Tsumura Announces Full-scale Launch of its Farm Operations by Making Yubari Tsumura into an Agricultural Production Corporation

2015.01.30

• News Release

Tsumura & Co. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President & CEO: Terukazu Kato) announces that its subsidiary Yubari Tsumura Co., Ltd. located in Yubari-shi, Hokkaido has switched over to an agricultural production corporation. Yubari Tsumura is currently extending its storage warehouse for crude drugs, which will double its current storage capacity. The warehouse is scheduled for completion in July. The conversion of Yubari Tsumura into an agricultural production corporation marks the full-scale launch of Tsumura's farm operations, which will strengthen the company's function as an integrated production base for crude drugs, from cultivation to harvesting, processing, and storage.

The Tsumura Group will further strengthen the operation of its farms and links with key bases for the contract cultivation of crude drugs by expanding the domestic procurement system for raw material for crude drugs in order to respond to rising demand for Kampo preparations.

Details
Business expansion by making Yubari Tsumura into an agricultural production corporation
1) Commencement of large-scale mechanized cultivation at Tsumura's farms
[Plan to expand Takikawa Farm (on the site of the former Hokkaido Livestock Experimental Station) from current area of 60 ha to approximately 150 ha
*Investigate large areas in Hokkaido, with a focus on other unused facilities
2) Strengthen links with contract cultivation organizations and farmers in Hokkaido
Items produced in Hokkaido and procurement performance
Items produced: Several varieties including Cnidii rhizoma (senkyu), Perillae herba (soyou), Angelicae radix (toki), and Aconiti tuber (bushi)
rocurement performance: Procurement performance for FY2013 approximately 250 ha cultivation area and approximately 600 t production volume