Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Managing the Aso grasslands for sustainable agriculture — a decade after recognition as agricultural heritage

KUMAMOTO, Aug. 7 — In the Aso district of Kumamoto Prefecture, vast grasslands spread on one of the world’s largest calderas, providing feed base for grazing some 5,000 Japanese brown cattle. The dynamic landscape of meadows, also a popular tourist destination, was not created naturally but nurtured through more than 1,000 years of constant human efforts to coexist with nature — pasturing, controlled burning and mowing. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the management of the Aso grasslands for sustainable agriculture certified as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The grasslands stretching 20,000 hectares are managed by 156 pasture unions, but … Continue reading

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GIAHS-certified Mikata District in Hyogo Prefecture: farmer and cows live under the same roof

A traditional breeding system for Tajima-brand Beef in Mikata district (Kasumi Town and Shin-onsen Town) in Hyogo Prefecture was certified as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in July. One of the factors the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognized was how local farmers raise cattle in a space at home called maya and treat the animals as if they are family members. A Japan Agricultural News reporter visited one traditional house with maya, where people and cows live together under the same roof. The house is located in the mountainous village in the Kaijo region, Shin-onsen Town, which sits next to Tottori Prefecture and in … Continue reading

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Chrysanthemum growers getting ready to ship light-culture products at right time

FUKUOKA, Jul. 25 – In Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture, you’ll see this open field of chrysanthemum plants aglow at night. Motoyuki Inoue, vice chairman of the flower business committee of a local agricultural cooperative in Fukuoka (JA Itoshima), has 80-are outdoor light-culture chrysanthemum beds and 37-are greenhouses. In the greenhouses, he grows chrysanthemums twice a year. The 55-year-old man currently lights the plants with red light-emitting diode (LED) lamps and orange fluorescent lamps from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. The chrysanthemum is a short-day plant that flowers when the day is shorter than the night. So, the artificial lighting can make the plants develop buds late and bloom at the … Continue reading

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Japan’s exports of green tea increase by 50 percent in five years

TOKYO, July 30 — Exports of green tea have been showing brisk growth, with the value of shipments in 2022 increasing 50 percent from 2017 and those in the January-May period of this year up 4 percent from the same period last year. Coping with nontariff barriers, such as different pesticide residue standards depending on countries, has been a challenge. But it is becoming possible to respond to growing overseas demand as organic tea growing regions are expanding and the agriculture ministry has worked to increase the types of pesticides that can be used for cultivation of tea targeted at foreign markets. According to the farm ministry, the total value … Continue reading

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Japan sees growth in exports of high-yield rice varieties

TOKYO, July 24 — Japan is recently exporting more high-yield rice varieties as Japanese-grown rice is increasingly accepted abroad. Rice dealers hope to expand sales channels further with a lineup of reasonably-priced products. Some prefectures are developing new varieties targeting overseas consumers while others are seeking to create added values by exploring agriculture with lower environmental load. Japan’s rice exports are expanding steadily, with shipments in the January-May period rising 30 percent from the same period last year to roughly 13,000 tons. The figure is close to the volume of exports marked in the whole of 2018, reflecting the growing popularity of Japanese-grown rice in foreign countries. Rice growing areas … Continue reading

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