The government disclosed a draft of its plan to revitalize agriculture on Monday, December 2, reiterating its determination to double farmers’ income in the next 10 years.
The draft of the agricultural policy plan, submitted to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters for agricultural revitalization, comprises four major pillars – expanding demand for agricultural products, strengthening functions to link supply and demand, maintaining the agricultural industry’s multifunctional role including tourism and invigorating farmers.
The government is scheduled to formally announce the plan around Tuesday, December 10, after making some adjustments, and based on the plan, it will work on revising the basic plan for food, agriculture and rural areas, which is to be revised every five years, by March 2015.
The draft urges the Japan Agricultural Cooperative to reform itself, including its organization and business, to strengthen its sales and cooperation with other industrial sectors to create value-added products.
Under the plan, the government indicates the need to expand demand for agricultural products through increasing exports and seeking new demand in such areas as processing, nursing care food and medicinal uses. It will also step up measures to secure food safety.
The plan also calls for the need to establish a “value chain” which links supply and demand, namely adding value to agricultural products through cooperation of the agricultural sector and other industrial sectors.
To maintain the agricultural industry’s multifunctional role, the government will work on creating a Japanese-style direct payment system for farmers, as well as supporting coordination among different ministries to back up farmers’ activities related to tourism, education and social welfare.
In order to strengthen agricultural businesses, the government will establish an organization to facilitate farmland consolidation and support for young, ambitious farmers. It will also revise its income compensation system and the system to limit rice production to encourage farmers to shift to other crops such as wheat, soybeans and rice for livestock feed.
The plan is set to be revised by June next year, taking into consideration discussions made by the Council for Regulatory Reform and the Council for Industrial Competitiveness.
(Dec. 3, 2013)