Academic review journal No. 126 published by the Policy Research Institute for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on July 31, 2025, introducing the latest research findings in agriculture, forestry and fisheries fields, including fisheries freshness management technology, global food supply and demand outlook, and rural area future projections.
In the opening remarks, Associate Professor Yutaro Sakai of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, discusses the importance of the latest technology in fisheries freshness management under the title "Visualization of Freshness Will Change the Future of the Fisheries Industry." Technological innovations are advancing to quantify and visualize freshness assessment, which has traditionally relied on experience and intuition in the fisheries industry, through IoT sensors and AI image analysis, and the introduction of these technologies is expected to improve fisheries product quality and streamline distribution.
As research results, the International Affairs Team published "Global Food Supply and Demand Outlook for 2034," predicting negative growth in real prices of grains and oilseeds. While global population reaches 8.7 billion in 2034, improvements in agricultural productivity will increase grain production by an average of 1.2% annually, exceeding demand growth of 1.0% annually, predicting that real prices of wheat, corn, and soybeans will decline by 8%, 12%, and 15% respectively compared to 2024.
Regarding rural area future projections, detailed analysis conducted by the Agriculture and Rural Structure Project shows that rural area population will decrease by 35% compared to current levels by 2050, and approximately 12,000 agricultural settlements (about 30% of the total) nationwide may disappear. Regional differences are pronounced, with population decline rates in mountainous and hilly areas reaching 45%.
In research reviews, regarding the current status of women's participation in agricultural committees and agricultural cooperatives, gradual improvement is observed with women committee members in agricultural committees nationwide at 14.8% in 2024 (1.2 percentage point increase from the previous year) and agricultural cooperative board members at 8.3% (0.7 percentage point increase from the previous year), but the situation remains far from the government target of 30%.
The article concludes that it provides multifaceted analysis of technological innovation and social changes in agriculture, forestry and fisheries fields, providing scientific evidence to support policy formulation and practitioner decision-making.