Japan’s Agriculture Ministry Starts Survey of Rice Farmers Across Japan on Production Outlook

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:43 JST, June 20, 2025

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has started an online survey of all rice farmers across Japan to understand the mid- and long-term outlook on rice production. The ministry hopes to incorporate the results of the survey in its measures to increase rice production.

The survey, which began on Thursday, will be conducted until the end of July.

The survey asks rice farmers whether they plan to increase, maintain or decrease their rice production for the next year, 5 years from now and 10 years from now. It also asks whether the rice is intended as staple food or for animal feed, and to share any opinions.

The survey is open to all farmers regardless of their scale of operations.

The ministry already reports each prefecture’s rice production trends in a regional plan that determines the policy on future farmland use, however, this survey is expected to reflect farmers’ intentions.