[/floatr]Washington Post: In Hungry World, Japan's Farmers Are Stuck With High-Priced Rice
When it comes to rice, Japan inhabits a strange and faraway planet. Consumption of rice has been falling for nearly half a century, yet rice paddies still account for 60 percent of all farmland. Rice farms here are inefficient and tiny -- about 4,000 times smaller, on average, than rice farms in Australia. Yet Japan's harvest vastly exceeds domestic demand. But what's truly otherworldly about this country's rice is its price...The price of rice on international markets has nearly doubled since January, to about $1,000 a ton. But it remains an absolute steal compared with rice grown in Japan, which costs more than $2,300 a ton..."As far as our rice is concerned, we would like all the world to have some," said Masaaki Edamoto, director of rice policy planning..."Unfortunately, we are not at a price level where we can sell it abroad"...more...
