Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

A new packaging technology useful for keeping strawberries fresh during long-distance ocean transportation was developed by the Kyushu Okinawa Agricultural Research Center, based at Koshi city in Kumamoto prefecture, operated by NARO or the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization. The new packaging system has been worked out with a combination of a special tray for perishable strawberries and a packaging material used for preserving freshness of vegetables and fruits in longer periods. Shipping by ocean is much cheaper than shipping by air. The development of the new packaging technology for long-distance strawberry shipment by sea is now expected to make a major contribution to a further increase in fresh … Continue reading →

Among home-grown agricultural and livestock products with an annual export exceeding 10 billion yen, both of Japanese beef and green tea set new records of exports in 2016, the latest Trade Statistics of the Ministry of Finance revealed. Japanese beef exports enjoyed a larger growth in overseas markets because of increased recognition of its product name “Wagyu” as well as a worldwide boom in the popularity of Japanese cuisine. Overseas sales of Japanese beef increased to 13.5 billion yen in 2016, 23 percent up over the previous year, breaking the record for six straight years. The amount of Japanese beef exports totaled 1908 tons in 2016, 18 percent up over … Continue reading →

Japan and Russia have begun talks on lifting of Japanese import ban on Russian forage in order to stabilize supplies of forage to Japanese livestock farmers, Yuji Yamamoto, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), said at a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councilors on January 31. The Japanese Government has been banning imports of forage produced in Russia because Russia is one of the countries that have experienced outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). However, MAFF is now planning to approve imports of Russian forage if the two Governments can make an agreement on quarantine requirements to prevent the spread of FMD. In late January, Russian … Continue reading →

Japan’s state-trade system of butter and skimmed milk imports will be revised in fiscal 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on January 27. In past years, MAFF made a decision three times in a year on how much Japan should import butter and other dairy products on the basis of the latest figures of demand and supply. This existing import system will be replaced by a new program in fiscal year 2017, under which MAFF makes a decision once a year in principle on a bulk quantity of annual imports of dairy products by estimating import requirements on the basis of past records on demand and … Continue reading →