By HARUFUMI MORI/ Staff Writer
October 12, 2024 at 08:00 JST
Hot temperatures and wet weather have taken a toll on grapes in the western Tokyo city of Ome, one of the few wine grape-growing areas in the capital.
In Ome, about 130 grape vines sent from its sister city of Boppard, a major wine production area in Germany, are grown at three orchards to produce grapes for white and red wines.
The orchard workers include disabled people whose employment is supported by a social welfare corporation commissioned by the Ome government, family members, employees of the facilities and local farmers.
They harvest an annual average of up to 3,000 kilograms of Riesling grapes for white wine and about 1,000 kg of Romeo grapes for red wine.
The grapes are processed at wineries in Yamanashi Prefecture and Tokyo, and the wines are sold in local liquor shops. The wines can also be used as rewards to those who make cash donations to the municipality under the “furusato nozei” hometown tax payment system.
Workers noticed something off after they harvested Riesling grapes in late August.
They discovered that the volume decreased to 1,369 kg, about one-third of last year’s 3,980 kg.
They also harvested 918 kg of Romeo grapes, down by about 150 kg from the previous year.
According to city officials, the poor harvest was likely caused by the blistering summer heat following above-average rainfalls in May and June.
“Extra humidity is not good, and it is troublesome when the ground gets too dry because of the intense summer heat and dry weather,” an Ome official said. “The Riesling variety is particularly prone to diseases and pest infestations brought by such weather conditions.”
The increasing frequency of summer heatwaves has made it difficult to grow grapes in Ome, and workers are making various attempts to deal with the situation, including spraying water on the vines.
It is also apparently becoming more difficult to grow the Riesling variety even in Boppard, a city with a cool climate.
“We are doing our very best to maintain cultivation in the hot city of Ome, but we have no idea how things will turn out in the future,” said an official who visited Boppard to see the situation there.
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