Tag Archives: News

【News】 Geographical indications a major issue between the U.S. and EU (March 23, 2014)

  Senior Staff Writer, Masaru Yamada “Is it only the producing areas in Italy which have the right to name their cheese Parmesan Cheese?” Protection of geographical indications is becoming one of the major points at issue in the agricultural sector negotiations for a free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. As markets for value-added farm products are growing rapidly worldwide, conflicts between them have grown fiercer than ever before. 55 out of a total of 100 U.S. Senators jointly sent a bipartisan letter on March 11 to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, strongly criticizing the EU’s stance concerning … Continue reading

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【News】 Greenhouse-grown banana trees gaining popularity (March 16, 2014)

  Kotaro Yamada How about experiencing banana picking in your house? Okuhida Farm in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, sells banana plants which can be grown at home to bloom and bear edible fruit. The farm offers budding trees of Super Mini Banana, a small-size variety which grows to a height of around 60 cm, planted in 30-cm plant pots. If grown under sunlight in a room with a temperature of 5 degrees centigrade or higher, bananas on the plants will become ripe and sweet for eating in about three months, according to the farm. Okuhida Farm, which is run by a Japanese-style inn with a hot spring, grows banana trees in … Continue reading

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【News】 Ruling party asks government to consider risks of poor harvest when simulating rice supply and demand (March 12, 2014)

  The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tuesday showed a simulation of rice supply and demand for 2023 as part of the government’s effort to disclose information in line with its new agricultural policy of letting farmers produce rice based on their own judgment instead of following the government-set targets. The ministry’s simulation, shown at a joint meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Agriculture and Forestry Division and Research Commission on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Strategy, estimates that demand for rice consumed as staple food will decrease by around 80,000 tons every year from 7.87 million tons posted in 2013, and will reach 7.03 million tons in 2023. Some … Continue reading

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【News】 2:46 p.m. – Three years after (March 12, 2014)

  Kotaro Yamada On March 11, three years after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, a man was visiting a memorial monument in Ukedo in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, to pray for the victims of the disaster at 2:46 p.m., the time when the earthquake struck the area. Chimneys of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, some 6 km away from the monument, can be seen standing in the distance. Ukedo still remains designated as an evacuation zone after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis, restricting people from entering or living in the area, hampering restoration from the disaster. In the nearby fields, which used to be … Continue reading

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【News】 A set of rice varieties from six Tohoku prefectures put on sale in Tokyo (March 7, 2014)

  Koike Seimaiten, a rice shop in Harajuku, Tokyo, started selling a set of six organic, low-pesticide or low-chemical rice varieties grown in six prefectures in the Tohoku region to support the region’s revitalization efforts. As March 11 marks the third anniversary of the gigantic earthquake and tsunami which hit the region, President Tadao Koike, 42, says he hopes to connect rice growers in Tohoku and consumers together by becoming a reliable supplier of Tohoku rice. More than 50 percent of rice sold annually at the shop is from Tohoku. The 6,000-yen package includes 300g each of Akitakomachi from Akita Prefecture, Sasanishiki from Miyagi Prefecture, Hitomebore from Iwate Prefecture, Masshigura … Continue reading

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