In the News - February 2012
A vegetable springs up in Mulberry: edamame
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Fast Facts
- 32,000-square-foot plant will add 40 jobs by summer, as many as 60 in three years
- Edamame to be grown on approximately 900 acres in 2012; could double by 2013
MULBERRY, Ark. – By 2013, there might be more acres of edamame, or vegetable soybeans, in Arkansas than people in Mulberry. The popular vegetable will be grown on approximately 900 acres in 2012, with plans to double that number next year — more acres than the town’s population of 1,655.
“This company will be a great asset to our city and our state,” said Gary Baxter, Mulberry’s mayor.
The Crawford County town was christened the future “edamame capital of the United States” at a Jan. 31 press conference announcing construction of the nation’s first plant dedicated to the receiving, processing, packaging and shipping of edamame.
American Vegetable Soybean and Edamame, Inc., or AVS, a subsidiary of Houston-based JYC International, owns the 32,000-square-foot plant, which is being built at a cost of $5.8 million. It will have about 40 full-time employees by this summer and as many as 60 within three years, said Kelly Cartwright, future chief operating officer for AVS.
“We are excited to be part of the larger Arkansas community and the city of Mulberry as we work together to make this new vegetable soybean industry successful and sustainable,” said J.Y. “Gene” Chung, president of JYC.
Arkansas’ first edamame crop will include organic edamame from White County, with the rest of the acreage grown throughout the Arkansas River Valley in Faulkner through Crawford counties.
Edamame—green soybeans in the pod or shelled—is a popular vegetable in Asia, with rapidly growing demand in the United States. Pods or beans are steamed and served warm or cold as a side dish or snack, and in salads and soups. Edamame beans are larger and have higher protein and sucrose levels than commodity soybeans.
Chung said that help with financing through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, as well as technical assistance from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, was critical to launching the new venture.
Spearheading a two-year local effort were Cartwright, who is also president of Agricultural Research Initiatives, a research and consulting firm; Hank Chaney, Faulkner County extension staff chair for the U of A System Division of Agriculture; Lanny Ashlock, Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and associate vice president-special programs for the Division of Agriculture; and Division of Agriculture soybean breeder Pengyin Chen. Winrock International, Arkansas Farm Bureau, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state government agencies also provided support.
“We are very excited about this great opportunity to diversify into a new crop and to enhance the tremendous impact that agriculture has on the state’s economy,” said Mark Cochran, U of A System vice president for agriculture.
Two types of edamame will be grown. One variety, developed by Chen, is well-adapted for edamame production in Arkansas. JVC is providing the second variety, which comes from China.
“I don’t see any big obstacles for farmers,” said Robert Stobaugh, a member of the national United Soybean Board and Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board member. Stobaugh has already grown the new Arkansas variety as part of a seed-increase project and has contracted to grow 60 acres of edamame for AVS.
For more information on soybeans and edamame, visit www.uaex.edu, www.arkansascrops.com or contact your local county agent.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
February 3, 2012
By The Cooperative Extension Service
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
mhightower@uaex.edu
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