mongolia, central asia. in winter, the temperature can stay at 20 degrees below zero even during the day.

recently, an innovative project was initiated during these extremely cold months. farmers are cultivating fruits and vegetables in wintergre greenhouses. the project was created by the government in 2012. >> to maintain the correct temperature and climate in the greenhouses, a boiler needs to be operating 24 hours a day.

>> we follow the ingenuity of mongolian farmers attempting to grow fruits and vegetables in the country's brutal winter climate. around 5% of the 3 million people of mongolia still live the traditional know daddic lifestyle.nb lifestylio lifest . during the cold winter months their staple diet is beef and lamb. vegetables are a rarity.

mongolia's gdp is growing rapidly at around 10% per year, supported chiefly by minueral exports. people's lifestyles are changing dramatically. one example is the increase in vegan and vegetarian restaurants and more focus on eating healthy. this restaurant serves 20 types of dishes. the vegetable stir fry is the most popular. customers also like the vegetable-filled hoshur, a traditional food that usually contains meat.

>> a market located in the center of the capital. various vegetables are on sale even during the freezing winter months. economic growth has led to more people eating vegetables throughout the year with the volume consumed by money goal n i mongolians increasing 1.5 times during the past decade. due to the ferocity of the winters, nearly everything is imported. >> seeing the potential of growing vegetables all year round, the government started an innovative winter greenhouse project in 2012. over $1.7 billion has so far been loaned to farmers and corporations.

from the 140 applications, 30 were chosen. applicants had to have experience growing vegetables indoors and access to sufficient land. >> private corporations are also seeing the potential of winter cultivation.

a mongolian company that runs 20 restaurants built this facility on the outskirts of ulan bator. six different types of vegetables are being grown, including lettuce and coriander. they are supplying principally to the company's restaurants all year round. the equipment and cultivation technology was imported from japan. firstly, seeds are placed in water-soaked sponge trays and left to germinate. once the saplings reach a certain size, they are transferred to another type of tray. the young plants are then moved to special shelves where they grow under fluorescent lights

which are set to turn on and off over a specific cycle. below, containers controlled by computers send the required amount of liquid fertilizer to the shelves. the vegetables are ready for harvesting in just 40 days. production began two years ago and now shipments are made on a daily basis. at present, the company mainly supplies its own restaurants. in the future, it plans to expand production to supply

other restaurants, supermarkets, and shops. we traveled to tuv province, about an hour by car from eulan bat bator, to meet a farmer who is taking advantage of the government project. soon after the sun rises, the giant greenhouse cover rolls up. to let sunlight in, the southern side of the greenhouse is made from a translucent plastic. the farmer is currently growing tomatoes.

bayarhuu has been cultivating vegetables from spring to autumn for more than 30 years. she produces about ten types and starts growing saplings in march. her annual sales exceed $50,000. the greenhouses bayarhuu uses sit empty in the winter.

>> in other seasons she hires around 15 workers. but after harvest time there isn't any work available during the three months of winter. she put up two winter greenhouses with $130,000 government loan in january 2015. buhbat is responsible for temperature control, a vital element of winter cultivation. the boiler that heats the winter greenhouses is run on coal. buhbat checks the temperature and wind conditions to determine how much coal needs to be burned.

>> the fire heats the water inside the boiler. the steam flows throughout the greenhouse through pipes, keeping the interior warm. she regularly checks whether the temperature inside the greenhouses is appropriate. it's a delicate process, as tomatoes can be ruined by temperatures below 15 degrees or above 35.

bayahuu can now keep four workers on staff throughout the whole year. at the back of the greenhouse is a water storage tank. the water is drawn from a well. but because it's much too cold for the vegetables it must be stored in the tank to warm up. it's only the second year for bayarhuu's staff to grow vegetables in winter, so they're still getting used to the procedures.

in the end, they decide to postpone watering until the following day. the tomatoes are shipped twice a week to markets and restaurants in ulan bator. the winter crop is only a tenth of the size of other seasonal crops, so revenue is barely enough to cover personnel and fuel costs.

bayarhuu is using her other greenhouse to cultivate a product that she hopes will bring in a bigger profit. she's growing strawberries, something previously unheard of in the subzero mongolian winter.

>> at 4:00 in the afternoon, as sundown draws near, the greenhouse is covered to prevent the crops from freezing. buhbat, the temperature and water manager, still has work to do. at this time of the year, the air temperature falls to below minus 30. the greenhouse boiler needs to be stoked and fed continually throughout the night. buhbat has to stay overnight, waking up every few hours to make the rounds. his demanding work but buhbat says he's grateful to have employment during the winter.

another warm over the outskirts of ulan bator is also utilizing the government program. this is atlantsatsralt. during other seasons he and his

40 employees grow cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage and flowers. his revenue exceeds $50,000 a year. altantsatsralt received a loan to build a 200 meter greenhouse. he grows coriander, strawberries, green onions and flowers. none of his produce has been shipped to market yet. the current crops are on trial runs to find out which will earn the best profit.

he regularly visits the mongolian state university of agriculture. he goes there to get advice on different varieties to cultivate in winter and cultivation methods. this professor is his adviser. she's been researching vegetable

cultivation in cold climates for more than 15 years. an important part of her work is cross-breeding different varieties to try and develop suitable new crops. the university has an experimental farm located nearby. the new strains the professor produces in the lab and crops she gets from overseas are cultivated in the winter greenhouses to see if they'll grow. she's currently trying out four types of vegetables, including spinach and spring onions.

>> altants plans to spend the winter carefully assessing the best produce to grow. ago. after studying botany at university he became an instructor for a government youth development program but lost his job when mongolia's socialist era came to an end in the early 1990s. he then went into the import and export business and traveled to condition trees in asia and europe trading in vehicles and foods. from 2000 onwards he ran a steel processing company. after becoming conscious about environmental pollution he decided to try farming. altans said he started farming in winter in order to provide consumers with domestically

grown and safe produce year round. >> to grow organic produce, altants first focused on achieving good soil. he treats it with a fermented mixture of manure and vegetable scraps. he likes to experiment with various techniques.

>> earthworms improve the soil by making potassium and magnesium nutrients easier for plants to absorb. it's a time-consuming and labor-intensive process for altants but he knows as well as being safe, organically grown produce fetches a higher price at the market. altants has concerns though about the cost of winter cultivation. he's begun exploring ways to reduce expenses.

altants collects month newer with his staff two or three times a week.

altants uses cow manure as fuel to warm the greenhouse. coal is used at night, as it burns longer. using manure as fuel brings the cost of coal down to $180 for the whole winter, a savings of 50%.

altants plans to ship his produce to market during the following winter. annual vegetable consumption in mongolia is still only one-fifth the volume in europe and north america. the amount mongolians eat, however, continues to rise. in the harsh mongolian winter, efforts to benefit from these changes are now under way.

it is thursday, february 2 5th. i'm catherine kobayashi. tepco, what happened inside the nuclear plant five years ago. the company failed to report that three reactors suffered meltdowns, even though evidence suggests they could have known. the meltdowns occurred following the earthquake and the inquiry found the in-house manual gave the