Latest news with #rice
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Climate
- Bloomberg
How One Family Farm Made American Sake Possible
The first thing one notices when driving through the plains of east-central Arkansas is how flat the land is. No hills, no slopes, no ridges. In fact, if it weren't for the sporadic patches of forest and a few manmade terraces and artificial levees, the horizon would be a straight line that seemingly goes on forever. This level terrain, along with reliable rainfall and cheap irrigation, makes the farmland ideal for the water-intensive process of growing rice — Arkansas produces more than 40% of the total US rice output, according to the USA Rice Federation. Almost all of that is and has long been American table rice. 'The kind you put gravy on,' says Chris Isbell, a fourth-generation farmer. For decades the same was true of Isbell's low-lying fields, 3,500 remote acres about 30 miles southeast of Little Rock.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rice prices double in Japan as inflation accelerates
The price of rice doubled in Japan in the 12 months to May, data showed Friday, as an acceleration in inflation piled fresh pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of key elections next month. Polls for parliament's upper house are crucial for Ishiba after public support for his administration tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, partly because of frustration over the cost of living. One of the main sources of anger has been the surging cost of the food staple, which has rocketed for months owing to shortages caused by a variety of reasons including supply chain snarls. The price of the grain rocketed 101 percent year-on-year in May, having jumped 98.4 percent in April and more than 92.5 percent in March. That helped push core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, to a forecast-topping 3.7 percent -- its highest level since January 2023 -- and up from 3.5 percent in April. The rice crisis has led the government to take the rare step of releasing its emergency stockpile since February, which it usually only ever did during disasters. But rice is not the only thing pushing inflation up: electricity bills jumped 11.3 percent in May, while gas fees rose 5.4 percent, according to Friday's data. Excluding energy and fresh food, consumer prices rose 3.3 percent, compared with April's 3.0 percent. "Since I'm a temp worker, my salaries have remained stagnant for years, and I see no sign of change in the years ahead," Chika Ohara, 52, told AFP on a Tokyo street. "But prices are going up nonetheless and I feel the impact," she said. - Cash handouts - To help households combat the cost of living, Ishiba has pledged cash handouts of 20,000 yen ($139) for every citizen, and twice as much for children, ahead of the election. The 68-year-old leader's coalition was deprived of a majority in the powerful lower house in October as voters vented their anger at rising prices and political scandals. It was the worst election result in 15 years for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955. The Bank of Japan has been tightening monetary policy since last year as inflation crept up but worries about the impact of US tariffs on the world's number four economy has forced it to take a slower approach. Economists predicted a growth slowdown ahead. Earlier this week it kept interest rates unchanged and said it would taper its purchase of government bonds at a slower pace. "Policy flip-flops and delayed pass-through from producers to consumers mean inflation will slow only gradually in the coming months," said Stefan Angrick of Moody's Analytics. "This will keep a sustained pickup in real wages out of reach, and with it a meaningful uptick in consumption." Factors behind the rice shortages include an intensely hot and dry summer two years ago that damaged harvests nationwide. Since then some traders have been hoarding rice in a bid to boost their profits down the line, experts say. The issue was made worse by panic-buying last year prompted by a government warning about a potential "megaquake" that did not strike. Intensifying fighting between Iran and Israel was also adding upward pressure on energy prices, posing a further risk to the Japanese economy. hih-kaf-tmo/dan
Japan Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan to survey farmers on rice production intentions
The government will survey rice farmers about their production intentions for the next year as well as in five and 10 years, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday. By understanding farmers' medium- and long-term plans on planting areas and others, the government aims to promote a drastic review of its rice policy. It will ask farmers to respond via an online questionnaire until the end of July. "It's essential to realize policies to create an environment in which farmers can produce (rice) with peace of mind in the future," Koizumi said. Currently, subsidies support crop conversion to limit rice production and stabilize prices of the Japanese staple food. The government hopes to study to what extent farmers can increase production ahead of a possible review to the current scheme. The ministry surveys and announces production intentions of rice farmers every year through related organizations. A recent survey showed that the 2025 acreage for rice was the largest in five years as of the end of April. Additionally, the ministry is asking municipalities to develop regional plans for farmland use over the next decade. "We want to confirm the intention of each rice farmer," Koizumi said. "We'll use (the survey results) as a reference if we are to make a major change in our policy direction." He encouraged individuals, including those with feedback for the minister, to share their opinions, saying they should comment freely.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Science
- Bloomberg
Why Rice Is Poised to Survive Better in a Warming World
By In a warming world that's already affecting farming yields, one crop may be better positioned than others. New research looking at future production of six staple crops including wheat, soybeans and sorghum found that rice alone should have the smallest decline in global yields. The results present a sobering picture of how climate change may affect the global food system while also suggesting that there are actions farmers can take to offset some of the losses.
NHK
2 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Japan firms boost rice imports amid jump in domestic price
Japanese companies are ramping up rice imports as high prices for domestic grain make the overseas product competitive even with a heavy tariff. Japan's government imports about 770,000 tons of tariff-free rice every year under a system called "minimum access." However, direct imports by the private-sector face a levy of 341 yen, or more than two dollars, per kilogram. Despite this, corporate imports in April surged to 6,800 tons, or more than double the amount in all of fiscal 2024. And imports last year were the highest in 26 years. US rice accounted for about 80 percent of the April figure. A 5-kilogram bag of California rice sells for about 3,500 yen, or 24 dollars, on store shelves in Japan. In comparison, the average retail price of domestic rice in the week through June 8th was around 4,100 yen, or 29 dollars. That's still higher than imports even after the government sold rice from stockpiles to nudge prices lower. Inagaki Kimio, Research Fellow of Mitsubishi Research Institute, says it's a distorted situation when imported rice with tariffs is cheaper than the domestic crop. "It's most abnormal that domestic rice has become more expensive when the tariffs were introduced in order to make imported rice too expensive to buy," he said. The rice policy analyst says the 2025 harvest in Japan won't be enough to refill government rice stockpiles, while also meeting general public demand. He says the government needs to incentivize farmers to increase the rice crop through the 2026 harvest to stabilize prices.
