A maize field, with children standing beside it

Rice husks for better soil

Rice husks for better soil: a treated surface turns them into a material that builds soil

We turn rice husks into a material that builds farm soil.

For farmers, JA agricultural cooperatives and local governments

The problem

Grow the same crop in the same field year after year, and it can start to do poorly, a problem known as continuous cropping injury. Meanwhile, rice growing leaves large amounts of husks every year, and left as they are, husks are slow to return to the soil.

Maize growing in a field — Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture (August 2026)

What we do

We treat the surface of rice husks and settle three kinds of microbes on them, among them the bacterium used to make natto, a fermented soybean food. The soil improver that results is spread on fields. The first crop can be started about six months after spreading. It takes a year for the husks to return to the soil and for the microbes to become fully established.

How the treatment works

Rice husks for better soil

With a soil improver made from treated rice husks, we confirmed faster germination and growth of radishes in Hiroshima Prefecture.

A farm in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, used it against the problems that come from growing maize in the same field year after year, and has gone on using it for other crops since.

A bag of treated rice husks on an exhibition table

Bringing abandoned farmland back into use

We are considering using treated rice husks to speed up soil building, so that abandoned farmland can be cultivated again and more people can take up farming.