Monthly Archives: January 2014

  Senior Staff Writer, Masaru Yamada The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries aims to implement strict rules on geographical indications (GIs) to protect the interests of both consumers and producers of high-quality local specialties from counterfeits. According to the bill on GIs which the ministry plans to submit to the ordinary Diet session scheduled to start on Jan. 24, a third-party institution will be established to regularly check products registered as originating in particular regions, and the ministry will take corrective action if misrepresentation cases are found. As the United States has been reluctant to accept the introduction of GIs, the ministry plans to stipulate rules to disclose GI … Continue reading →

  In an effort to expand the use of locally-grown agricultural products in school lunches, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will offer support and financial assistance to local areas’ initiative to establish a stable supply system in cooperation with farmers. In a related move, the education ministry will conduct scientific research on the educational effects of using local products in school lunches. In its five-year plan to promote food education between fiscal 2011 and 2015, the government set a target of increasing the use of locally-grown products in school lunches to 30 percent or more by fiscal 2015, but the ratio was 25.1 percent in fiscal 2012. Schools … Continue reading →

  In an effort to promote farm products branding, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries plans to legislate protection of geographic indications by submitting a bill to the ordinary Diet session which will begin on January 24. The bill, if passed in the Diet, will enable the government to establish quality standards for goods, including their manufacturing method, which have characteristics associated with particular regions, and set up a third-party institution to certify products under the standards. The government aims to control fake products, as well as taking measures against food misrepresentation cases which occurred at major hotels, restaurants and department stores last year. The planned geographic indication system … Continue reading →

    Keita Takeuchi A research team including Hitachi Zosen Corp. has discovered that phosphate rocks, the main raw material for chemical fertilizers, can be replaced by phosphorus coal extracted from carbonized pig feces to the maximum of 40 percent to create a fertilizer with the same quality. Operation tests were conducted by Osaka-based Hitachi Zosen, University of Miyazaki, Kumamoto University and Research Institute of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries, Osaka Prefecture. Swine manure is considered a low-cost natural resource, but an effective way to utilize it has not been developed. Its procurement cost will be low, since hog raising farms are concentrated in regions such as Kyushu and Kanto. On … Continue reading →