【Product name】
Small onion (ca 4 cm in diameter)
【Type】
Allium cepa “pekorosu”
【Producing area】
Tanno Town, Kitami City, Hokkaido (JA Kitamirai)
【Origin of name】
It seems that a small onion, which was called “Pecolas” in the colonies of Western European countries, entered Japan and was called by the sword.
【Major features】
JA Kitamirai was born in 2003 by the merger of eight JAs. At that time, the “Kitamirai Onion Promotion Association” was established by gathering the onion promotion associations that existed in each agricultural cooperative. Due to thorough production control, it has become the largest onion producing area in Japan, but on December 16, 2021, the JA was evaluated for its stable production and management. The “Kitamirai onion Promotion Association” consisting of producers from Pal System（It is a coined word that combines pal and system, and seems to have the meaning of “individual participation creates great cooperation.” “Better things at a reasonable price” seems to be the idea of Pal system. It seems that union members, producers, distributors, sellers, etc. are aiming to provide safe and secure products and services by paying appropriate costs without falling into unreasonable low price competition.）is direct production areas (Kitami City, Kunneppu Town, Oketo Town) will be the highest award at the 60th Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Festival held by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Was selected. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Festival is sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and has reached its 60th anniversary last year. It seems that the aim is to increase public awareness, improve the technology of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and increase the motivation for management development. The highest award, the Emperor’s Cup, is determined from the 345 points that received the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award at commendation events over the past year, and is highly innovative as an award given to each group (or individual) from 7 categories such as agriculture and livestock. The Kitamirai Onion Promotion Association seems to have won the award in the gardening category. The Kitamirai Agricultural Cooperative is the former 8JA in the Okhotsk jurisdiction of Hokkaido (Onneyu, Rubeshibe Tomebe, Oketo, Kunneppu, Ainonai, Kamitokoro, Kitami, Tanno). Is an agricultural cooperative that was created by merging on February 1, 2003. In prayer for the bright future of the Kitami Basin, which is the foundation of the former 8JA union members, it is said that “Kitami” and “Mirai” were combined and named “Kitamirai”. In the Kitami Basin, which faces Daisetsuzan National Park Asahidake to the west and Akan National Park Oakandake to the south, the Tokoro River, which originates from the Daisetsu Mountains, and its tributary, Mukagawa, cross. The production base is the fertile and fertile land. Therefore, most of the agricultural and livestock products in Hokkaido are produced, and in particular, “Onions” have established themselves as the number one producer in Japan. Dairy is the main industry in the jurisdiction, and some farmers are engaged in breeding Japanese beef, fattening hybrid cattle, and raising dairy cattle. The number of dairy farmers is decreasing year by year, and the number of dairy farmers in the first year of Reiwa was 137, a decrease of about 40% compared to the beginning of the merger, but there was no significant change in raw milk production and it decreased slightly. On the other hand, the amount of raw milk produced per household is on the rise. In addition to the Kitamirai (Oketo Town, Tokoro District) nursing and training center (48 members, 860 heads: In those days), there are seven TMR centers, each of which is organized with 6 to 7 units, for a total of 45 units. I have subscribed. It is said that the TMR center is not a large center but is composed and operated by people who are familiar with each other. Since the temperature and rainfall were stable throughout the year in 2019, the quality and yield of grass and dent corn（Zea mays var. Indentata: A type of field corn with a high content of soft starch. Reid’s Yellow Dent was developed by Mr. James L. Reid, a farmer in central Illinois. The sides of the grain consist of a hard starch layer and the crown consists of a soft starch layer. As the grain matures, the soft part contracts to form a dent in the crown, which looks like a horse tooth. It is mainly used for starch (cornstarch) production, feed, and in recent years as a raw material for “bioethanol; vegetable ethyl alcohol（C2H6O）” production.）were both high, so he said he had high expectations for future milk production. In addition, the business environment has been favorable because it was supported by stable high individual prices and milk prices throughout the year. Seems to be supporting the company. In recent years, the transportation industry has requested revisions to livestock transportation charges from outsourced private companies in a situation where it is difficult to carry out smooth operations due to chronic shortages of drivers such as improving long working hours and aging drivers. It is said that the situation continued to be extremely difficult for stable livestock transportation operations, such as the previous day’s delivery to the livestock market and livestock transportation on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. With the merger of JA in February 2003, all four existing livestock trucks (hereinafter referred to as “cars”) were sold, and all livestock transport operations were outsourced to three private companies to set a unified JA fee. However, it seems that the cost has been reduced. However, in consideration of the profitability of the carrier, although the price was raised by the price revision in 2008, one private company withdrew in 2009, and one company seems to have withdrawn in 2013. Since then, only one company has been engaged in transportation operations, and in 2014, the price of crude oil soared, and in February 2019, the price was revised due to soaring labor costs. Under these circumstances, we visited nearby private transportation companies and requested cooperation for outsourcing, but it was difficult for all transportation companies to secure personnel, and due to their unfamiliarity with handling creatures such as cows, they were always carriers. Seems to have come to the conclusion that it is difficult to prepare. After the merger of JA, the transportation area is wide and it takes about 70 km from the dairy farmer at the eastern end to the dairy farmer at the western end, and it may take a considerable amount of time just to collect the cows, which is one of the reasons why the contractor cannot be found. It seems there was. In addition, it has become increasingly difficult to meet the urgent demands of union members, such as moving abandoned cows. Therefore, when looking at future livestock transportation, as a result of discussions on whether to enter the Hokuren truck business or procure a carrier in the jurisdiction and hire a driver to transport livestock, from April 2nd year of the Reiwa. It is said that the former “Hokuren Truck Kunneppu Office” will be established and a new livestock transportation business will be carried out. Hokuren has little knowledge about transportation when actually starting business, and since it is necessary to meet various requirements up to business establishment registration, Hokuren regarding settings such as office, parking lot, procedure, vehicle management, operation management, etc. With the cooperation of the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives and related companies, preparations were made and the kunneppu office was opened. At the same office, monthly transportation to specialized markets for dairy cows and beef cattle, and transportation for calves, breeding cows, multiparous cows, abandoned cows and various types of cows to be auctioned every Tuesday. It seems that it will be necessary. It is also responsible for the movement of abandoned cattle and cattle between farmers, which occur two to three times a week. In addition, there are five public ranches in Kitami City, Kunneppu City, and Oketo Town, and each producer can deposit them at the ranch of the relevant municipality from May to October, so 1000 in late May 2020. Cattle over the head were ranched. Regarding these transportation operations, it seems that it has become possible to carry out transportation operations more efficiently than before, because transportation plans can be made by adjusting drivers within the office. The driver is an associate employee of JA Kitamirai, and the working hours are 7 hours (1 hour break time) from 5 am to 9 pm. On the day of the livestock market, we will head to the market after collecting cattle, so we have to work early in the morning. However, it seems that the start of business will not be extremely early because it is mainly moved to the garden except on the market day. At the beginning of the business, we needed a driver with abundant driving experience, so we asked two people to be seconded from the transportation company of the fruit and vegetable business partner, and at that time, four drivers including two JA associate staff carried out the transportation business. It was done. In addition, since seven staff members in this JA have obtained a large driver’s license, it seems that they have taken a system to respond in the event of an unforeseen situation. According to the business plan of 2020, the transportation business started in April 2020, and now it is engaged in each specialized market, handling of abandoned cows, collection of first-born cows, entry and exit to public ranches, movement between dairy farmers, etc. It seems that he was going. Depending on the number of applicants, we may request a subcontractor, but although we are unfamiliar with it, we have been working to meet the needs of union members. Among them, as a merit after introduction, until now, dispatching vehicles (securing transport vehicles) has always been an issue, but since it has become possible to transport livestock by coordination within the JA Livestock Department, it is also possible to respond to the requests of union members. It is possible to respond quickly. On the other hand, it seems that he is always worried about whether he can always secure a certain number of drivers because the nationwide shortage of drivers is not solved, and considering the risk of traffic accidents while driving. In March, just before the opening of the Kunneppu office, the introduction of four 7-ton transport vehicles, each of which can carry about 10 first-pregnant cows, and the replacement of official vehicles (used vans) from JA led to the standard number of offices. It was decided to own at least 5 units. However, the income and expenditure as a business establishment is expected to remain severe for several years from the operating year, judging from the number of years of amortization. In the future, we will continue to hold discussions with private transportation companies while proceeding with the current system, and if possible, we will be able to respond to the requests of union members as much as possible while considering the direction of complete entrustment to private companies. It is said that it will be prepared. In addition, he said that he would like to keep in mind “safe driving” so that livestock transportation business can be carried out smoothly, work on livestock transportation business, and eventually establish a sustainable livestock industry. From 2018 to 2019, the jurisdiction newly established a refrigerated storage facility for onions and a collection and shipping facility. This is part of a plan to consolidate seven facilities in the jurisdiction into five. I heard that it is a huge facility with an area of 14,700 m2 and a daily processing capacity of 400 tons. The onions processed here are placed on trucks and JR containers and shipped to markets nationwide. In response to recent changes in consumer demand, it is said that it has become possible to ship 10 kg cardboard in addition to the main 20 kg cardboard. By collecting a large amount of onions in one place, it is possible to prepare onions of various standards, and it is also flexible to respond appropriately to market needs. Agricultural cooperatives have invested themselves to build a stable supply chain, although subsidies from the national government are also used for huge facility investment. The scale of each farmer is small, but they are exerting their strength by gathering them. Introducing Tanno Town, Kitami City, the production center of Pekoros. The area around No. 2 Station Tanno, which was established in 1892, was called “Nukkesi”, which means the end of the field in the Ainu language, so the name of the station was changed to “Tanno”. A town that existed in Tokoro District under the jurisdiction of the Abashiri branch office in Hokkaido, it was newly established and merged with Kitami City, Tokoro Town, and Rubeshibe Town on March 5, 2006 to become Kitami City. This seems to be the origin of the town name. Located almost in the center of the Abashiri branch office, it is famous as the easternmost town of the Kitami Basin, which is about 40 km inland from the Okhotsk coast. In terms of latitude, it will be about the same latitude as Marseille in France, Perugia in Italy, and Milwaukee in the United States. 143 degrees 50 minutes to 144 degrees 4 minutes east longitude 43 degrees 47 minutes to 43 degrees 57 minutes north latitude. The town flag is centered on the rich earth and peace with the green ground color, the snowflake of the northern country and the development of the 10-character district in the town with the white 10 corners surrounding the town emblem, and the vitality of the townspeople with the red town emblem. Each symbol of the “Agricultural Soldiers（1904 Opened Hiushinai-Bihoro Road. The Russo-Japanese War begins (more than 200 people were mobilized from Tanno). The Tondenhei system is over.）” who laid the foundation for pioneering with a golden pentagon is used. It seems that people lived in Hatano 10,000 years ago (pre-earthenware era). In 1856, Mr. Takeshiro Matsuura recorded that “there was an Ainu Kotan (village) in Nutsukeshi (now Tanno Town, character Chushi).” The history of the town began on June 7, 1897, when the agricultural soldiers arrived. It refers to indigenous soldiers who send soldiers to remote areas, usually carry out military training while farming, and fight as an army organization when the war begins. In China, it is known as a system that was actively practiced from the Han dynasty to the Ming dynasty. There is a fact that their activities have created a vast and orderly American-style plot suitable for current land use in Hokkaido, especially for livestock farming and large-scale farming. Above all, parcel allocation is still applied not only to rural areas but also to cities. There is no doubt that it is a treasure of Japan that Hokkaido holds its position as a food base. It must be remembered that there is a large-scale agricultural management based on such parcels as the basis. The Tanno Town area of Kitami City in eastern Hokkaido is known as the town of the sun, which is cool and has very long daylight hours. It is characterized by fertile soil and boasts the highest onion production in Japan. Pekoros is a general term for small onions with a diameter of about 3 to 4 cm, and is also known as small onions. There are originally small varieties and those made smaller by cultivating yellow onions（Kanna’s onions, which have the longest hours of sunshine and less rainfall in Japan, grow in the sun. When the brass-colored thin skin is peeled off, the inside is white. The balls are tight and spicy raw, but when heated, they become very sweet. ）in an overcrowded state, and there is no particular distinction. From the beginning of July, the root cutting work of the very early varieties of onion “Yellow onion” started. Root cutting is the process of cutting the roots of onions that grow underground to stop the growth of onions with a mechanical blade. It is said that it will be done for the purpose of improving quality, such as preventing deformation due to enlargement of onion balls, preventing cracking and peeling, and promoting coloring of demon skin. It is also a work done before putting onions into a steel container with a harvesting machine such as an onion picker or harvester. After the root cutting work, the dead onions will be harvested from around the end of July, sorted at the fruit sorting plant, and shipped to various parts of the country at any time. The onions produced by JA Kitamirai include Kitamirai No. 3, Okhotsk No. 1, Kita maple2000, and Super Kita maple. The characteristics of Yellow Onion are divided into Goku Wase, Wase, and Naka Okute according to the difference in growth period, and it seems that there are differences in storability and taste. Goku Wase is fresh and has little pungency. Naka Okute seems to have the characteristic of increasing spiciness and storability. Now, back to the story of Pekoros. The shipping time is scheduled to be from the end of August to the end of February of the following year. It is difficult to harvest mechanically, and many are carefully hand-harvested one by one. Therefore, it is difficult to plant in a large area, and the production of precious mini onions is limited (15 to 30 g per onion, about 250 g for normal onions). Why don’t you make the best use of its size and use it for cooking as a whole? Boiled stew, pot-au-feu（It has the meaning of “fired pot” in French and is one of the typical home-cooked dishes in France. Beef in chunks in a pot or kettle, spices in vegetables and simmered for a long time.）, pickles, and oven-baked as a side dish of steak, browsed from the homepage that the specifications are good for various cooking purposes.
It seems that pekoros is generally grown by a special cultivation method in which yellow onions are overcrowded so that they are as small as 3 cm in diameter. It seems that 160,000 to 180,000 or more seedlings are manually planted per roll (about 990 m2, if this value is divided by √2, 37.464 m) in the cold winter season. After growing to a certain extent, it seems that some of the leaves will be cut off so that they can be exposed to light. Although it is small in size, it has a higher sugar content than ordinary onions and has a strong sweetness.
It seems that pekoros is generally grown by a special cultivation method in which yellow onions are overcrowded so that they are as small as 3 cm in diameter. It seems that 160,000 to 180,000 or more seedlings are manually planted per roll (about 990 m2, if this value is divided by √2, 37.464 m) in the cold winter season. After growing to a certain extent, it seems that some of the leaves will be cut off so that they can be exposed to light. Although it is small in size, it has a higher sugar content than ordinary onions and has a strong sweetness.
In Kitami City, which has the highest onion production in Japan in the midwinter with a maximum temperature of -5 ℃, it seems that onion sowing and laying down on the nursery greenhouse will start from the middle of February 2022. There are hundreds of holes in the nursery box for growing seedlings, and it seems that the soil for seedling cultivation and the spherically processed seeds for sowing are sown in each hole using a sowing machine. When the seedling raising boxes are lined up in a nursery house, they germinate in about two weeks, and then in the spring, they can be grown until they are transplanted to a field where the snow has disappeared.
Unlike ordinary onions, it is difficult to harvest by machine, and many of them are harvested by hand, so it is difficult to cultivate them in a large area, and the limited production of Pekoros in Tanno Town is valuable. Also, the impression is that it is softer and less spicy than ordinary onions. The size of one piece is a little over 20g, and it seems that there are about 210 to 220 pieces in a 5kg box. About 8 to 9 onions weigh the same for a typical onion.
