Japan is expected to produce 7.35 million tons of rice this year, marking a record increase of 560,000 tons from the harvest last year, the farm minister said Tuesday, amid persistent demand for branded rice.
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the projected amount of rice, a staple food in Japan, is based on his ministry's survey of farmers as of the end of June, which showed they plan to use 1.36 million hectares of land for growing it, up 104,000 hectares from 2024.
Farmers are apparently motivated to produce more as prices of branded rice stay high, even as the average price of the grain has declined with the releases of the government's stockpiled rice aimed at easing the price spike from last summer.
"I want to appreciate the effort of rice farmers," Koizumi told a press conference, adding his ministry will consider measures to address concerns regarding the declining output of rice for sake brewing.
The increase of 560,000 tons is the largest since the rice survey began in 2004 and is 160,000 more than the previous forecast as of the end of April.
The survey is conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries three times a year before the fall harvest -- at the end of January, April and June.
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