TOKYO, Aug. 26 – Japan’s calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate fell to a record-low 37 percent in fiscal 2020, down 1 percentage point from a year before, due to weak demand for rice, the agriculture ministry said on Aug. 25. The figure tied with the rate marked in fiscal 1993 and 2018, when the nation had seriously poor rice harvests. It has become even more difficult for Japan to achieve its target of raising the food self-sufficiency rate to 45 percent by fiscal 2030. The nation’s food self-sufficiency potential indicator also worsened due to shrinking farmlands. The food self-sufficiency ratio, which indicates how much of domestic food supplies are covered by … Continue reading →

ISHIKAWA, Aug. 19 – The Ishikawa Prefectural Government said that Ruby Roman, a high-grade grape variety grown exclusively in the prefecture, has been registered as a trademark in South Korea in 2019 and 2020 by an unidentified person. Application for a variety registration in South Korea, which could have been taken as a countermeasure, is no longer possible because the period for filing the application overseas for the variety has expired, leaving growers with no options. The prefectural government is aiming to take stronger measures to prevent illicit outflow of seeds and saplings from the country or overseas distribution of products using the name Ruby Roman, making use of the … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Aug. 10 – Production of wagyu beef totaled 161,000 tons in 2020, up 9,000 tons, or 6 percent, from a year before, according to a survey by the agriculture ministry. The volume of production increased for four years in a row since 2017 and the ministry attributes the rise to the livestock producers clustering program that helped empower farmers’ businesses. In 2018, the ministry set a target of doubling the annual wagyu production from some 150,000 tons at the time to 300,000 tons in 2035 and has been taking measures to achieve the goal. Due to the decline in the number of breeding cows following the 2010 foot-and-mouth disease … Continue reading →

TOKYO, August 9 – The farm ministry of Japan has recently created virtual reality (VR) videos that offer a virtual experience of accidents in the agriculture, forestry, fisheries sectors, and the food industry. These industries have higher accident rates than others, and the videos aim to raise safety awareness further. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) also anticipates using the movies in training by prefectures and local agricultural cooperatives. MAFF produced six 3-minute VR videos on accidents in four sectors-livestock, food manufacturing, wood, and fishing-in collaboration with private companies. For example, the video for the livestock industry workers offers a virtual experience of a cow attack that broke … Continue reading →