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Annual Report on Agriculture Calls for Still
Greater Acceleration of Reform At a Cabinet meeting on May 18, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Yoshiyuki Kamei presented and secured approval
for the Fiscal 2003 Annual Report on Food, Agriculture
and Rural Areas. While drawing attention to the fact that
the decline in the prices of agricultural
products has led to a fall in profitability,
even among large-scale farming concerns that
are making an effort to cut costs, and is
delaying structural reform, the Report says that there are prospects for progress
in the WTO agricultural negotiations and
the negotiation of free trade agreements
(FTAs). It also stresses the importance of
addressing reform and change in agricultural
policy, including the introduction of cross-product
sector measures for the stabilization of
the farming businesses of "core farmers",
with a sense of urgency. This year's Report sets out issues in preparation for the drafting
of the Basic Plan for Food, Agriculture and Rural
Areas outlining the basic objectives of agricultural
policy that is to be approved by the Cabinet
next March, including the introduction of
farming business stabilization measures,
a review of systems relating to core farmers
and farmland, and the establishment of environmental
protection measures. The aim is to stimulate
national debate. With regard to farming business stabilization
measures, the Report states that "a considerable effort"
will be required to achieve the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' (MAFF)
target for the structural reform of rice
farming, which is that, by FY 2010, farming
concerns cultivating around 12 hectares should
account for 60% of all land under rice. With regard to the review of systems relating to core farmers and farmland, as more farmers
born in the late 1920s and early 1930s begin
to retire from farming, there are fears that
the area of cropland lying idle, including
flat land, will increase. The Report stresses the need for collective measures
for the concentration of farmland. Basic Vision for Reform Includes Cross-Product
Sector Direct Subsidies From 2007 On May 24, a meeting of the government's
Headquarters for the Promotion of Policies
for Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas (led
by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi) approved
a Basic Vision for the Reform of Agricultural
Policy, presented by Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries Yoshiyuki Kamei, and agreed
to pursue the reform of agricultural policy
on the basis of the Basic Vision. The key elements include the introduction
of cross-product sector measures designed to
stabilize the farming businesses of "core
farmers", including the creation of
a Japanese-style system of direct payments,
with an emphasis on increasing the scale
of farming operations. The Headquarters plans
to submit draft legislation relating to these
measures during the ordinary session of the Diet in 2006, with a view to their application
to agricultural products grown in 2007 onwards. The Basic Vision sets out MAFF's thoughts on the Basic Plan for Food, Agriculture and Rural
Areas outlining the basic objectives of agricultural
policy that is to be approved by the Cabinet
next March. As a basic stance on reform,
it proposes a shift from "defence"
to "offence" in agricultural policy. In addition to the farming business stabilization measures, the review of systems relating
to core farmers and agricultural land,
and the environmental protection measures
that are pillars of the Basic Plan, the Basic Vision includes measures to secure food safety
and peace of mind, to promote exports of
agricultural products, and to promote autonomous regional revitalization and local regeneration. By way of farming business stabilization measures, the Basic Vision proposes the adoption of a "Japanese-style"
measures, including direct payments. It calls
for the process of reform to be accelerated
with a view to establishing an agricultural
structure in which 60% of cropland is cultivated
by some 400,000 "core farmers",
for production to be geared to demand and
for farming operations to be conducted on
a larger scale. With regard to the review of systems relating
to core farmers and agricultural land, the
Basic Vision proposes a "zoning" system that
would classify farmland according to use
and make a distinction between land used
by core farmers and land used by residents
of urban areas, and a review of regulations
on the conversion of agricultural land to
other uses. It also proposes a review of
conditions on agricultural production corporations
renting and buying land and a review of regulations
on entry into the agriculture sector. If
no problems arose, "special zones for
the structural reform of agriculture",
in which ordinary joint stock companies are
permitted to rent agricultural land, would
be established around With regard to promoting exports of agricultural
products, the Basic Vision calls on the government to press foreign
countries to change systems that present
barriers to Japan's exports, such as animal
and plant quarantine systems. Revised Animal Infectious Diseases Law Passed A revised Law for the Control of Infectious
Diseases in Animals, incorporating measures
to control and prevent the spread of avian
influenza (fowl plague) was passed on May
26. The changes center on heavier penalties for farmers and
other businesses entities raising poultry
who violate the obligation to report outbreaks
of the disease, and measures whereby the
government will compensate half the losses
farmers incur due to the ban on the movement
of chicken meat, eggs, etc. Most of the measures
come into effect over the next week, but
the heavier penalties for farmers will come
into effect in late June, at the end of the
notification period. A Cabinet meeting on May 28 decided government
ordinances relating to the revised law. The
ordinances limit the scope of compensation
to live poultry (e.g. chickens) and their
eggs, and stipulate that the government will
make up half of any fall in sales, additional
feed costs incurred due to the movement ban,
incineration costs relating to the disposal
of poultry and poultry products, etc. Compensation
is limited to poultry because the raising
period is short and any delay in shipping
due to a movement ban will cause a sharp
fall in market price. The revised law provides heavier penalties
for livestock owners who violate the obligation
to report anomalies, applicable to owners
of all types of livestock, including cattle
and swine as well as poultry. MAFF, Ministries, Producers' Associations
to Establish Liaison Council for Promotion
of Agricultural Exports The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (MAFF), together with the various
government ministries and agencies and producers'
associations concerned, plans to establish,
this summer, a joint public-private sector
"Liaison Council for the Promotion of
Exports of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries
Products and Foods" (provisional name)
that will promote exports of agricultural
products and foods produced in Japan. The
Liaison Council will act as a "standard
bearer" for agricultural exports. The
government as a whole will address issues
such as the smoothing of import procedures
in countries to which Starting in September, MAFF will be holding
a series of exhibitions and meetings for
business discussions, largely in The membership of the Liaison Council will
be made up of representatives of a range
of bodies including MAFF, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Health,
Labour and Welfare, JETRO (Japan External
Trade Organization), the Prefectural Councils
for the Promotion of Japan Brand Exports,
the JA Group and other agricultural organizations,
and associations of trading companies. The Liaison Council will also serve as a
forum for discussion and information exchange
to help the ministries and agencies concerned
work together to tackle barriers to Japanese
exports. In connection with the promotion of exports,
there are issues that need to be discussed
with the governments of countries to which
Government to Select "Farming, Mountain
and On May 14, the government Headquarters for
the Promotion of Policies for Food, Agriculture
and Rural Areas is to select 30 model cases
of communities that are pursuing local regeneration
initiatives based on the agricultural, forestry
and fisheries industries, and will publicize
them around Japan as "Farming, Mountain
and Fishing Villages Rising Up". The
aim is to enable other communities to learn
from pioneering initiatives launched by municipal governments, agricultural bodies,
farmers' organizations and local companies
and diffuse the benefits throughout Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who heads
the Headquarters for the Promotion of Policies
for Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, Minister
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yoshiyuki
Kamei and other government ministers will
inspect the selected cases, discuss them
with those involved, and publicize them on
government websites, and through mail magazines
and seminars. The government defines "Farming, Mountain
and Fishing Villages Rising Up" as "examples
of communities that are thinking and acting
for themselves". The examples selected
will include communities whose creativity
and original thinking in introducing a new
crop or developing the processing of local
produce or direct sales stores on their own initiative,
has helped to stimulate the economies of
farming, mountain or fishing villages and
to secure employment. As specific areas in which cases are to be
selected, the government has listed (1) the
supply of tasty, safe and trustworthy food,
(2) environmentally friendly use of local
resources, (3) business innovation through
the introduction of information technology,
(4) the exportation agricultural, forestry
and fisheries products, and (5) exchange
between cities and farming, mountain and
fishing villages, including food awareness
education. The cases selected will be communities
that are taking a coordinated approach to
two or more of these areas of action. MHLW Will Not Change Domestic Standards in
Response to OIE's New Standards on Specified
Risk Materials At a general meeting held in Paris on May
27, the OIE (Office International des Epizooties/World
Organization for Animal Health), which prescribes
international standards on measures to combat
diseases among livestock, decided revisions
to its standards on BSE (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy) countermeasures. The revisions
will be applied to countries where the risk
of an outbreak of BSE is medium or higher,
and include (1) extending the range of "specified
risk materials" (SRM) to include all
parts of the intestine and not only the distal
portion of the ileum (the final section of
the small intestine) to which it has been
limited until now, and removing SRM from
cattle of all ages, and (2) relaxing the age after which SRM
other than the intestine must be removed
from 6 months to 12 months. On May 28, the Ministry of Health, Labour
and Welfare responded that it did not intend
to change The new OIE standards came into effect on
May 28. However, the OIE's standards have
no binding power and the decision whether
or not to adopt them is left to member countries. MAFF Basic Policy on FTAs: Sensitive Items
to be Treated as Exceptions On June 9, the fourth meeting of the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
FTA Headquarters decided basic policy on
the treatment of agricultural products in
the negotiation of free trade agreements
(FTAs) with The basic policy makes it clear that MAFF
will see to it that the FTA negotiations
take account of the need to ensure the safety
and trustworthiness of food for the people
of Government-level negotiations with Ban on Imports of Chicken from US Lifted
for All but 6 States On June 9, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries (MAFF) lifted the ban on imports
of chicken and chicken products from all
parts of the However, the ban on imports of chicken and
chicken products from the states of Connecticut,
Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey,
and Texas, where the end of the outbreak
involving a strain of lower pathogenicity
has yet to be confirmed, remains in place. Since early February this year, a series
of outbreaks of avian influenza had been
reported in the As regards the World's First Seedless Loquat Bred in The System to Predict Arrival of Rice Crop The National Agriculture and Bio-oriented
Research Organization and the Japan Atomic
Energy Research Institute announced on June
2 that they had developed a system capable
of predicting the arrival of leafhoppers
in Leafhoppers generally arrive in western The new system is an application to the leafhopper
of technology originally developed by the
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute to
predict the dispersion of radioactive material
in the atmosphere. The system uses sophisticated
mathematical techniques similar to those
used in weather forecasting to make detailed
predictions of wind direction and force. It is able to predict the long-distance migrations
of leafhoppers, which cover distances of
1,000 km or more, with a high degree of accuracy.
In tests carried out last year, the system
successfully predicted the arrival of the
first leafhoppers on June 12. The prediction
success rate over a 40-day period in June-July
2003 was 74%, about the same success rate
as achieved in forecasting rain in the The rice-growing regions of The address of the website is http://agri.narc.affrc.go.jp/ FY 2004 Appropriate Production and Shipment
Volumes for Mandarin Oranges and Apples On May 25, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries (MAFF) held a meeting of the
Council on Food, Agriculture and Rural Area
Policies Fruit Subcommittee, which decided
appropriate production and shipment volume
forecasts for mandarin oranges and apples
produced in 2004. Reflecting the surplus
stock of fruit juice, the appropriate production
volume of mandarin oranges, which are in
an "off" year, was adjusted downwards
by 40,000 tons to 1.11 million tons. Shipment
volume for fresh consumption was set at 860,000
tons, a similar level to 2003, but the shipment
volume for juice was reduced to 95,000 tons. Appropriate shipment volume of mandarin oranges
for canning was set at 30,000 tons. As the volume of mandarin oranges produced
this year is expected to be around 1.14 million
tons, a production adjustment of around 30,000
tons will be required. Production of apples this year is expected
to be around 880,000 tons, and appropriate
production volume was set at 870,000 tons,
a similar level to 2003. Appropriate shipment
volume was set at 780,000 tons. Of this,
shipment volume for fresh consumption was
set at 635,000 tons and shipment volume for
juice was set at 95,000 tons and shipment
volume for canning was set at 30,000 tons.
Per Capita Rice Consumption Falls Below 60
kg: the Need to Rediscover Meals Centering
on Rice Annual per capita rice consumption in The survey divides consumers into consumer
households and producer households. Per capita
consumption in consumer households, which
was already below 60 kg in FY 2001, fell
to 58.2 kg in FY 2003, down 0.9% on FY 2002.
Among producer households, consumption in
FY 2003 declined by only 0.2% to 75.4 kg.
Although consumption among consumer households
mirrored the overall trend, consumption among
producer households was higher in FY 2003
than in FY 2002 for 6 out of 12 months, and
the downward trend appears to have slowed. Last year's rice harvest was a poor one,
and retail prices rose, but the decline in
rice consumption fell at a similar pace to
previous years, and did not show a particularly
sharp fall. It seems that the decline in
consumption is due more to changes in dietary
habits than to price. The decline is thought
to be due to a general shift away from a
Japanese-style diet centered on rice, an
increase in the number of single-person and
two-person households which do not cook rice
at home and the decline in numbers of the
generations in which households still consume
large quantities of rice. While rice consumption is falling, the incidence
of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes
is rising. This has more to do with the shift
away from a Japanese-style diet centered
on rice than the health benefits of rice
itself. The fact that meals no longer center
on rice means that they are now relatively
high in fat and that people are taking in
more calories than they require which makes
them fat and prone to lifestyle-related diseases.
Obesity is a global problem, and the WHO
(World Health Organization) recently adopted
a "Global Strategy on Diet, Physical
Activity and Health" which warns of
its dangers and urges national governments
to take steps to encourage better dietary
habits including the consumption of fewer
lipids. As the The government guidelines on dietary habits
urge us to eat cereals every day and keep
the amount of energy we derive from sugars
to an appropriate level. In other words,
we should eat meals centered on rice. The
institutions and organizations concerned
have been saying this for many years. However,
as is clear from the fall in rice consumption,
it is an issue that needs to be addressed
with vigor and in a concerted manner with
all sections of government working together. Thanks to improvement variety and flavor
count, Japanese rice tastes very good indeed.
How lucky we are to be able to manage our
health while eating tasty food. We should
rediscover the fact that a Japanese-style
diet is truly an oishii [good: literally "tasty"] lifestyle. (from an editorial in the May 26, 2004 issue
of the Nihon Nogyo Shimbun) |