Japan eyes doubling sub-Saharan Africa rice output in 2018

TOKYO, Aug. 20 — A Japan-funded agricultural development project will likely reach targets next year aimed at doubling rice output in sub-Saharan Africa. This is thanks to improved varieties and cultivation techniques, according to officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In 2008, Japan hosted the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, and pledged to double sub-Saharan rice production to 28 million metric tons in the next 10 years. The Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD), a consultative group of donors and research institutions, was set up and has implemented the project to help reduce food imports and move the continent toward food security. Rice production … Continue reading

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Japan’s farm minister meets Hong Kong leader on import bans

HONG KONG, Aug. 17 — Japan’s Agriculture Minister Ken Saito has met Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her key officials, urging them to lift a ban on Japanese food imports imposed after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011. In the Aug. 16 meeting with the Hong Kong’s leader, Saito explained that extensive monitoring has ensured that exported foods are within radionuclide concentration limits. He asked Lam to ease and lift the import ban based on the scientific evidence Japan has. He also persuaded her to make a State visit to Japan. Hong Kong is the largest export market for Japanese seafood and agriculture products, making up … Continue reading

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Japan may propose to slash farm market access in TPP-11 talks

TOKYO, Aug. 16 — Japan was likely to put at least two agricultural proposals on the table when 11 members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) were to meet in Australia on Aug. 28-30. The first is an indefinite scheme that scales back agricultural market access, and the second a change in the special safeguard (SSG) for beef imports, until the United States returns to the TPP, informed sources have said. The TPP deal was reached in October 2015 when 12 countries, including the U.S., resolved outstanding issues such as agricultural market access. But the administration of President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the TPP within a day of … Continue reading

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New chief of Japan’s agricultural cooperatives group determined to carry out reform for the sake of farmers

TOKYO, Aug. 12 – Toru Nakaya, who became chairman of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives in August, expressed determination to accomplish self-reform of the farm coops group. In an interview with The Japan Agricultural News, Nakaya said his organization, known as JA-ZENCHU, will have active discussion with the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to carry out reform in a free and unbiased way, putting farmers first. Q. How do you feel about becoming chairman of JA-ZENCHU when it is facing an extremely difficult situation? A. I have been involved in agricultural cooperative movements for a long time, but there has never been a more challenging time than … Continue reading

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Witnesses to war kept in rice fields

CHIBA, Aug. 15 — In a farmland in Sosa city, Chiba Prefecture, there still are reinforced concrete bomb shelters, called entaigo in Japanese, built in wartime to protect battle plains from air raids. Two entaigo sit in a rice field owned by Hatsuko Shinamura, a 73-year-old farmer from Asahi city. During the war, the navy took up the land to build Katori Air Base and the concrete domes that measure 30 meters in width and 6 meters in height. One entaigo could shelter three warplanes with their wings folded. After the war, the navy returned the land to Shinamura who then decided to use them as their family storages. Since … Continue reading

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