Editorial

15:00 JST, March 1, 2025

Soaring rice prices show no sign of abating. How can distribution blockages and speculative moves be addressed? The government must make use of the release of its rice reserves to stabilize prices.

In response to soaring rice prices, the government will release 210,000 tons from its stockpile of 1 million tons. In the first bidding to be held in early March, 150,000 tons will be sold to major rice distributors such as the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh).

The rice is expected to be on the shelves of supermarkets and other stores from late March.

The basic principle of the nation’s rice farming policy must be to stabilize rice prices while ensuring that producers can secure a certain profit and that consumers are not overburdened by rice prices.

Despite the fact that the........

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