Author Archives: The Japan Agrinews

TOKYO, Sept. 13 – The United States government has agreed to allow imports of fresh persimmons from Japan, Japan’s agriculture ministry announced Tuesday. The two governments reached consensus on necessary phytosanitary requirements, including appropriate pest control. Shipments of persimmons that meet the requirements are likely to start as early as this year. Japan had long been asking the U.S. to lift its import ban on Japan-grown persimmons. The U.S. government had been refusing to do so, citing insufficient pest control, but has judged the necessary conditions are met. The U.S. requires that persimmons to be imported from Japan be produced at farms which are registered at plant protection stations with … Continue reading →

SHIMOTSUMA, Sept. 7 — Japanese pear producers are getting access to Vietnam for the first time in 10 years. A Japanese pear, known as nashi, is apple-shaped with golden speckled skin and is somewhat different to a European pear; it is firm, crispy, sweet and juicy. In January, Vietnam lifted a ban on this crunchy late-summer fruit from Japan. Two months later, nashi producers in Shimotsuma city, Ibaraki prefecture, flew to Vietnam to develop the market. They sent test products by air and immediately struck a deal with local buyers, who accepted to pay 20 percent higher than prices paid to Japanese domestic producers. The Shimotsuma producers will export 100 … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Sept. 14 – The Japanese government lifted its import ban on raw chipping potatoes from Idaho, the largest potato producing state in the United States, for the first time in 11 years, effective Tuesday. Because the acreage in Idaho occupies 30 percent of potato crops in the U.S. – the world’s major potato growing country – the resumption of shipments could pose a threat to domestic production. Imports of fresh U.S.-made potatoes, used by Japanese snack makers to produce potato chips, have been on the rise in recent years, marking 28,000 tons in 2016. Japan began importing potatoes from the U.S. in February 2006. In April that year, the … Continue reading →