sardine meal; fish cake (fertilizer)
A traditional fertilizer made from pressed sardine residue; historically used in Japanese agriculture. The term is domain-specific and may be unfamiliar outside farming or historical contexts.
In the past, they used to scatter sardine meal on the rice paddies as fertilizer.
Standard kanji spelling using 粕 (lees, dregs) for the processed residue.
Alternate kanji spelling using 滓 (dregs, sediment); less common than 鰯粕.
Compound of 鰯 (いわし, 'sardine') and 粕 (かす, 'lees, dregs'), referring to the pressed residue left after extracting oil or liquid from sardines.