Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

Japan’s exports of agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products increased 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 75.03 billion yen (preliminary figure) in 2016 to hit a fresh record for a fourth straight year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on February 10. Export values of agricultural products including processed foods and candy totaled 45.95 billion yen in 2016, 4 percent up over the previous year. Sales of Japanese rice and beef in overseas markets increased more than 20 percent from a year earlier respectively to 2.7 billion yen and 13.5 billion yen. Exports of forestry products such as plywood were also lifted to the record high … Continue reading →

A breeding farm of British Berkshire pigs’ great-grandprogency (GGP) was born at Sakaki town in Nagano prefecture. The farm was started for the first time in Japan by “BB (British Berkshire) Farm” of a limited company Kurobuta-Shinko Agency (Black Swine Promotion Agency) based at Kagoshima prefecture. BB Farm plans to begin sales of Berkshire pig’s semen in this month. At the farm, some sows have been conceived, which will enable the company to ship piglets to the market next July. Berkshire is one of pig breeds originating from the county of Berkshire in Britain, which is characterized by its better quality of meat, although its size is not so big. … Continue reading →

A case of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), one of infectious livestock diseases, was detected at a dairy farm in Boeun-gun county, Chungcheonbuk-do province located in a central part of the Republic of Korea, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of South Korea (MAFRA) announced on February 6. MAFRA confirmed the first discovery of the disease in the country in eleven months. According to MAFRA, the FMD case was confirmed on February 5, after five heads of dairy cattle infected with quasi-foot-and-mouth disease were reported by the farm in Boeun-gun county, which raised 195 cows. The five cows got water blisters on their teats. The inspection revealed that these … Continue reading →

In 2015, 338 persons were killed in farm-work related accidents, 12 fatalities less than the previous year, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) revealed on February 6. The fatal accidents during farm works have fallen to an all-time low since the MAFF’s survey started in 1971. A fatality ratio of farm-work related accidents, however, increased to 16.1 deaths per 100,000 farming population in 2015, hitting the worst record in Japan. The fatality ratio in 2005 was 11.8 deaths, rising by 4.3 points during the ten years. The MAFF’s survey clearly showed that safety measures had not been fully implemented among farmers and their family … Continue reading →

Full-scale sales of “Shinano Gold” yellow apples grown by Italian farmers started in Europe this winter, a plant variety of which was bred by the Nagano Prefectural Government in Japan. It is the first time for a plant variety created in Japan to be grown in a foreign country, products of which are sold with a brand in other countries. In 2007, the Nagano Prefectural Government signed an agreement with two Italian farmers’ cooperatives, South Tyrolean Fruit Growers’ Cooperative and Val Venosta Agricultural Cooperative. This agreement provided the cooperatives with exclusive licenses to plant seeds and saplings of “Shinano Gold” as well as market their fruits in European countries. The … Continue reading →