Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

TOKYO, Nov. 28 – Shine Muscat grapes, a premium variety developed in Japan, were grown in China in the area of at least 53,000 hectares in 2020, according to an investigation by the Japan Association for Techno-innovation in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The cultivation area was more than 30 times that in Japan. The growing area in China for Benihoppe strawberries, also developed in Japan, totaled 44,000 hectares in 2019, 8.4 times the cultivation area in Japan for all strawberry varieties. While Japan revised the Plant Variety Protection and Seed Law in April to prevent brand fruits and other newly developed plant varieties from being taken abroad, the figures indicate … Continue reading →

ISHIKAWA, Nov. 27 – Participants of the International Conference on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), held in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, adopted a communique on Nov. 26, calling for continuing sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystems and harmony with environment cultivated in GIAHS sites. The GIAHS is a project established by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with the purpose of maintaining the land use that protects biodiversity, traditional agriculture and farming methods that make full use of the environment, rural culture and landscapes. There are currently 62 systems in 22 countries that have been designated as GIAHS. Officials of the FAO, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 11 – The United States has lifted an import ban on Japan-grown fresh melon fruit, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on Nov. 10. Melons can be shipped to the U.S. after meeting certain requirements, including obtaining a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Plant Protection Station stating they are free of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus that causes crop diseases. The ministry estimates that Japan will make shipments worth about 3 million yen to the U.S. in a year following the lifting of the ban. The U.S. government had been prohibiting imports of fresh melon fruit from Japan to prevent pest intrusion. As there had been … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 14 – Roughly 40 percent of leaf tobacco farms in Japan, 1,729 farms, are likely to stop production in 2022, in response to Japan Tobacco Inc.’s proposal to reduce the total tobacco cultivation area. The area where tobacco cultivation will be terminated is expected to reach 1,822 hectares, more than 30 percent of total domestic cultivation. Japan Tobacco has made the proposal for the first time in a decade amid shrinking tobacco demand due to such factors as stricter smoking regulations. Tobacco growers are also struggling with heavy workloads and difficulty to secure successors. After the firm started accepting applications from tobacco farmers nationwide to halt production along … Continue reading →