No rice is grown in some of these paddies near a Sony plant in southern Japan, yet they are carefully watered. That's right, fallow fields are irrigated. Instead, a Sony initiative comes to fruition here. One step toward a greener future, linking our plant and the community. Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation's Kumamoto Technology Center produces CCDs, CMOS sensors, and other imaging devices in Cyber-shot digital still cameras and α (alpha) digital SLRs.

Manufacturing semiconductor components with micrometer-level precision involves etching, and the plant requires a supply of pure water to wash away solvents and minute debris. This site, near the foot of a mountain, was chosen for its plentiful supply of groundwater. Here, volcanic ash soil fulfills a key role in replenishing groundwater, acting like a sieve that surface water penetrates easily. But under policies to reduce rice acreage, more fields were left fallow or used for other crops instead of being irrigated as rice paddies, which caused a decline in groundwater. This groundwater is also a vital source of water for a population of about 1 million residents. Surely there was something we could do to protect this local resource.

That's when Sony representatives, acting with local support, started looking for farmers willing to help irrigate fields near our plant. In this approach, the groundwater is recharged by irrigating fields with river water when the fields are lying fallow, or in periods between crops.
Once the groundwater recharge program was introduced in 2003, it proved beneficial to farmland as well. Irrigating fields this way drives out harmful roundworms, eliminating the need for pesticides. Mineral content from the river accumulates in the soil, making it more fertile. Eventually more farmers joined in, and after 5 years, more water has been returned to the aquifer than the plant has used. Events held at the plant bring employees and participating farmers together during rice planting and harvest festivals. Rice grown by some farmers is purchased by the plant and served to employees in the cafeteria. No company had fulfilled this kind of role in the community in Japan, and in 2007, the groundwater recharge program was recognized with the 4th Asahi Corporate Citizen Award.

The river water we use to irrigate these fields ultimately merges with the groundwater to benefit the community. The program ensures plentiful water, from this generation to the next. The Sony vision of a greener future is well underway.