last night,NHK TV program “Food Defense Line”I saw.
I only watched it partway through, and it was reporting on the current state of dairy farming in Hokkaido.
We have been advocating for a long time that food is life, not only for people but also for the country, and this issue has now become a reality and is approaching our eyes.
In the midst of two wars with no end in sight following the coronavirus pandemic, there are major issues at hand for the livestock industry, including ours. = Now that the world's population has exceeded 8 billion and will increase to 10 billion by this century, A food crisis is a reality in which food shortages are occurring in the world = An endless battle for feed has begun around the world. ⇒ Soaring feed prices ⇒ Business deficit ⇒ Decrease in producers ⇒ Insufficient supply of protein sources to consumers ⇒・・・・・・
It is now essential to switch from imports to domestic production. Japan cannot afford to leave idle farmland idle. There are still few companies, but some companies are moving in that direction because they believe it is important for young farmers to increase production of feed crops (soybeans, wheat, corn, rice, grass, etc.).
I think so. Really. However, policies with this kind of momentum have existed before. It reminded me of when the national farmland development project began in Fujisawa Town in the late 1980s.
The National Farmland Development Project is one of the agricultural promotion policies that began in the 1950s. Approximately 30 years later, plows were put into Fujisawa Town, and the brave sounds of bulldozers and large heavy machinery scraping away at the mountains echoed, and before we knew it, about 400 hectares of bare farmland appeared. However, the agricultural environment in Japan at that time was dire. This did not lead to agricultural development. At that time, we were asked to jump into it.
As a stakeholder, I have closely watched and experienced the history of farmland development projects, including those in other locations. In fact, there seem to be few success stories nationwide. With that in mind, I hope that the project to promote domestic food and feed crop production that will probably be developed in the future will be able to strengthen Japan's future foundation in the long term.
Shizu Hashimoto
