Paddy field area temperature 2 degrees lower than city area temperature: NARO and Hokkaido University

HOKKAIDO, Mar. 16 – The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) and Hokkaido University have reported in numerical models that paddy fields contribute to lowering air temperature in summer. They confirmed in the simulations that, on sunny days in summer, the temperature in the area with paddy fields is lower by around 2 degrees than in the urban area and that paddy fields can help control the temperature in a broader area. The research scientifically explained one of the multiple functions of paddy fields. It also finds that this mercury control effect diminishes if carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air increases, and that will make us more susceptible to … Continue reading

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“Fruit Kingdom” Yamanashi creates promotional videos in English to win fans overseas

YAMANASHI, Mar. 13 – Yamanashi Prefecture has created a trilogy of videos in English on the prefecture’s official channel on the video-sharing site “YouTube” to present the charms of its agricultural products. It’s part of the initiative to address potential customers overseas, as delivering face-to-face messages is difficult due to the Covid 19 outbreak. The prefecture has posted the three videos, releasing the first one in mid-February. Each content is about two to three minutes long, all spoken in English. They explain that Yamanashi is called the “Fruit Kingdom” and that it participates in the “4 per mille initiative,” a global program to cut carbon dioxide emissions, for the first … Continue reading

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Japan’s agricultural cooperative organizations sign deal on business tie-up with convenience store chain FamilyMart

TOKYO, March 17 – The National Federation of Agriculture Cooperative Associations (JA ZEN-NOH), the marketing arm of Japan’s agricultural cooperative (JA) group, and Norinchukin Bank, the group’s financial arm, announced on March 16 that they have signed a business tie-up deal with Itochu Corporation and FamilyMart Co., Ltd. on sales and product development of farm produce. They will cooperate on boosting sales of homegrown agricultural products at FamilyMart convenience stores. They are also planning to make FamilyMart’s cashless payment app FamiPay usable at the JA group’s facilities including farmer’s stores. JA ZEN-NOH and Norinchukin Bank acquired FamilyMart’s stocks worth 57 billion yen — 10 billion yen by JA ZEN-NOH and … Continue reading

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Agricultural production value declines two years in a row reflecting drop in vegetable prices

TOKYO, March 13 – Japan’s gross agricultural production totaled 8.8938 trillion yen in 2019, down 1.8 percent from a year before, posting a year-on-year decline for two consecutive years, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on March 12. The value of production decreased below 9 trillion yen for the first time since 2015. The ministry attributes the decline to the drop in prices of vegetables due to abundant harvest. By prefecture, the production value was lower than the previous year in 36 prefectures, three-quarters of the total. Reflecting the decline in production value, farmers’ income declined 4.8 percent from a year before to 3.3215 trillion yen, posting a … Continue reading

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Japan’s soy milk production hit record high in 2020, reflecting household consumption growth

TOKYO, Feb. 16 – Soy milk production from January to December 2020 in Japan was record-high 430,534 kiloliters, according to the survey of Japan Soymilk Association. The use of plain soy milk for home-cooked dishes is expanding. However, the production growth slowed down in the October-December period as the number of convenience store shoppers dropped primarily in business districts due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The production volume of soy milk products in 2020 grew 5.3% year-over-year to 430,534 kiloliters. “People today use soy milk quite regularly for cooking hot pots and other dishes and for coffee,” according to the association.

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