From rice for controlling blood glucose levels to soybeans that reduce fatty acids, the government is seeking new ways to make money from agriculture as pressure mounts to cut the tariffs that farmers rely on to make a living.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration estimates that there is a potential ¥600 billion market for so-called functional foods, strains of fruits, vegetables and grains with provable health benefits beyond regular nutrition. He's put ¥2 billion into the agriculture ministry's coffers for a three-year project to develop new varieties of rice, soybeans, barley, onions and buckwheat.
Japanese senior citizens, whose ranks are swelling at the fastest pace in the world, are a natural market for these products that must be embraced as tariffs of as much as 778 percent on rice come under threat, said Makoto Nakatani, the ministry's research director.
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