JAPAN'S farming population has shrunk by one fifth over the past five years and almost halved since 1990, said government data released yesterday in the fast-greying nation.
Only 2.6 million people are now members of farming households in the highly industrialised country of 127 million, the agriculture ministry said in a census it conducts once every five years.
Farmers' average age has crept up to almost 66 in the island nation that imports more than half of its food, and where young people have largely abandoned many rural areas. "It is becoming difficult (for farmers) to find successors, contributing to the ageing of the farming population," said a ministry statistics official.
The official said the shrinking farming population does not necessarily reduce the country's food self-sufficiency rate, as former family plots may be consolidated, improving their productivity.
The survey covered members of farm households that cultivate at least 0.3 hectares, or have annual sales of at least ¥500,000, but did not count employees at farming corporations. AFP
Japanese farmers take down rice from drying racks for storage in preparation for Typhoon Melor winds expected to hit Japan, in Isumi region of Chiba province, Japan, last October. Picture: EPA
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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