The crops at cherry orchards in Yamagata Prefecture have been plagued by an infestation of fruit thieves.
"We still haven't tallied the losses this year," a source at the prefecture's agriculture department tells Yukan Fuji (July 29). The thefts, said to be the worst in five years, have spurred Yamagata Gov. Mieko Yoshimura to ask people to put their heads together and come up with a solution.
Just before the harvest that was scheduled for the end of June, cherry thieves made off with about 150 kilograms of the prized Beni-shuho variety, leading a farmer to moan, "We devote a year nurturing the crop, only to have this happen in an instant."
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