW -- 24 HOURS A DAY.

THE JAPANESE ARE NOW TURNING THEIR SKILLS OF EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY, ACQUIRED IN THE INORGANIC FIELDS OF AUTOMOTIVE, TELEVISION AND MICRO-CHIP PRODUCTION, INTO THE FIELD OF FOOD PRODUCTION !!

THEY ARE DOING THE SAME WITH CUCUMBERS -- 7,000 FROM ONE SEED -- AND MUSK MELONS, A TYPE OF CANTALOUPE -- HUNDREDS FROM A SINGLE SEED. IT WILL NOT STOP THERE.... IN FUTURE COLUMNS, I WILL PREDICT THAT, WITHIN THREE TO FIVE YEARS, THE SALMON AT YOUR FAVOURITE HIGH CLASS RESTAURANT WILL BE BETTER QUALITY, OBTAINABLE AT LOWER PRICES THAN "HOME CAUGHT 'WILD' FISH", AND IT WILL BE... JAPANESE. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. FOR MANY YEARS, IN MANY COUNTRIES, MAN HAS ATTEMPTED, MOST UNSUCCESSFULLY, TO BREED LOBSTERS IN CAPTIVITY. LAST MONTH THEY SUCCEEDED ... IN JAPAN !

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