The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) jointly notified prefectural governments on May 17 to persuade agricultural high schools to provide students with education on “Good Agricultural Practice (GAP).”
MAFF and MEXT point out in the notification that GAP will be useful for the students to enhance their qualities and abilities necessary for growing themselves up to human resources who have both production skills and a sense of business management.
The notification also suggests that students should be provided not only with lessons on GAP, but also with opportunities to practice the GAP at school farms.
All the agricultural high schools in Japan are now required to obtain a certification of “Global GAP,” an internationally recognized set of farm standards dedicated to GAP, as well as “JGAP Advance” or Japanese standards aiming at reaching the international standards.
Officials of these Ministries told the faculties of agricultural high schools in the country that GAP will become a more important means for expansion of food markets, while food retail industries have been increasingly demanding their contract farmers to become GAP-certified producers particularly in European and other developed countries.
It is also advised that agricultural high schools should invite GAP certified farmers and export-oriented producers as resource persons at their lessons on GAP farming practice.