The Japanese Government plans to invest US$36m in developing and promoting automated farm technologies over the next 12 months, in a bid to counter the country’s aging farmer demographic, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
With the average of average age of Japanese farmers now approaching 67, Makiko Tsugata, senior analyst at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, said the time to act is now.
“There are no other options for farmers but to rely on technologies developed by companies if they want to raise productivity while they are greying,” Tsugata told the South China Morning Post. “The government should help them adopt new technologies.”
Agrigultural ministers and ambassadors from seven countries, including the US, Germany and Britain, have gathered in Japan this week to discuss the challenge of meeting rising global food demands. In his opening address to the delegates, Japanese agriculture minister Hiroshi Moriyama outlined that attracting younger generations of farmers was a significant problem for a number of countries around the world.
“Ageing farmers are threatening the sustainability of agricultural communities in Japan as the population globally is expanding and raising the need to boost food production to meet demand,” Moriyama said. “We, as the members of the Group of Seven nations, share common problems and want to discuss them together for a solution.”
