We can say that Saitama-prefecture is one of the major agricultural prefectures in Japan in view of the number of farms(11th largest in 2010) as well as the agricultural output(17th largest in 2011). 

Many farmers earnestly work on agriculture and keep on yielding excellent agricultural products such as Sayama-tea on Sayama hills, tomato in Kitamoto-city, naganegi (a long variety of Welsh onion) in Fukaya, taro in Sayama-city, pear in Shiraoka-city, and many more.

However, not only people in Saitama-prefecture but also residents of the local production areas hardly know what kind of products are cultivated, how they are processed and where they are shipped.

To sustain and develop Saitama agriculture and to refine Saitama food culture, it is quite important for many more people in the local area to know about the excellent products in the neighborhood.

(problem 1)

It is also essential to develop new commercial agricultural products and package designs which will satisfy the food culture and the taste of the present-day consumers. To create a new market, it is vital to apply marketing knowledge and skills to agriculture and refine agricultural products as commodities.

 (problem 2)

Owing to the TPP Agreement reached in October 2015, trade of agricultural products will be liberalized quite immediately.  So far, many people in Japan have expressed their great concerns about the import of low-price agricultural products.  However, TPP, on the other hand, gives us a good chance to spread excellent Saitama agricultural products into the world.  Since domestic consumption is shrinking in Japan because of the population decline, it is important for Saitama agriculture to seek a new market globally. We have a lot of outstanding agricultural products that are competitive enough. (problem 3)

To solve the above three problems, we have done the following activities. 

Problem 1：We have carried out events named “Tasting the Best Season of Saitama” since 2016. A tour to Kitamoto-city had 20 guests and a tour to Iruma had 25 and we had incredibly good feedback after the events. 

We would like to carry out this type of tour events about five times a year on a regular basis so that we can extensively convey the attractiveness of Saitama agriculture to people in Saitama-prefecture, and to lead it to inbound of foreign tourists in 2018. 

Problem 2：In 2014, students at Saitama University developed new commercial products.  Since 2017 the products have been sold at “the Garden Jiyugaoka” in Atle Urawa.  We will continue to develop new commercial products like these.

Problem3: We began to export Sayama-tea to foreign countries, starting with Mongolia in 2015. In 2016, we exported tea and participated in a food exposition in EU Italy and got a high reputation. We are now preparing for tea export to Cambodia. We are to actively explore new markets more extensively and to export other products as well by applying the knowhow and network we have built up through Sayama-tea export.  

(quoted from a reported material)