Japanese Organic Producers Have Difficulty Meeting Demand For Green Food

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - Japan's 5,000 organic farmers are a minority among the country's 1.96 million commercial farms, but as the trend towards green food continues to rise around the world, they are finding their crops are in high demand. In anticipation of an increased demand for pesticide-free food products following the approval last year of a law promoting organic farming, the Farm Ministry has asked for a 500 million yen budget for research testing, technology development and marketing for 2008.

Growing Japanese preference for organically grown rice and vegetables was reflected in a 2004 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries survey that found 42 percent of consumers prefer to buy green, while another 94 percent are likely to go green in the future.

Even overseas, demand for Japanese organic products is on the rise. Clearspring Limited, a London-based importer, had a four-fold increase in its business, mainly driven by organic products. The firm is the biggest importer of Japanese organic food in the U.K. and supplies to the two largest supermarket chains. Its best selling items include green teas, miso, rice cakes and crackers, vinegars, soy sauces, sake, and soba and udon noodles. Sale of umeboshi or pickled plums is picking up, the Japan Times quoted Clearspring's chairman Christopher Dawson.

Recognizing the business potential for organic items, farmers have started to turn organic. Hokkaido, Tochigi, Niigata and the Saitama prefectures now have organic farmer networks. Hokkaido targets a four-fold growth in the number of organic farmers by 2013.

Following this trend, agricultural experts believe now is the time to place more resource to organic farming. Kiichi Nakajima, chair of Japan's Research Association for Organic Agriculture, said, "Agriculture is now at a major turning point where it must undergo a change to become sustainable, in complete balance with the environment. For Japan, the best path forward is organic farming that values the works of life, while decreasing the burdens on the environment."