Man suspected of stealing 200 kilograms of Kujo leek was unable to secure the necessary amount due to a small harvest， saying “business is not going as planned．”
In connection with the theft of approximately 200 kilograms of Kujo leek from a field in Kumiyama Town, Kyoto Prefecture, an investigation team learned on the 19th that a farmer (27) from Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, who was arrested on suspicion of theft, had stated, “My business wasn’t going as I expected, and I was in financial difficulty.” They are investigating the possibility that the harvest was smaller than expected and that the necessary volume of produce could not be secured for shipment. According to investigators, the man had recently become independent and was cultivating Kujo leeks, trading them with food processors. He also reportedly admitted to stealing Kujo onions from a field other than the one he was arrested for. Since June, eight cases of damage totaling approximately 3,500 kilometres have been confirmed in Kumiyama town and Uji city, with damage also occurring in the neighbouring Fushimi ward of Kyoto city and Yawata city. The man is suspected of stealing Kujo onions that were being grown in a field in Tanishi Kanze, Kumiyama Town, between 8:00 a.m. on August 30 and around 7:50 p.m. on September 1.
Article with real names Farmer arrested on suspicion of stealing 216 kg of Kujo green onions, 3.5 tons stolen in the prefecture 2024/9/12 11:53 (Last updated 9/12 11:53).
On TV coverage, it looked like this person’s field was the only one where the Kujo leek wasn’t growing well. It seems like this person had learned how to grow Kujo leek at other farms in the area, but is Kujo leek really that hard to grow? They’re grown normally in farmland in residential areas of Kyoto.
Since there are about 14 times as many Kujo leeks in circulation as there is production, it’s unlikely anyone would notice if they just shipped any kind of leeks and called them Kujo leeks.
Until you can grow it properly, you have to do it part-time. There’s no way you can grow it properly with the recent abnormal weather. Especially for leeks, Japan’s subtropical climate is the worst growing environment, and producers are withdrawing one after another from the production areas.
I wonder what kind of mindset someone has when they start stealing onions from other people’s land lol Ah, they’ve started – these onions are really good – they’re completely focused Wow, they stole 200 kilos – I wonder if there’s a wholesale or retail store where stolen goods won’t get discovered.
The idea of stealing someone else’s crops to make up for it tells us a lot about how this person normally treated their crops. If he knew how much care it took to get to the harvest, he would never do something like this.
It’s not uncommon for someone who has just become independent to sign contracts with food companies before their yields have stabilized, but to go as far as to steal is unthinkable.
Since it was a contract, did they have to buy to secure the lot? I guess the price is stable under a contract, but I think it’s better to ship through JA when you first start farming, and then increase the proportion of contracts as you expand.
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