The government cut the production target of rice for food after this year's harvest exceeded consumption and as demand may fall further after discoveries of grain tainted by radioactive cesium, the farm ministry said Wednesday.
Output will be 7.93 million metric tons in 2012, down from this year's target of 7.95 million tons, the ministry said in a report. The harvest reached 8.13 million tons as of Oct. 15, outpacing demand of 8.05 million tons in the year to next June 30.
Good weather boosted grain production this year even after the record earthquake and tsunami in March destroyed paddies in the northeast. Fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant contaminated rice in the region with cesium, triggering a shipment ban and boosting food-safety concerns.
"Safety concerns may weaken consumer demand for the grain," Takeharu Imashiro, director general for the ministry's crop production department, said.
Farmers adjust their planting of the grain every year in line with the government's production target. Some fields may be barred from planting next year because of contaminated soil.
Inventories of rice for food held by producers and distributors will increase to 1.89 million tons at the end of June from 1.81 million tons a year earlier, according to Wednesday's report. The volume will be the highest since 2010, the ministry said, revising its July forecast that stockpiles may drop to a four-year low of 1.7 million tons.
The government plans to hold 910,000 tons of domestic rice for food in reserves at the end of next June, up from 880,000 tons a year earlier.
Japan extended a ban on rice shipments beyond the city of Fukushima on Tuesday after authorities found grain with cesium levels exceeding the official limit had been sold to consumers.
