Category Archives: Others

TOKYO, April 7 — Japanese agricultural researchers for the first time have developed a new variety of red beans, an ingredient extremely common in Japanese cuisine. Kyushu Okinawa Agricultural Research Center, a southern unit of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), named the new variety as “Kyushu No. 171”. There had only been native varieties of red beans in Japan, and crops had never been developed breeding. The new variety allows making soya processed foods, such as tofu, with pink-color like sakura flowers. The researchers expect to plant the crops in Kumamoto prefecture this year.

FUKUOKA, April 3 – A research team in Fukuoka Prefecture has developed a dual temperature zone container for shipment of fruit and vegetables, which will be tested to export Japanese farm produce to Hong Kong starting later this year. The container can be divided into two compartments of equal size with temperature gap of up to 20 degrees centigrade, enabling shipment of chilled cargo and frozen cargo together in one container, reducing the risk of damaging temperature-sensitive products. The container also comes with a plasma generator to keep the products fresh. Developers hope the containers will pave the way for mixed-load, small-lot exports of high-quality Japanese produce. A research team … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 1 — Japan’s Kindai University is to offer an agribusiness program on intellectual property rights related to food products at its agriculture faculty from September. The program is a first attempt by the agriculture ministry to collaborate with a university on this subject. The ministry hopes investing in education on IPRs may help prepare a new generation to lead Japan’s agriculture industry. The move comes at a time when theft of Japanese agriculture breeds is hurting the nation’s exports. In 2015, Japan set up its GI system to guarantee the protected status of food products, helping farmers to differentiate their products from competing products in the market. Moreover, … Continue reading →

TOKYO, March 29 — The Japan Livestock Products Export Promotion Council (J-LEC) has stepped up efforts to expand exports of Japanese wagyu beef as the meat is gaining global popularity. The group has published guidebooks on Japanese wagyu beef in English, and Cantonese as well as Japanese. The guidebooks were set to distribute to hotels across the country from April. The guidebooks include some recipes that use Japanese wagyu beef, “so that overseas visitors can enjoy the rich taste and fine texture of wagyu beef when they return home,” said a J-LEC official. The group has also produced promotional videos on Japanese wagyu beef to be aired for passengers on … Continue reading →

TOKYO, March 19 — Japanese researchers have developed a new packaging box for table grapes, designed to protect the fruit so it arrives fresh and in good conditions to customers. Table grapes can easily be physically damaged, and poor handling can result in bunch shattering. So, packaging is key to minimizing transportation losses and extending the post-harvest life of fresh grapes. Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) has unveiled the new box that contains layers of cushioning sheets with two big holes. The holes allow different sizes of grapes to be placed in a way to resist the impact of rough handling during transit. Conventional packages place cushion … Continue reading →