Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

Number of wild boars caught in Tohoku doubles in five years

TOKYO, Oct. 15 – The number of wild boars caught in the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan has been increasing sharply as their areas of habitat expanded north. A total of 43,885 were captured in the six prefectures in Tohoku – Akita, Aomori, Iwate, Fukushima, Miyagi and Yamagata – in fiscal 2019, more than doubling in five years. While it has been considered difficult for wild boars to pass the winter in the region, the increase in the captures can be attributed to global warming and a growing population of the animal. The prefectures are on the alert, as wild boars not only cause damage to crops but also could … Continue reading

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Record 6,285 bears captured in 2019 in Japan

TOKYO, Sep. 13 – The number of bears captured in Japan was record 6,285 in fiscal 2019, according to a survey by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. Bears had less food in the mountains in autumn last year due to a poor acorn crop across the country. They moved around to look for food, and that increased the number of conflicts between bears and people to 140. The number of bears captured is on the rise, with 1,941 captured already in the first four months of fiscal 2020. The ministry urges farmers to strictly follow bear safety cautions, such as not leaving agricultural products in the fields, to … Continue reading

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Many cases of farm produce theft reported in Japan

TOKYO, Oct. 14 – Many theft cases of agricultural produce and equipment are reported nationwide after April when the government issued a state of emergency to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections. The stolen items range from pigs, cattle, pears, apples, vegetables grown outdoors and harvested rice to beehives and tractors. Since there are no statistics specifying theft in the farm sector, experts say grasping the scale of damage is indispensable to come up with countermeasures. According to the National Police Agency data, the number of confirmed cases of criminal offenses totaled 278,619 between January and August this year, the lowest in the last five years. Among them, the number … Continue reading

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Game meat use lags behind target affected by two pandemics, Japan’s farm ministry says

TOKYO, Sep. 29 – The use of meat from hunted wild birds and animals in fiscal 2019 in Japan was 2,008 tons, up 6.4% from the previous year, but it was still below the target of 2,600 tons, according to the latest survey by the farm ministry of Japan. The ministry said the sales grew slower than expected due to two pandemics: swine flu and the COVID-19. The former forced hunters in virus-affected regions to stop selling boar meat, and the latter pushed down the demand for game meat. So, the Japanese government has set a new goal of increasing the use of hunted meat to 4,000 tons by fiscal … Continue reading

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65% of farmers hit by COVID-19, up 5 percentage points: The Japan Agricultural News survey

TOKYO, Oct. 7 – A survey conducted by The Japan Agricultural News in September showed that 65 percent of farmers who responded said they are either severely or slightly affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, up 5 percentage points from the previous survey conducted in April and May. The results reflect the fact that the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural business is becoming more far-reaching and long-term. In terms of types of farms, beef cattle breeders continued to be hit hard, with 100 percent of them saying they were affected, followed by 91 percent for beef cattle fattening farmers. Sixty-two percent of rice farmers said they were affected, up 13 … Continue reading

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