Western Japan city's senior-friendly greenhouse produces first crops

Officials in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, have harvested lettuce, melons and tomatoes grown in an elderly friendly greenhouse.

An employment center for senior citizens used local government subsidies to build the greenhouse on vacant land in Hirakata City. The first crops were picked on Wednesday. The fruit and vegetables are grown on stands about 90 centimeters high to avoid the need to crouch down. Irrigation equipment automatically dispenses water and fertilizer to reduce the physical burden of farming.

The officials say this is the first greenhouse in Japan to be operated by a job-finding center for seniors, and they hope it will help to keep elderly people healthy and physically fit. They say they are also planning to sell the produce grown there in the future.