【News】 Give our reliable mates another chance—NPO’s attempt to reintroduce horse plowing (Oct. 5, 2014)

Kotaro Yamada (Tsuru-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture) A non-profit organization (NPO), Tsuru Environment Forum, is trying to reintroduce the tradition of horse plowing in Tsuru-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture. In late September, the NPO held a seminar for local farmers to learn how to work with horses. During the seminar, one person leads a horse while another holds the plow, following the horse. Many of them had difficulties leading horses. They found that it requires skills to work with the horses in perfect harmony and plowing the field straight is not as easy as they thought. However, the reactions of the farmers were quite positive. Miwako Akiyama, 41, found that the horse plowing is … Continue reading

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【Focus】 Japan-Australia economic partnership agreement – how would it influence domestic industry? (Oct. 3, 2014)

  The government is expected to submit a bill to the current Diet session to approve the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Among the key agricultural items, rice will be exempted from tariff cuts, while tariffs on wheat, beef, some dairy products and sugar will be reviewed in the fifth year after the agreement takes effect. Are the measures under the agreement sufficient to minimize the negative impact on the domestic industry?  Careful discussions are necessary in the Diet to approve the agreement, especially because the Diet resolution which called on the EPA to exclude key farm products from tariff eliminations or set them aside for future renegotiations has become … Continue reading

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【News】 Agricultural co-op report focuses on conflicts between US and Europe over food safety rules (Sept. 30, 2014)

  Ongoing negotiations between the United States and the European Union on food safety rules under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership should be monitored closely, as the outcome of the talks could become the global standard in the future, the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu) said in its newsletter published this month. In the September issue of the International Agriculture and Food Letter, JA-Zenchu reports on the TTIP negotiations, in which the U.S. and the EU are at odds over such issues as labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods, distribution of beef farmed with the use of growth hormones and geographical indications (GI). As the Doha round of … Continue reading

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【News】 Corns in mixed feed for pork pigs can be replaced with ground unhulled rice (Sept. 29, 2014)

  Replacing all the corns used in mixed feed for pork pigs with ground unhulled rice was found to have no effect on growth of the pigs, according to the Hyogo Prefectural Technology Center for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Compared to the mixed feed, the feed cost can be reduced by 10 percent, and the amount of lipid like oleic acid also increased. As one pig consumes 300 kilograms of unhulled rice before it is shipped, the center proposes this as effective utilization of rice for animal feed that the government has tried to increase in production. There were some cases in which some of the corns, whose prices remain … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Measures necessary to encourage rice farmers amid plunge in rice prices (Sept. 27, 2014)

  The nationwide rice crop index as of Sept. 15 stood at 101, against 100 for an average year. The situation should be regarded as good, if not for the growing seriousness of excessive supply of rice. The drop in rice prices is becoming so severe that rice growing areas are calling for measures to stabilize prices and supply-demand balance of rice. The government must listen to their voices and take specific actions. Although the crop index might change in the future due to typhoons, the trend of excessive supply is likely to continue. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimates the rice yield for 2014 will be 7.9 … Continue reading

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