Aging farmers face extreme temperatures as they struggle to maintain Japan's rice crop

climate change is hurting the harvest of rice, long a cornerstone of Japan’s diet.

Climate change is affecting farming and food supply everywhere, yet the fossils that have controlled the fossil economy remain in power, backed by herds of climate change deniers.

Yes there has been a drop in production, but it is also a fact that consumption of white rice in Japan is down as well.

There was a recent "scare" about a lack of rice, but where ever I went shopping, there was literally "tons" of it on shelves. Ok maybe I exaggerated a bit, at least a 100 bags of different varieties, and no one "hogging" it either.

Japanese rice farmers are over subsidized and many SHOULD be out of business we pay FAR too much in Japan for rice!

The most widely grown variety is Koshihikari, which is less heat resistant. Even so, older farmers have shown a reluctance to switch to other varieties. Farming ministry data show that only around 15% of Japanese paddy fields have adopted heat resistance variants.

Koshihikari is like a venerated god in Japan, especially amongst the farmers themselves who have grown it and eaten it all their lives. It does not surprise me that they won't adopt another rice strain, they'd be so miserable around meal times....

Japan Milled Rice Production by Year

https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=jp&commodity=milled-rice&graph=production

People are eating less rice and replacing it with bread for breakfast.

 The average age of agricultural workers in Japan is nearly 69, among the oldest in the world, and older people are especially vulnerable to heatstroke.

The drop in harvest in Japan was partly to blame for this year’s widespread summer rice shortage, according to officials. 

At least now they admit not because tourist.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/Japan-rice-prices-up-30-to-40-as-tourists-lift-demand

Researchers want to develop more resilient strains against heat as temperatures are projected to continue rising. Masutomi recommends that variants tolerant of temperatures up to 3 degrees Celsius higher should be introduced across Japan by the 2040s. But it’s a long process. It can take up to 10 years to develop a new variant.

So during ten years people need to in Japan pay expensive price for rice?

It is not difficult to foresee a "perfect storm" of crop failures in major rice-growing areas due to climate change. Add this to Japan's low food sufficiency ratio and it's easy to understand why so much attention is paid to rice production. I can remember in the autumn of 1991 when months of steady rains damaged the crop to the extent that many people cut their steamed rice with konyaku, a food item with even less nutritive value than white rice.

You can increase production of rice in Hokkaido but there is only so much arable land so that would affect the production of wheat, corn, soy beans, melons, etc.

No mention of the foreigners eating all the rice as they enjoy a full Japanese breakfast.

“It takes a half year to produce rice. The heat and the work that we have to endure during that time is really tough,” said rice farmer Mitsumasa Sugimoto, 77.

It is a that rice cultivation is a labor intensive job.

*a fact

The average age of agricultural workers in Japan is nearly 69, among the oldest in the world, and older people are especially vulnerable to heatstroke.

Here is where Japan agricultural integrity, security needs to be fully supported apricated. not only by the government, much more importantly by the next generation.

I witness this every day walking "Soy and Bailey", Ino Kochi,

The farmers toiling the rice co-ops are "golden agers" many display a lifetime of effort resolve, outwardly battered out working from dawn dusk to maintain essential land-based rice/veg supply chains.

Rice is rice. Import it a tenth of the price and let those 69 year old farmers retire in peace. No need for heirs to take on the burden. Use the land for more profitable purposes. A win-win for everyone.

Use the land for more profitable purposes.

Yoy can’t eat money though. At some point , someone has to grow the food.

Anyway what do you have in mind to make this land more “profitable” ?

Growing rice looks tough, both a science and an art form.

Great photos by the way.

new BS excuse to increase the rice price.

mark my word! the rice price will increase!!!

Anyway what do you have in mind to make this land more “profitable”?

Use your imagination. Agriculture is one of the least profitable uses of land. Factories, shopping centers, housing complexes. If it were my land, I would rather make more money by leasing it out than working in the hot sun.

They refuse to modernize!

Mechanize. California's San Joaquin Valley is hot and arid. It is also famous for growing very high quality Japonica rice. If you have ever eaten Kokuho brand rice, that is one of several high end California grown brands of Japonica rice.

In California the rice fields are laser leveled. The fields are flooded to a depth of only 20 cm. Rice is planted by aircraft. Soon after planting there will be an aerial application of pesticide and herbicide. Because the seeds are planted densely as the rice grows it shades out weeds, minimizing the need for additional herbicide applications. When the rice is mature the fields are drained and the rice is mechanically harvested by machines with air conditioned cabs. There is almost no reason to do any kind of manual labor growing rice this way and is extremely economical of both manpower and of water.

Terrace rice farming is labor-intensive, with much of the work done by hand or small machines. In areas like Niigata, which have wide open spaces and large rice fields, machines are used for every aspect of the growing and harvest.

Tomorrow, we will take delivery of new rice. 30 kg of organic brown rice for ¥8,500. ¥566/2 kg.

Apparently you have never made an offering of rice at the Butsudan. Sake is used in rituals like weddings and at shrines. Rice is more than rice in Japan.

Rice is rice.

In California the rice fields are laser leveled. The fields are flooded to a depth of only 20 cm. Rice is planted by aircraft. Soon after planting there will be an aerial application of pesticide and herbicide.

The level of environmental destruction from spraying massive amounts of pesticides and herbicides and flying planes around and using electricity to dry rice is probably why it’s too hot for people to farm by hand anymore. I’m not saying you’re wrong but we can’t just “smash the environment” all the time.

Only a third of Japanese rice production is koshihikari. Two thirds is other varieties.

High temps in Niigata will shift koshihikari production north, to Akita etc. Existing paddies in Hokkaido too. It won't replace soy etc. because soy is not grown in paddies. You need major earthworks, nowadays months of heavy machinery work, to turn regular fields into irrigated paddies.

All kinds of changes are afoot with rice production in Japan, with lots of older folks giving up and signing their fields over to larger companies with bigger and more efficient machines, drones for spraying, etc. There is a lot of rationalization going on.

PTownsendToday  06:42 am JST

climate change is hurting the harvest of rice, long a cornerstone of Japan’s diet.

Climate change is affecting farming and food supply everywhere, yet the fossils that have controlled the fossil economy remain in power, backed by herds of climate change deniers.

I am not denying the Earth is heating up and agree there is climate change. My only question though if it is us thats doing it where were we 10,000 years ago when the Earth heated up and melted the ice?

wallaceToday  09:17 am JST

Tomorrow, we will take delivery of new rice. 30 kg of organic brown rice for ¥8,500. ¥566/2 kg.

very cheap!, where can I buy this organic rice??. I bought my organic white rice for more than ¥4500/ 5kg

Cooperative farming Japan is a culturally a lifelong commitment.

Begins and ends right there.

National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations

https://www.zennoh.or.jp/english/

Change here is simply unthinkable.

Fossil fuels strike again.

true about california, but they are massive fields. hard to justify a $1 million machine for the small fields in japan.

on the other hand, being pig headed about importing rice has its own price. the ldp created a system to pay anyone with a small patch of rice.

again, the price of political corruption.

https://x.com/TonyClimate/status/1796892229107331139

The level of environmental destruction from spraying massive amounts of pesticides and herbicides and flying planes around and using electricity to dry rice is probably why it’s too hot for people to farm by hand anymore. I’m not saying you’re wrong but we can’t just “smash the environment” all the time.

You completely missed my point. The way rice is grown in California greatly reduces the amounts of pesticides , herbicides and water compared to traditional forms of rice growing. Because the rice is planted by air, the plants are much more dense and the shade created deters weed growth, and that reduces the need for herbicides.

One degree isn't that much for plants, but we have been getting spikes of much higher temperatures, colder periods and bouts of extreme rain. Extreme weather events play havoc with crops. El Nino cycles make this worse, so we got bad drought last year. Thankfully we got a lot of rain early this year and less heat, but the flooding and late spring was tough on farmers.

Non-GM, hybridised crop development has staved off hunger for the last century, but there are limits to the variables we can tweak (shorter, so more wind resistant, larger grains and shorter period to harvest) and we will need more than new varieties. Some agriculture will need to go undercover (controlled environment and reduced insect predation), some (like coffee) may need to move geographically, whilst farms need to be adapted to prevent flooding and maintain water supplies during droughts. That means more local reservoirs/lagoons, use of drip irrigation, and perhaps different crops. Just as Australia is in the front line of extreme weather events, farmers (and specific crops like rice) are too. Farmers need financial support for infrastructural investment and affordable insurance policies if they are to continue to take the risk of planting crops. They also need ready access to [migrant] labour. A higher percentage of food cost needs to go to the business of producing it, and less to those who process and market it.

Maybe some of those in the food retail industry who have been taking the majority of the profits for years would like to get out into the fields at the crack of dawn and get their hands dirty under a very hot sun.

These issues are global, but the age of the farmers may top them all in Japan. Farming is physically demanding, particularly in areas that do not easily accommodate machinery. Japan lacks prairies, has lots of mountains and will need more space for solar and turbines.

@Peter Neil You are spot on. Cheaper imported rice should be an option. LDP wants the rural votes so 'no'.

Terrace rice farming is labor-intensive, with much of the work done by hand or small machines.

That's true. And contrary to what you said last month on the topic.

Desert Tortoise

In California, there are no mountain rice terraces.

Tomorrow, we will take delivery of new rice. 30 kg of organic brown rice for ¥8,500. ¥566/2 kg.

It’s cute you actually believe any rice grown in Japan is organic. Maybe my Japanese standards, but not by the standards of any other country. Due to the growing environment, Japanese rice requires vast amounts of pesticides and other chemicals. It is simply nonsense to call any Japanese rice “organic”.

it isn’t that no technology is used. japan has been using large rc helicopters (about 8 feet in length) to spray large size fields for over 10 years.

a neighbor in ibaraki was in the business.

69 is a pretty high average age. but all the kids want the bright lights of the cities.

japan will eventually have to change to import more rice, or import more “trainees.”

To start, change the laws to allow for fully autonomous equipment, it would resolve a lot of the labour problems, particularly in terraces.

Using genetic markers can shave 2 years off of the time it takes to develop new varieties and contra-season production of f2 or f3 generations in Australia or for rapid seed increase would further shorten the development stage significantly.

Immediately allow GMO varieties in addition to genetic editing.

For plains, the field size could easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled in size allowing for larger more efficient equipment.

"Force" retired land owners to sell their land by putting a high property tax on rented or abandoned rice fields to allow younger farmers to grow their businesses.

Privatize and split up JA - it is an inefficient monopoly that results in inefficient production.

BTW, the "rice shortage" is baloney. There has been no shortage of koshihikari rice at Costco in Canada, exported from Japan by JA and sold for half the price as in Japan.

David Brent

Tomorrow, we will take delivery of new rice. 30 kg of organic brown rice for ¥8,500. ¥566/2 kg.

It’s cute you actually believe any rice grown in Japan is organic. Maybe my Japanese standards, but not by the standards of any other country. Due to the growing environment, Japanese rice requires vast amounts of pesticides and other chemicals. It is simply nonsense to call any Japanese rice “organic”.

We know the young farmer and his growing method. Friend of the family. You can also source organic brown rice.

Due to the growing environment, Japanese rice requires vast amounts of pesticides and other chemicals.

Yep. Japanese summers are a pest fest. Organic I think not.

wallaceToday  11:36 am JST

Tomorrow, we will take delivery of new rice. 30 kg of organic brown rice for ¥8,500. ¥566/2 kg.

David Brent point of view and doubts about japanese organic standards makes sense.

No offense but please give me your source, I want to buy and investigate your cheapy crops. Thanks

Not at ¥566/2kg. Can you buy any brown rice for that price?

Yes. I can get rice anytime for cheaper.

@wallace

Any idea if that "organic rice" has been properly stored and inspected? I would be careful about mycotoxins if the rice, in particular the brown rice has not been stored properly and has passed food safety inspections making it safe for human consumption.

Okayama's 100% Organic Dried Brown Rice Koji (Marukura) - 500gr

https://thejapanstore.jp/products/koji_019?srsltid=AfmBOor2l-CsIPPfYIEXPUG9pQzrWTCk0QHMOGxvcvKWIJ_pHfEHKwNB

Completely pesticide-free Japanese rice from Yamagata (White rice / Brown rice)

https://exotic-jp.com/en/products/organic-yamagata-yakuzen-mai-japanese-short-grain-brown-rice?srsltid=AfmBOopSSwDikR86A9Tg8YAlteVApb6u8dqJJqY9UZCZ52HODn0aAOX0

There are many more.

proxy

@wallace

Any idea if that "organic rice" has been properly stored and inspected? I would be careful about mycotoxins if the rice, in particular the brown rice has not been stored properly and has passed food safety inspections making it safe for human consumption.

It's new rice. Just harvested. It is not the first time we have eaten this rice.

Weevils in rice can be a real problem. Luckily they aren't toxic, just gives it extra crunch.

Wash your rice. Especially white rice to remove some of the starch. Wash until the water runs clear.

"As weevils do not compromise the safety of the rice, consumers need not throw the rice away if there are weevils present. They can simply remove the weevils from the rice during washing and before cooking. The presence of rice weevils are a sign of poor storage practices and do not make the rice unsafe for consumption."

Don't wash it too much though. It loses its taste. I got my technique down to tee.

Production volume of rice from certified organic cultivation in Japan from fiscal year 2015 to 2022

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280790/japan-certified-organic-rice-production-volume/

"Japan has around 2.41 million hectares1 of paddy fields, but only around 2,900 hectares2 have received organic JAS certification."

Yep. Japanese summers are a pest fest. Organic I think not.

production of all foods, inc wheat (for bread) includes pest controls, hence increasing production costs, I feel sorry for the old guys (and their families) in the article, it is their only method of earning a rural living, why do we all not make more time in the morning to have a steamed b'fast. instead of grabbing a bread on th morning commute?

You don't modernize and become competitive, you face extinction. Period. Farmers here have LONG been over-subsidized, and it's become so rampant that prices are through the roof for even domestically grown produce, and imported goods have tariffs so high that, again, the farmers don't need to compete. So, good riddance. Eventually the government will have to face facts and lower prices on imported goods, as well as making them more available, since they refuse to stop subsidizing local farmers who can't make the output.

As for Koshihikari and not switching, well, don't -- just stop complaining that the rice can't endure the heat. White rice is one of the unhealthiest things you can eat anyway; it has an incredibly high glycemic index, leading to insulin resistance (and diabetes), weight gain, and chronic disease. It is no surprise that we have seen increases in diseases not present in the family histories of people when brown rice was the common staple. Stick to brown rice, or imported varieties of rice with a lower glycemic index.

Dobwe realize those old persons will all stopp working within 15 years ?

For Japan and rice local production, it is either a heavy jump into modern practises (GM, surface merging, AI mechanization, etc.) Or forget it in that tomorrow future.

Working so hard over 70, many must have health issues, or are they robot built ?

At least, those farmers should be praised for their love of the land.

I bought 10 KG for 3200 from my mate in Hyogo who grows it. Dunno what type, not really interested in Japanese rice.

Well, you don’t half get some oldies in them fields, used to see old dears in their 80’s, backs bent over and all that. Bit of a culture shock really.

No problem. Japan's population is due to drop from 124 million to 80 million. Not going to need so much rice.

Mr. Kipling: "No problem. Japan's population is due to drop from 124 million to 80 million. Not going to need so much rice."

So short-sighted. There will be no one to grow and harvest it, and not enough tax money coming in to even subsidize it anymore since all money is going to defense these days instead of solutions for the aging population problem. I love it when people think the current social systems and benefits we enjoy will stay in place when the population, even at 80 million in the future (if it delines that far in actuality), will be half elderly and unable to work. By that time Japan will be a third-world country again. You won't have the same clean and efficient train systems with just less people on the morning commute, you won't have healthcare that is 70% covered (it'll only be 60% by the end of this decade, in fact), you won't have a pension at all (or if you do you'll only be able to get it from 75 years of age), and there will be even less food self-sufficiency than the 40% Japan has now.

No problem. Japan's population is due to drop from 124 million to 80 million. Not going to need so much rice.

So 6 people think that 80 million will need the same amount of rice as 123 million. Also take into account changing diets, fewer are eating rice 3 times a day.

If there is a shortage, Japan could always go to the world market and stop protecting Japan's part time farmers by allowing them to charge 5 x the world price for their rice.

who caused this crisis is nothing but LDP regime who continued to disrespect and fail food policy.

But, what they are now crazy for is benefiting domestic or US arms corporations, not stable and inexpensive food supply. and, Japanese major media avoid to even mention about politics fault.

That’s not the reason you’ve been downvoted. The problem is that farmers have an average age of over 60 across all of Japan. In that population decline, farmers will disappear much faster than the population drops. Losing a third of the country’s population but over 70 percent of its farmers is a recipe for disaster.

So 6 people think that 80 million will need the same amount of rice as 123 million. Also take into account changing diets, fewer are eating rice 3 times a day.

Climate change is affecting farming and food supply everywhere, yet the fossils that have controlled the fossil economy remain in power, backed by herds of climate change deniers.

PTownsend hit the nail on the head.

Backwards, outdated with subsidies and rules that have kneecapped agriculture in Japan.

Have you ever once seen a forage pea/barley mix planted immediately after rice harvest to produce silage or to be baled for beef fodder in Japan? Neither have I.

It is not rocket science, get the government completely out of the market of all agricultural production in Japan.

@NB

That is a categorically false statement from PTownsend. Facts matter.

India is forecast to have a record rice harvest. Global milled rice production is projected to increase from 521.52 MT in 23-24 to 530.44 MT in 24-25.

The total global supply of grains was 3556.86 MT in 2023, 3601.96 MT in 2024 and is projected to be 3613.69 MT in 24-25.

Cotton productions shows the same trend over the past 3 years and the global supply of oilseeds was 749.86 MT in '23, 777.48 MT in '24 and is projected to be 818.67 MT in 24-25.

If you eat bread in the morning, the 10 year average global production of wheat in 761.08 MT and is projected to be 794.08 MT in 24-25.

Oh, wait. Perhaps PTownsend meant something different than I though when they said "Climate change is affecting farming and food supply everywhere." Perhaps they were saying that climate change is causing global greening which is increasing food supply globally?

The climate has been changing for 6 billion years, and it is no warmer today than it has been in the past. Those that worship at the altar of the warmist, are welcome to google medieval warm period. When it was warmer than today just a short time back in "pre-industrial" days. The church of the warmist suffers from a ridiculously egotistical idea that they control climate. Man has zero power over the burn rate of the sun, which is the ONLY heat input for Earth.

Plenty of fact-deniers downvoting facts today but that is the world we live in; never let facts get in the way of a narrative.

RyderToday 03:32 am JST

Humans can't survive in the climate from millions of years ago without a severely degraded quality of life.

Man has zero power over the burn rate of the sun, which is the ONLY heat input for Earth.

We control how thick the carbon dioxide blanket around us is, though.

Oh, wait. Perhaps PTownsend meant something different than I though when they said "Climate change is affecting farming and food supply everywhere." Perhaps they were saying that climate change is causing global greening which is increasing food supply globally?

Badly depleted aquifers and reduced volumes in rivers and reservoirs is reducing farm output. You can't grow food without water and global warming has if not caused droughts it has certainly exacerbated the effects of droughts.

@Desert Tortoise

Again that is false. Global farm output is increasing.

Not only does global food production continue to increase but it is now happening with less and less use of land. The land use for agriculture peaked about 20 years ago. In fact, global food production is still increasing at the same steady rate as in the past 70 years.

“There are no longer any successors,” says Kaiami. “We are heading toward extinction.”

.

Thats the problem, summed up.

Anyone living in or regularly visiting the countryside knows the dire the problem is.

So 80 million will need more rice than 123 million? Got it.. lol

 Even so, older farmers have shown a reluctance to switch to other varieties. Farming ministry data show that only around 15% of Japanese paddy fields have adopted heat resistance variants.

Sounds like the elderly people are just stubborn. No. They know the taste of the new rice is not as good. The article should have researched that.

Mechanization is not easy. Who pays for that? Most farmers are not rich and do not have big rice paddies. They may well choose more manual labor. Besides, I'll pass American rice which has been grown in a rich of pesticides and herbicides.

@Nicolò

Once again, facts matter, one cannot make up fake facts to fit a narrative.

First, herbicides are pesticides.

Secondly, regarding the use of pesticides on cropland, which includes rice, the US uses 2.5 kg of a.i. (active ingredient) per hectare.

Japan on the other hand, has one of the highest rates of pesticide use on the planet; 11.8 kg of a.i. per hectare.