Japan Press Weekly

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2014 October 15 - 21 TOP3 [ECONOMY]

Agriculture minister to JCP Kami: gov’t will lessen farmers’ anxieties

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko at a House agricultural committee meeting on October 16 demanded that the government take measures to urgently deal with the collapse in the price of rice paid to farmers.

Many rice farmers receive advance payment for rice production which amounts to less than half the cost they actually need for the production which is about 270 yen per kilogram on average. Coupled with the oversupply rice on the market, underpriced rice is often on sale. A growing number of rice producers cannot now have a good prospect to plan for next year’s rice-planting .

Kami pointed out that the agricultural administration neglecting to ensure the stabilization of the rice supply and the rice price should be held responsible for this situation. She criticized the government for depending too much on market mechanisms.

Agriculture Minister Nishikawa Koya said he also wonders “whether it was good or not to allow rice trading to be subjected to market mechanisms”.

To the JCP Dietmember who said, “Rice farmers are worried the price of rice could remain low,” the minister responded, “We will figure out a way to alleviate their worries.”

Past related articles:
> Farmers call for countermeasures to deal with rice price collapse [September 19, 2014]
> Do-nothing gov’t brings about dramatic drop in domestic producer rice price [August 26, 2014]