Long life tofu attracting popularity with more makers releasing products made from Japan-grown soybeans

TOKYO, Dec. 14 – More manufacturers are recently releasing long life tofu products with best-before period of 100 days or more. Many of them use domestically-grown soybeans. They hope the products with long shelf life will be used for such purposes as emergency supplies, e-commerce and outdoor activities, as well as being exported overseas. Imuraya Co., a food and sweets manufacturer in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, released on Dec. 3 Umashi Tofu Long Shelf Life 180, which has a shelf life of 180 days if kept in the refrigerator. The firm developed its own manufacturing method of extending shelf life. The product, made by squeezing thick soy milk produced completely from … Continue reading

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FY2020 feeding damage up 2%, stronger measures needed: Farm Ministry

TOKYO, Dec. 7 – Nationwide damage to agricultural products by wild birds and animals in Japan was 16.19 billion yen in the fiscal year 2021, up 2% from the year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF). The increase is attributable mainly to the rise in crop damage by deer in Hokkaido, while the damage by wild boars also rose in some areas. MAFF called on prefecture and municipal governments to reinforce measures by implementing an intensive nationwide campaign to catch wild birds and animals that can cause agricultural damage in the fiscal year 2021. The wildlife damage in Japan once declined for six … Continue reading

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Tomato leaf miner detected in Japan for the first time

KUMAMOTO, Dec. 1 – The tomato leaf miner, a serious pest of tomatoes and other Solanaceous plants, was detected in Japan for the first time in Kumamoto Prefecture in November. The insect, a species of leaf eating moth, is referred to as “tomato Ebola” in some countries because of the severe damage it causes to crops, threatening tomato production worldwide. Farmers must take pest control measures to detect it quickly and prevent an outbreak in Japan. The pest, which originates from South America, has been detected in at least 80 countries. After it invaded Spain in 2006, it spread quickly to Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and China. It has … Continue reading

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High-end Japanese fruit varieties widely grown in China

TOKYO, Nov. 28 – Shine Muscat grapes, a premium variety developed in Japan, were grown in China in the area of at least 53,000 hectares in 2020, according to an investigation by the Japan Association for Techno-innovation in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The cultivation area was more than 30 times that in Japan. The growing area in China for Benihoppe strawberries, also developed in Japan, totaled 44,000 hectares in 2019, 8.4 times the cultivation area in Japan for all strawberry varieties. While Japan revised the Plant Variety Protection and Seed Law in April to prevent brand fruits and other newly developed plant varieties from being taken abroad, the figures indicate … Continue reading

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Japan starts exporting Unshu oranges to Vietnam

TOKYO, Nov. 24 – Following Vietnam’s lifting of an import ban on Japan-grown Unshu Mandarin oranges in October, growers in Wakayama Prefecture will become the first to ship the oranges to the country in late November. JA Arida, an agricultural cooperative in Wakayama, Japan’s top growing region of Unshu oranges, plans to ship some 2 tons of early-season varieties to Vietnam in the current fiscal year. Growers hope their oranges – with a unique sweet-sour flavor which differentiates them from oranges from other countries – will appeal to rich consumers in Vietnam. Vietnam agreed to lift the import ban under the condition that the oranges are cultivated at registered farmlands … Continue reading

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