The government will allocate more funds for prefectures with larger decline in government-set rice production targets, so that the prefectures can promote changes to other crops, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries told prefectural governments’ officials Wednesday, December 25.
The decision came as part of the government’s efforts to decrease nationwide production of rice varieties consumed as staple food, in addition to setting production limits, as declining consumption of rice by Japanese people is prompting the government to offer various incentives for farmers to grow other crops, including wheat, soybeans and rice varieties used for animal feed and processed foods.
Since the government’s target to limit production of rice consumed as staple food will drop by 260,000 tons in fiscal 2014, it plans to allocate JPY 80.4 billion for prefectures to subsidize other crops. Out of the total budget, JPY 62.4 billion, up JPY 13.1 billion from this year, will be provided in the beginning of fiscal 2014 to promote growing crops other than rice subject to the production target.
The ministry said it will decide the amount allocated to each prefecture by taking into account the drop in each prefecture’s rice production target and the harvesting area of crops other than rice included in the target.
The remaining JPY 18 billion, up JPY 13.4 billion from this year, will be provided during fiscal 2014 for additional assistance, including funds offered by prefectures to farmers who introduce high-yield varieties of rice for feed and rice for producing rice flour, and to those who have signed a multiyear contract to grow rice for processing. This year, similar assistance has been provided through support measures for farmers growing rice for the government’s emergency stockpiles.
(Dec. 26, 2013)