When it comes to feeding rice scheme, it smells fishy
- sandayu9
- 2017年2月10日
- 読了時間: 2分
I wrote a column for the Japan Agricultural News( Jan. 17) in which I encourage farmers to be more careful relying on the generous feeding rice production program.
The column starts with words written a story of AGRIO, an online publication of Jiji Press by Mr. WATANABE, Yoshiaki, former administrative vice minister of MAFF of Japan. He says "In viewpoints of S&D of rice, voluntariness, and sustainability, we may have a situation in the feeding rice program." He told me later it is his own opinion.
The generous subsidy up to 1,050,000 yen, or US 9000 dollars per 1 hectare will be paid if you produce the feeding rice at the paddy instead of food rice. It is extremely good. So an increasing number of rice farmers have started to produce it in order to get the payment. But real problem is that if this is a sustainable program or not. Mr. WATANABE thinks it is not, and so do I.
One of the criticism came from the United States. The Tokyo post of foreign agricultural service at the USDA reported the issue in early 2016. Please read part of it bellow:
"Japan’s feed industry relies almost entirely on imported grains. The composition of ingredients in compound feed had been traditionally stable (with the exception of 2012/13 when corn prices soared), with only small adjustments made in the composition depending on the price and availability of ingredients. In MY2014/15, use of rice in feed expanded significantly, cutting into the share of other ingredients to a notable extent. With an increase in feed rice production in 2015, use of rice in feed is expected to expand further in MY2015/16 and MY2016/17, further lowering the use of other ingredients."
