Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

Japan’s February farm exports fall, hit by Chinese New Year

TOKYO, April 11 — Japan’s agricultural exports dropped 4% year-on-year in February, a fall in eight months, hit by fewer working days due to a long Chinese new year holiday in exporting markets. The exports of products such as agri-food, meat and seafood totaled 66.6 billion yen in February, data from the agriculture ministry showed. The 4% decline in February exports was a disappointing performance, compared with a 35% jump in January. Still, combining January and February, the nation’s agricultural exports rose 12% to 129 billion yen from the same period a year earlier. Japan has set a target of 1 trillion yen in agricultural exports by 2020, and it … Continue reading

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Japanese researchers develop new variety of red beans

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.

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Japanese frozen snow resembles white radish daikon grater

UONUMA, April 8 — After snow plows cleared a northern Japan field, what appeared to be big thorns emerged in Uonuma city. The fields were being treated to increase effective farmland area in Niigata prefecture, but worked had been halted due to an onset of heavy winter snow. Snow dug and loaded by a power shovel transformed into what appeared to be thorns. It also resembles a large-toothed grater for white radish, daikon.

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Japan farmland 2017 prices show decline for 23 straight years

TOKYO, April 7 — Falling demand from farmers has pushed farmland prices down for the 23rd consecutive year in Japan, according to a survey conducted by the National Chamber of Agriculture. Prices of rice fields in Japan dropped 1.2% t0 an average of 1.2 million yen per 10 acres in 2017 from a year earlier, and those of crop fields dipped 1.1% to 891,000 yen. Rice fields have declined 40 percent since they peaked in 1994 (2.2 million yen), and crop fields have dropped 35 percent since the peak of 1994 (1.37 million yen). The chamber attributed the falling prices to trade liberalization, allowing more imports of cheaper food from … Continue reading

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Japan’s LDP to submit proposals on farm export expansion

TOKYO, March 24 — Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been drawing up a package of proposals to meet the government’s target of 1 trillion yen in annual agricultural exports by 2020. The LDP’s committee that deals with agricultural exports held a meeting on March 23. It brought stakeholders interested in exporting to the table to help the committee focus on the issues. That included Mitoku Co., a trading company specializing in bio products, and Maruyama Tea Products Corp., a Shizuoka-based tea maker. During the meeting, agriculture ministry officials pointed out several key issues: ensuring that Japanese products are recognized for high safety standards; making supply chains work for … Continue reading

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