Nature Toki: the re-emergence of an extinct bird

"Back then people didn't think about the environment when farming. Their priorities were selling products at a high price and harvesting as much as possible," said Shinichiro Saito, a 60-year-old rice farmer. Farmers were asked to cut chemical fertilisers and pesticides by half from the level allowed by local rules, but there was pushback. Fewer chemicals meant smaller harvests, lost income, and more weeding. And some farmers couldn't see the point of other proposals like underground channels connecting rice fields to rivers to increase the flow of aquatic life. Local officials used a carrot-and-stick approach, refusing to buy rice from farmers who rejected the new chemical limits and creating a new premium brand of "toki-friendly" rice for those who did.

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