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Japan pushes rice as solution to food fears

In the face of the soaring rice prices sparking protests and riots around the world, Japan’s advice to its people is simple: eat more rice.

That seemingly topsy-turvy message is evidence of the near-complete isolation of the rice market in a country that grows more than it needs and protects farmers from cheap imports.

While international prices have almost trebled this year, Japan’s domestic rice prices are steady, though still more than three times the price of Thai rice.

Raising rice consumption would help boost the percentage of Japan’s food produced at home. That figure has dwindled to 39 percent, the lowest among the major industrialised countries, reviving the government’s food security fears.

A switch from wheat to rice could eventually weigh on international grain prices, because Japan is the world’s fourth biggest wheat importer, with plans to import nearly 5 million tonnes this fiscal year.

Since many consumers would be reluctant to give up noodles or bread, the agriculture ministry is considering subsidising farmers and millers to produce flour from rice as a substitute for wheat, an agriculture ministry official said.

Though still more expensive than wheat flour, it could prove a hit with some consumers.

Japan has 2.7 million hectares of rice paddies, enough to produce far more than it currently harvests.

Prices are such that the export market is minimal for Japanese rice, seen in Asia as a luxury food. reuters

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