NARO, in collaboration with Okayama Prefectural Technology Center for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Research and Okayama JA Livestock Co., Ltd. has demonstrated at the farm facilities that the greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by approximately 80% in swine wastewater treatment facilities by introducing a carbon fiber reactor we developed. By introducing this reactor to processing facilities nationwide, it is estimated that it can reduce 6 hundred thousand tons carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) of greenhouse gas emissions annually. This achievement of reduced greenhouse gas emissions will contribute to the sustainable livestock production. Read more
The Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO (NILGS) and Institute of Agro-biological Science (NIAS), in collaboration with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Kyoto Sangyou University, has succeeded in deciphering the full genome sequence of the Japanese honey bee. Japanese honey bee has many useful properties including strong disease resistance as compared to the Western honey bee. Disease resistance of both honey bees can be analyzed at the genetic level by means of comparing the genome of the decoded Japanese honey bee with that of Western honey bee. This result will contribute to the development of more useful technologies for utilization of honey bees.Read more
The Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO (NILGS-NARO) has succeeded in improving the growth performance in four Japanese slow-growing brand chickens, i.e., Hinai-jidori, Okumino-kojidori, Amakusa Daioh cross, and Miyazaki-jitokko, by molecular marker-assisted selection, in collaboration with the Akita Prefectural Livestock Experimental Station, the Gifu Prefectural Livestock Research Institute, the Kumamoto Prefectural Agricultural Research Center, and the Miyazaki Prefectural Livestock Research Institute. It is expected to be applicable for improving growth performance of the other slow-growing chickens.Read more
The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Ibaraki University and The University of Tokyo has revealed for the first time that mice subjected to psychological stress exhibited the reduction of a specific sugar chain (fucosylated sugar chain) in intestinal epithelial cells that cover the inner wall of the small intestine. The result of this study is expected to be useful to elucidate the mechanism of changes of gut microbiota in response to psychological stress.Read more
