Agricultural Policy on Rice: Deepen Debate on Revising Acreage Reduction Policy

Editorial

14:26 JST, July 8, 2025

The postwar agricultural policy on rice that has given more consideration to producers than consumers has revealed its limitations due to the high prices of the grain during the so-called “rice shortage crisis in the Reiwa era.”

It is hoped that each political party will actively discuss new measures to ensure that the people can eat rice with peace of mind.

In its rice policy, the government has focused on maintaining prices by reducing rice paddy acreage in consideration of the large number of small and midsize farm operators. It abolished the acreage reduction policy starting from crops produced in 2018, but still provides subsidies to farmers to shift production to purposes such as soybeans and rice meant for use as animal feed, effectively maintaining the policy.

Since summer last year, rice prices have risen and are now more than double the previous year’s level, becoming a social problem. It is obvious that the inflexible production adjustment led by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has failed to adapt well to changes in supply and demand.

The risk of poor harvests is increasing due to global warming and other factors. Amid the severe international situation, it is imperative to establish a stable rice production system from the perspective of food security. The issue will be how to revise the acreage reduction policy.

However, no specific reform methods for the acreage reduction policy or measures to strengthen the production base can be seen from the pledges made by each party. Rather, they focus only on income compensation or financial support measures for farmers.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has stated that it will review rice paddy policies to stabilize farmers’ business and will “secure a drastic budget” for that purpose, but concrete measures are unclear.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has said that it will introduce a subsidy of ¥23,000 per 1,000 square meters to farmers to secure food and maintain farmland. The Democratic Party for the People also aims to establish a basic payment of subsidy of ¥15,000 per 1,000 square meters, in principle, for food security.

Farmers are aging rapidly and the shortage of people taking up the profession is serious. It will be necessary to stabilize their income first, and then to shift to an attractive rice policy that motivates them.

When considering income compensation, the government should work out specific measures in line with such a broad direction as enlarging the scale of operations of farmers to improve price competitiveness and increasing exports to expand the production base.

The complicated distribution of rice is said to have further spurred the soaring prices. There also are strong voices asserting that the agriculture ministry fails to properly grasp the actual situations in production and distribution. Discussions on how to address these problems should also be deepened.

Meanwhile, the Japan Innovation Party has proposed a policy to temporarily lower high tariffs imposed outside the framework of the duty-free rice import quota called “minimum access.” It will also be important to consider what imports should be like in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 8, 2025)