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90 percent of heads of primary agricultural co-operatives (JAs) do not give high marks to the agricultural policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement and revision of the Agricultural Co-operatives Society Law, The Japan Agricultural News survey showed. The survey was conducted in November on heads of the 679 primary JAs nationwide, and 523 responded. More than 90 percent of them said the government failed to follow the Diet resolutions which pledge to protect key farm products in the TPP agreement, and that the law revision would adversely affect management of farm co-ops. Meanwhile, many of the heads expressed willingness to work on increasing … Continue reading →

  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, Dec. 25, asked Choe Okuno, president of the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu) to cooperate in strengthening competitiveness of the farm sector and increasing farmers’ income. In a meeting held at the prime minister’s office for the first time since August, Abe and Okuno also agreed on the need to nurture ambitious farmers. As the meeting was the first one held after the Trans-Pacific Partnership member countries reached a broad agreement, Okuno urged the government to implement long-term measures to cope with market liberalization expected under the agreement, such as legislating financial assistance to support farmers’ businesses. Okuno and other JA group … Continue reading →