New tech, cultivation methods used to boost Japan’s rice yields, but retail prices still over 30 percent higher than 2024
Japan’s rice crisis continues despite the new harvest season, with retail prices near record highs. Farmers are turning to mechanization, automation, and methods like dry direct seeding to cope with labor shortages and aging rural populations. The government aims to raise production to 8.18 million tons by 2030, but experts warn oversupply could crash prices.
TOKYO – The new rice season has arrived, but there is no sign that the ongoing rice crisis will end anytime soon.
With average retail prices at record levels, more and more farmers are striving to increase rice production, turning to so-called smart agriculture featuring mechanization and automation and adopting new cultivation methods.
Aging population
Terraced rice fields spread across the traditional satoyama landscape in Nakagawa, eastern Tochigi Prefecture, with harvested fields and forests surrounding the town.
Rice farmer Koichi Oka, 76, was harvesting rice fields with ripe golden ears with a large combine harvester in mid-September. “This year’s yield seems average,” Oka said with a sense of relief. But he still has numerous reasons for concern.
People age 65 and over make up 40% of the town’s population, and an increasing number are giving up farming. Oka owns large machinery and receives numerous requests for rice planting and harvesting. He sometimes goes to a neighboring town to help others.
“Farming is unstable, so I can’t recommend it to my son,” he said. Oka called for building “an environment in which young people can start farming with a sense of security.”
A 46-year-old farmer who cultivates 27 hectares in Usa, Oita Prefecture, expanded his acreage for staple rice production nearly three times from eight hectares last year to 22 hectares this year.
In addition to managing his farmlands with an app, Sakai has started using automated tractors and rice transplanters. “Once you make an investment, it’s hard to go back to the old way. I hope the policy of increasing rice production won’t be easily reversed, even if the government changes,” he said.
Possible answer to labor shortage
One potential solution to the labor shortage is the “Kanden-chokuhan” cultivation method, also known as dry direct seedling of rice, in which seeds are sowed directly into dry fields. Unlike traditional paddy field cultivation, which involves germinating seeds, growing seedlings and then transplanting them, dry direct seeding eliminates the need for mixing soil and water and seedling production.
Tatomi Noen, an agricultural corporation in Chuo, Yamanashi Prefecture, switched to this method for 30 ares of its rice paddies. A representative said the method halved the labor involved while producing an excellent yield.
“We were a bit anxious as we needed to feel our way, but the crops grew well,” he said.
According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, the Kanden-chokuhan method was used in about 20,000 hectares of rice-producing farmlands nationwide as of 2023, but this accounted for only about 1.5% of the total. It requires an initial investment and brings lower yields than in paddy fields, so it is essential to achieve efficiency by consolidating farmlands.
At his farm, it will be necessary to expand the cultivated area to about 40 hectares to bring a profit. In addition, seed-sowing machinery costs over ¥10 million. “We hope the government will help farmers who are pursuing large-scale operations to invest in equipment.”
LDP candidates seek income growth
According to the agriculture ministry, the average price of rice per 5 kilograms sold at supermarkets nationwide between Sept. 15 and 21 was ¥4,246, an increase of more than 30% from a year ago. Rice prices fell to the ¥3,500 range in July following the release of government-stockpiled rice. But the prices later began rising again, approaching the record high of ¥4,285 set in May.
The government has devised a policy to increase rice production to 8.18 million tons by 2030, an increase of about 300,000 tons compared to 2023. All five candidates for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election are also calling for boosting farmers’ incomes and promoting large-scale production.
However, due to the government’s policy of reducing acreage for rice production, crop acreage dropped by 60% from 3.17 million hectares in 1969 to 1.36 million hectares last year, including the acreage for rice for processing. Harvests have almost halved over the years.
Nobuhiro Suzuki, a project professor at the University of Tokyo and an expert on agricultural economics, warns that rice prices may plummet if rice production is increased without careful consideration.
“There is a gap between the prices that producers desire and the prices that consumers desire, and bridging that gap is exactly the role of politics,” he said. “Instead of responding amid the heat of the moment, the approach should be to discuss the future of agriculture from a medium- to long-term perspective.”
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Source : ANN
