TOKYO, Oct. 28 ― A recent survey has revealed that crops damaged by wildlife invasions in Japan fell 5 percent from a year earlier, as the central government and local authorities encouraged trapping and hunting wild animals such as boars and deer. Economic losses caused by wildlife was estimated at 16.4 billion yen in 2017, according to the agriculture ministry’s survey. Crop damage caused by wild animals has been declining constantly since 2013, The peak was 23.9 billion yen in 2010. But the survey also showed there was an increase in farm losses affected by wild animals in some regions. The government has instructed the agriculture ministry to look into … Continue reading →

BEIJING, Oct. 27 ― During his groundbreaking visit Beijing in October, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that China may ease its import restrictions on certain Japanese agriculture products, which has been placed in since the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima. “China said it will consider easing the restrictions based on the scientific assessment on food safety,” Abe told reporters after he met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Oct. 26. “We hope the Chinese people will enjoy Japanese produce more, and I believe active trade will deepen ties between the Japanese people and the Chinese people further,” he said. Relations between Asia’s two biggest economies have rapidly … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Nov. 18 ― Japan’s agriculture ministry said on Nov. 16 that a domestic pig at the livestock center park in Gifu prefecture was tested positive for classical swine fever, also knows as hog cholera. The announced came after the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) confirmed swine fever virus in the final analysis. This is the second case of domestic pigs found infected with the swine fever virus in Gifu. In addition, the carcass of a wild boar found in Gifu in September was also found infected with the virus. The swine fever is unrelated to the African swine fever that has broken out in China and other … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Oct. 21 ― Japan’s agriculture ministry has issued an online video to educate farmers on preventive measures to avoid African swine fever, as the highly contagious disease is on the rise in China and beyond. African swine fever is not harmful to humans but is often fatal to pigs and impossible to vaccinate against. The online video, which last two-and-a-half minutes, advises farmers to observe hygiene, to properly monitor people’s movements in farms and to heat animal feed very well as the virus can survive for months in meat products. African swine fever has now reached most of China’s pig-farming regions. According to the Japanese agriculture ministry, the deadly … Continue reading →