APO Conference on 29 June 2016

Hydromembrane Technology ( Imec )

< Productive Farming in Fragile Environments >

Mebiol Inc.
CEO Yuichi Mori

Mebiol Motto

Basic Materials in Agriculture

Water

Soil

Membrane

Time Immemorial

Stone

Bronze

Nowadays

Iron

Semi-conductor

Plastics
Basic Materials in Industry

Functions of Hydromembrane
1) Membrane Function
The nano-sized pore of
"Hydromembrane" allows water and
nutrients to pass but rejects germs &
viruses, securing safeness of
the produce by minimizing the use of
chemicals

2) Hydrogel Function
Plant develops a lot of fine roots on
" Hydromembrane " to uptake water &
nutrients, enhancing significantly the
nutrition value.

Permselectivity of Hydromembrane

Soluble Pigment

(0.51.5 nm)

Nutrients (Ions, glucose,

amino acids): 0.5 1.5 nm

Carbon Black
(15 1000 nm)
Viruses15 100 nm
Germs100 1000 nm

Root Hair of Imec

(15m in thickness, 80 1,500 in length )

Film Surface

Functions of Root Hair

High Uptake Ability of Water & Nutrients

by Larger Surface Area

Root Hairs enable Production of High Quality

Crops even at Arid Lands

Pattern Diagram of Imec System

Yield & Quality are controlled by Volume supplied by Upper Drip Tube :
The smaller Volume, the less Yield but the higher Quality
The larger Volume, the more Yield but the lower Quality

Upper Drip Tube

Hydromembrane
None- Woven Fabrics
Waterproof Sheet
Lower Drip Tube
Ground

Nutrients of Quality- Enhanced Imec and hydroponics Tomatoes

7.2

385

527

14

95

614

56

540

32

2.4

137
16
1.6

8
Sugar

Glutamic acid

g / 100g

GABA

Lycopene

Proline

(mg / 100g)

carotene

Vitamin C

Functions of Water Proof Sheet

1) Saving of water & fertilizer consumption
2) Protection crops from soil contamination
3) Enable farming on contaminated or barren lands

(Imec)

(Drop Soil Culture)

Irrigation Tube

Soil Contamination

Waterproof Sheet

Sand
Concrete
Wet land

Water consumption
200 ml / plant, day

Water consumption
2000ml / plant, day

Setting Process of Imec System

To

set, dismount and transfer Imec system easily,

shortly and without heavy machines

The

cultivation environment is clean because of

fully isolation from soil
A very cheap young seedling ( plug seedling ) is
available because of aseptic environment

Imec Tomatoes

Imec Cucumber

Imec Melon

Imec Paprika

18

Imec Strawberry

Imec Fruit Tomato

20

Profit Balance of Imec and Hydroponics Tomatoes

Facilities Scale : 1ha
Items
Initial Cost
Sales
Yield x Wholesale Price
Expense
Film related Materials
Seed
Fertilizer & Chemicals
Water/ Electricity/Oil
Labor Cost
Shipment Materials
Depreciation
Gross Margin

Imec
200
120
120t x10$/kg
56.6
7.7
2.0
1.5
8.8
11.1
7.7
17.8
63.4

Cost Unit : 10,000$ $ = 100 yen

Hydroponics
300
150
500t x 3$/kg
129.4
0
0.6
11.5
13.7
44.3
30.7
28.6
20.6

( ROS 52.8% ROA 31.7% ) ( ROS 13.7% ROA 6.9% )

The cost of Film related materials is only 13 % of the expense but triples its
gross margin compared to hydroponics.

1. Quality Tomato ( Fruit Tomato ) Business

Domestic Statics of Tomato ( Farming Ministry 2013 )
Items

Wholesale
Volume

Culture
Method

Wholesale
Sum

Wholesale
Price

( M $)

( $ / kg )

490

Soil
Culture

1,639

3.3

105

110

HydroCulture

658

6.0

110

Special
Culture
( Imec )

~ 50

(1,000 tons )

Regular
Tomato

Cherry
Tomato
Fruit *
Tomato

Estimation

Year on year
(%)

> 10.0 140-150

Ranking of Popular Vegetables in Japan (2009 to 2013)

Fruit Tomato has been selected as a best seller vegetables 4 times
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Fruit Tomato

Fruit Tomato

Snap Pea

Fruit Tomato

Fruit Tomato

Potato

Potato

Potato

Snap Pea

Snap Pea

Snap Pea

Snap Pea

Fruit Tomato

Potato

Broccoli

Broccoli

Broccoli

Broccoli

Courgette

Courgette

Green Soybean

GreenSoybean

CherryTomato

CherryTomato

Cherry Tomato

Reference: THE JAPANESE AGRICULTURAL NEWS

Fruit Tomato
Definition of Fruit Tomato : Sugar Content is at least 8 %
Regular tomato is less than 5%

Boosting Technologies of Sugar Content in Tomato

Current Technology
Salt Stress (EC>10 s/m)

Poor productivity and poorlyreproducible quality due to

hyper-salt hindrance (Rejection
rate : > 50 %)
Difficult skills acquisition of
control technology of salt stress

Bad aftertaste by residual salt

Imec
Water Stress (EC:1.0~1.5 s/m)

High productivity and quality

(Reject Rate : < 5 %)
Easy skills acquisition of water
stress control by Hydromembrane
have a clean finish

Growth Rate of Domestic Imec Tomato Farm (acre )

Total Number of Imec Farms : 150
90.0

79.6

80.0
70.0
60.0

Acre

43.6

50.0
40.0
30.0

19.5

20.0
10.0

25.3

31.1

12.2
0.6

2.6

2008

2009

0.0
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Average Growth Rate of Wholesale Sum of Imec Tomato

130 % ( 2008 2013 ) 150 % ( 2013 )

2015

Toyama Kankyo Seibi Imec House ( 2.8 ha )

Interior Portion of Toyama Kankyo House

Fukui Wago Imec House ( 3.6 ha )

Interior Portion of Fukui Wago Imec House

Business Sectors which adopted Imec

12.
13. Others
Unclear
9%
11. Service
4%
9%

1. Farming
41%

10.
Medical
welfare
1%
9. Eatery
1%
8. Banking
4%
7.Wholesal
ing
4.
6%
Manufactu
6.Transpor
5.
tate Informatio ring3.Construc
11%
1%
tion
n
1%

5%

2.
Personal
6%

Crucial Factors in the Speedy Spreading of Imec in Japan

Change in Background of Japanese Economy
Software Business
Hardware Business

Agriculture
Medical

New young and inexperienced entrants from

non-farming business sectors

Soil

Film

Domestic Major Distributors of Imec

Kubota (Largest Agriculture and Water-related Industries)
Denka ( Large Specialty Chemical Company )
JFE Holdings, Inc. ( Global Steel Maker )
Odakyu Electric Railway ( Major Private Railway )

Calculation of Domestic Growth of Fruit Tomato

Regular Tomato (105%)

Wholesale Sum (M$)

Cherry Tomato (110%)

Fruit Tomato ( Imec Tomato ) (150%)

Country-specific Tomato Annual Production Volume (2012 )

Production Volume ( M ton )

Fruit Tomato becomes a New Basic Food Stuff in Japan

Fruit Tomato production originated in Japan a few decades ago
but doesnt spread due to its difficult production technology
in spite of its sweetneand health benefitsss.

In these several years, the market of Fruit Tomato is rapidly

spreading, because Imec technology makes its production so
easy for not only farmers but also non-farming people and the
Introduction of Imec Fruit Tomato by 40 Japanese major TV
programs significantly accelerates the consumer trend shifting
from volume to quality such as safeness and high nutrition.

We believe that Imec Tomato will penetrate from Japan throughout

the world like Japanese authentic food, Sushi & Wagyu.

Regeneration of Barren Lands by Imec Fruit Tomato

Japan Regeneration of Giant Tsunami Devastated Lands by

Imec Fruit Tomato Farms ( 2 ha )

China Regeneration of the old Factory Sites by Imec Fruit

Tomato Farms ( 5 ha )

UAE Regeneration of Al Ain Desert by Imec Tomato

Fruit Tomato Farms ( 0.5 ha ) and Planning of Regeneration
of Desert in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Morocco, Egypt (10 ha)

37

Imec Tomato produced at Tsunami-devastated Farmland39

Imec Tomato in Al-Ayn

Sustainable Farming Business

Imec

Reverse Osmosis

Solar Generator

Sustainable Farming Business

Combination of Imec with solar generator and

reverse osmosis enables a new sustainable farming

in arid lands and revitalizes the economics
Imec sustainable farming is strongly supported

by Japanese Ministry of the Environment to achieve

Paris Agreement of COP 21

Social Business to solve Poverty Problems

Production of Quality Produces by Imec
in Barren Lands

Improvement of Economy & Employment

Freedom from Poverty

Peace & Prosperous Society

Thank you very much for your long attention