Japan's agriculture crisis Abe's new deal raises concerns

according to a report by the US Business Week on January 2, the Japanese government is implementing policies such as reducing agricultural subsidies, lowering tariffs on agricultural products, relaxing agricultural land controls, and joining the Pan-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement. The implementation of these policies is arousing Japan's domestic agriculture. Worries in the community.

Japanese government subsidies to agriculture accounted for 56% of Japan's agricultural profits last year, a proportion second only to Norway and Switzerland. In November 2013, the Japanese government decided to phase out subsidies to rice farmers over the past four decades to raise the prices of agricultural products, which totaled 160 billion yen (9.28 billion yuan) a year, and reduced import tariffs on wheat, sugar, beef, pork and dairy products by three digits. The purpose of this is to further integrate the power of farmers, thereby increasing yields. According to APEC estimates, the price of Japanese agricultural products is twice the world average.

Robert Feldman (Robert Feldman), chief Japanese economic researcher at Mitsubishi UFJ-Morgan Stanley Securities, commented, "the current agricultural system is still inefficient and affects the country's overall planning of agriculture. Adjusting agricultural regulations is a good way to improve land use efficiency." The original rural land policy was established after World War II, and the land of the landlord class was distributed to the original tenants. With the rise of the Japanese economy, the agricultural population began to engage in industrial production, but strict land regulations restricted the conversion of arable land, forcing a new generation of farmers to resell their land. Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries revealed in an interview in 2010 that 90% of the agricultural population is over 50 years old. Congress has passed a bill aimed at allowing farmers to lease small plots of land to reduce idle land. Abe wants the land to be better consolidated and run by those who are truly determined to specialize in farming and mulberry.

Abe also hopes to join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership agreement and promote trade liberalization to revitalize Japanese agriculture. However, some experts said that Japanese agriculture is uncompetitive compared with major agricultural countries such as the United States and Australia. It is estimated that the initial direct economic loss of Japanese agriculture may be as high as 3 trillion yen (about 174 billion yuan). At present, the Japan Agricultural Association has collected a petition signed by 12 million people against Abe's decision.

(Responsible editor: Shixin)