July 30, 2019 11th Dialogue meeting was held in Namie Town.

IER has continued to hold this dialogue since 2016, in order to feedback our research results to local communities. This time was its 11th time held in a discussion meeting style between IER Director Tsukada and 17 farmers from Namie Town, mainly Tateno area.

With the title of “農業環境における放射性セシウム等について(About Radionuclides on Agriculture)”, the meeting started with a basic explanation of radiation, followed by somewhat specialized contents related to agriculture. For example, Director Tsukada mentioned that the soil quality determines the amount of radionuclides (mainly indicated cesium in the meeting) transferred from soil to plants.

Since 2014, the whole Namie Town has continued an approach to farming resumption based on the revival plan developed by Namie Town Agriculture Reproduction Councilor. In the future, it is planned to resume the livestock industry that had flourished in this area before the earthquake. With this plan in mind, many opinions were exchanged among participants, such as questions about radiation that farmers felt through their farm work, and requests for research that would ensure the safety of agricultural products from the area.