□Encounter with a certain article

 

Our Institute, we have carried out a demonstration experiment by paying attention to changes in plant physiology by cryogenic hibernation under the plant. Motivation that went into the study, was to have met in an article published in the magazine in the past.

 

That article said that tropical regions of the current under the equator, that was in the frigid region of minus 90 ℃ frozen as the Antarctic and the Arctic in the Ice Age . Furthermore is covered in ice the whole earth, it is in academic that era called Snowball Earth was also past many times. In a large Ice Age from about 800 million years ago until about 700 million years ago, I learned of the fact that even this global frozen state had continued 100 million years. Among them was to startle, already thirty billion years have passed by photosynthetic microorganisms is born, it is many times the fact that came survived evolved in such a frigid environment.  Also has received impressed with further impact to that life of frozen photosynthetic organisms are maintained 100 million years. Past in Japan, we've germinated five thousand years ago lotus seed, that was famous for Oga lotus.We have keenly aware of the greatness of the plant life force to the group of plants, were bred from frozen hibernation of this 100 million years.

So I had a simple question.

 

- Although in the past ice age was there hibernating survival under the temperature environment of

equivalent to the Antarctic, why are current of tropical plants not able to survive in Japan?

- Why not be able to even survive Japan's winter between just a few months?

- Why those plants can breed in very different climatic conditions in the post ice age compare with before the ice age?

- Why bananas and papaya, etc. tropical fruit of that delicious nutritious perfect score are impossible cultivation in Japan'?

-  Why are those not possible breeding in the domestic climatic conditions?

 

Also survived the Ice Age actually many times, tropical fruit is exist against climate conditions change. Then, it was the beginning of my study that I'd like to try by myself.

 

□The start of the study and awareness

 

First of all, I began to take home grown bananas from Okinawa Prefecture, but it was a series of failures and can not wintering and immediately wither if put in November, even if many times challenge. Next we have demonstrated experiment papaya, but it was further weak in low-temperature environment than the banana. Among the trial and error, I've got a simple inspiration.

 

- If the tropical plants was at one time the Ice Age hibernation, than this climate adaptability can be awakening?

 

On grounds of physiology of plants corresponding to the climate conditions change after the Ice Age hibernation, we have been pursuing the change in cultivation artificially made tropical plants frigid hibernation. As the results, we have succeeded in extremely cold resistance and growth rate of the fast, cold resistance papaya and cold resistance banana production.

 

□possibility of cold resistance plant

 

In the other hand, I've noticed that Japan's agriculture is facing challenges and of imported fruits and vegetables that are distributed in the domestic problems, I'd like to solve that problems somehow. I found out that there is a possibility that the cold resistance papaya and cold resistance banana is their solution. Then, I will try to establish the organization of the Institute, to strive to accumulation and dissemination of know-how for farming and raising seedlings of cold resistance papaya and cold resistance banana. Also, efforts to a wide variety of cold resistance plants, but now it led to the success in the domestic non-warming cultivation of lychee and black pepper, etc. tropical crops. Original thoughts that make a infinite possibilities of cold resistance plant into the world , we will complete the deployment to the more diverse tropical plant in the future.