JAPAN: The farm ministry called for domestic...

JAPAN: The farm ministry called for domestic agriculture to modernize but gave no indication that it was considering a freer market for rice. “On rice, the basis (objective) is still to be self-sufficient,” a ministry spokesman said. Although Japan’s market is closed to foreign rice, Japanese farms still must adopt a more market-oriented approach to expand production and sales, and actively recruit younger farmers, the ministry spokesman said. A recent report noted that Japan’s agricultural self-sufficiency, in calorie terms, fell to 48% in 1989 from 79% in 1960. Self-sufficiency in all grains dropped to 30% from 82%. As the world’s largest net importer of farm products, Japan must put the brakes on its growing dependency on foreign products to secure a stable national food supply, the official said.