Aigamo-duck Method's Rice Paddies In Hachioji City, Have You Heard Of The Method?

In Tokyo there are still some rice paddies handed down for generations although most of the areas are now covered by houses and buildings. The picture shows a rice farm in Hachioji City, Tokyo using a special organic method without any pesticides or herbicides.

The ducks in the rice paddies are called Aigamo-ducks in Japan and they are a hybrid between wild and domestic ducks. They help keep the rice paddy free of insects and weeds. As you can see in the photos the rice paddy has beautiful rice plants because the ducks are really working hard and have eaten all the insects and weeds. Furthermore, after the ears of rice are formed, the ducks are sold for their meat. (Otherwise they would eat all the ears of rice, too, since they are too diligent.)

This is a organic rice-farming method with "no waste" and well-known as "Aigamo-duck Method (Aigamo Nouhou)" in Japan. The reason that Aigamo-ducks are specifically used for this style farming is that they grow faster than wild-types and easily adapt to the environment.

Apparently the ducks remember the farmer because of imprinting, so they come out of the rice paddies when they hear the farmer's voice as you can see in the photos. Thus it is not difficult to catch them at harvesting even though they are left free.