Rice production in Japan

Rice production in Japan is important to the food supply in Japan, with rice being a staple part of the Japanese diet. Most people in Japan see this food as a subsequent part of their daily diet.

Rice production is important to the food supply, with rice being a staple part of the Japanese diet. Japan is the ninth largest producer of rice in the world. The rice seasons in Northern Japan last from May–June to September–October. In central Japan, it is from April–May to August–October. In southern Japan the rice season is from April -May to August–September. About 85% of the 2.3 million farms in Japan plant rice yearly. Improved varieties of japonica rice are grown in almost all prefectures in the country. The most widely planted variety is Koshihikari.

The average rice field acreage of a Japanese farmer is very small and rice production is highly slow mechanized. Due to small farms, rice production is considered a part-time occupation by many farmers. The number of Japanese farm households and farm population has declined in recent decades. Rice production has also declined. The decline came about because in 1969, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries has asked farmers to reduce rice acreage; under the Staple Food Control Act of 1942 the Japanese government is formally in charge of all rice production, distribution, and sales. The most striking feature of Japanese agriculture, however, is the shortage of farmland. The 4.63×10⁶ hectares (1.14×10⁷ acres) under cultivation in 2008 has shrunk, with most farmers over 65.

However, the land is intensively cultivated. Paddy fields occupy much of the countryside, whether on the alluvial plains, the terraced slopes, or the swampland and coastal bays. Nonrice farmland share the terraces and lower slopes and are planted with wheat and barley in the autumn and with sweet potatoes, vegetables, and dry rice in the summer. Intercropping is common: such crops are alternated with beans and peas.

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