Reviewing Rice Price Surge and Rebuilding Supply Policies | Chapter 2Sustainable Agriculture and Food Self-Sufficiency

In Japan, rice, vegetables, fruit, livestock, and other products are produced according to regional climates and soils, but soaring crude oil prices and inflation, fluctuations in agricultural product prices, climate change, and the decline and aging of farmers are affecting production and management. The central challenge of agricultural policy is to maintain food self-sufficiency capacity while effectively combining limited farmland, human resources, and production materials and raising land and labor productivity.

Total agricultural output in 2024 was 10.7801 trillion yen, up 13.6% from the previous year. Rice output was 2.5524 trillion yen, up 68.0%; vegetables were 2.5510 trillion yen, up 9.8%; fruit was 1.0112 trillion yen, up 5.4%; and livestock was 3.6654 trillion yen, down 1.3%.

Agricultural production income in 2024 was 3.9649 trillion yen, up 20.5% from the previous year. Agricultural income per agricultural management entity was 1.686 million yen for all entities and 4.942 million yen for core business entities.

Although output and income increased under the influence of higher prices, the number of agricultural management entities and workers continues to decline, making structural transformation through expanded management scale, incorporation, technology adoption, and farmland consolidation and concentration indispensable.

There were 836 thousand agricultural management entities in 2025, a 22.3% decrease from 2020. Core agricultural workers numbered 1.036 million, with an average age of 67.7 years; 721 thousand were aged 65 or older, accounting for 69.6% of the total.

Fewer than 30% of entities have secured successors within five years, and the number of new farmers is also trending downward. Consultations through agricultural management and farming support centers, succession plans, matching, farming funds, and support for introducing machinery and facilities are positioned as measures to secure the next generation of farmers.

For consumers, rising prices for rice and vegetables are pushing up agricultural output value, while preparedness for supply fluctuations caused by weather disasters, pests, and livestock infectious diseases is directly linked to securing a stable food supply. Revenue insurance and agricultural mutual aid support producers' business continuity and consequently underpin supply to the market.

In local communities, corporations and community-based farming organizations that serve as recipients of farmland are expanding their scale and undertaking farmland and waterway conservation, job creation, processing and sales, and branding of regional products. The more farmland declines and deteriorates and agricultural water facilities age, the more important consolidation for core farmers and joint management involving residents become.

In 2025, part-time and semi-core business entities accounted for 72.5% of agricultural management entities and 30.3% of managed farmland. Production activities across entire communities, including diverse farmers, affect the maintenance of farmland and rural society.

Companies have expanding opportunities to enter smart agriculture, agricultural support services, processing and logistics, intellectual property, and exports, while the profitability and borrowing dependence of agricultural corporations remain challenges, requiring stronger management capabilities, financing, and human-resource acquisition.

Policy management must advance not only the quantitative securing of farmland and production infrastructure but also data utilization, online administrative procedures, disease control, safety, the environment, and women's participation in an integrated manner, while implementing measures according to the circumstances of farmers and resources in each region.

To secure farmers, support is provided for introducing and repairing machinery and facilities needed for business succession, incorporation, preparing succession plans, and matching with people wishing to transfer management. In 2023, there were 43,460 new farmers, including 15,890 aged 49 or younger. Agricultural high schools are established in all prefectures, and agricultural colleges in 41 prefectures. In fiscal 2024, agricultural college graduates numbered 1,755, including 834 who entered farming after graduation.

The number of corporate management entities reached 33,819 in 2025, an increase of 10.1% from 2020. Group management entities accounted for 42.0% of agricultural product sales and 28.3% of managed farmland. Entities enrolled in revenue insurance numbered 103,441 in 2025, representing 29.8% of entities filing blue returns.

Under farmland policy, the farmland bank leases dispersed farmland and reallocates it to core farmers. In fiscal 2024, the leased area was 63 thousand ha, the subleased area was 72 thousand ha, and the area newly consolidated for core farmers was 25 thousand ha. Farmland area in 2025 was 4.24 million ha, and the cultivated land utilization rate in fiscal 2024 was 90.4%.

For measures against farmland deterioration, 24 thousand ha of newly deteriorated farmland arose in fiscal 2024, while 8 thousand ha was restored for use. The area of deteriorated farmland was 257 thousand ha at the end of March 2025. Agricultural land is secured through the agricultural promotion area system and the farmland conversion permit system, with a farmland area target of 4.12 million ha for 2030.

For production infrastructure development, of the 2.32 million ha of paddy fields in 2024, 1.61 million ha had plots improved to approximately 30 ares or more, 150 thousand ha had large plots of 1 ha or more, and the general-purpose area was 1.12 million ha. Among aging core agricultural water facilities, facilities exceeding their standard service life accounted for 59.4%, while core waterways accounted for 49.5%; there were 1,886 sudden accidents in fiscal 2024.

In smart agriculture, the area sprayed with pesticides and other substances by agricultural drones reached 1.196 million ha in fiscal 2024. Under the Smart Agriculture Technology Utilization Promotion Act, production-method innovation implementation plans and development and supply implementation plans are approved, with tax and financial support provided. Agricultural support service providers numbered 6,316 entities in 2025.

For employment and safety measures, the number of agricultural employees reached 540 thousand in 2025, while foreign workers in the agricultural sector numbered 64,826. In 2024, there were 287 fatal agricultural work accidents and 59 heatstroke deaths. Seat belt use while driving on roads will be mandatory for ride-on tractors manufactured from January 2027 onward.

Regarding women's participation, there were 11,589 certified female farmers in fiscal 2024, accounting for 5.5% of certified farmers. The fiscal 2030 targets are 30% for agricultural committee members, 20% for agricultural cooperative executives, and 10% for land improvement district directors. The number of entities obtaining GAP certification was 7,414 in fiscal 2024.

For disease control, as of the end of March 2026, highly pathogenic avian influenza in the 2025 season had resulted in 23 cases across 15 prefectures, with approximately 5.52 million birds subject to culling. For classical swine fever, a cumulative total of 102 cases across 25 prefectures has resulted in approximately 440 thousand pigs subject to culling. As an antimicrobial resistance measure, the target is to reduce the quantity of veterinary antimicrobials used in the livestock sector in 2027 by 15% compared with 2020.

For research and value creation, efforts are advancing in variety development using AI and breeding big data, the agricultural data collaboration platform WAGRI, startup support, GI registration, and intellectual property protection. There were 167 domestically registered GI products at the end of March 2026. Competitiveness and administrative operations are to be improved through the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Intellectual Property Strategy 2030 and the next online application system targeted to become operational in October 2026.