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August 11, 2026
 

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AGRICULTURE

A view of Gerola Bridge as the Po River's water level runs low amid high drought severity in Mezzana Bigli, Italy, on Aug. 6
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 10, 2026
Italy¡¯s record-low Po River forces farmers to weigh crop switch
The river¡¯s climate change-fueled violent swings between flood and drought is also forcing industries to compete for a resource they once took for granted.
Japan's food self-sufficiency ratio, which stood at ?37% in fiscal 2025, has remained below 40% for ?more than a decade despite ?government efforts to boost domestic production of heavily imported crops.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ food self-sufficiency ratio falls to 37%, well below 2030 goal of 45%
The ?ratio is among the lowest of developed economies and underscores the country¡¯s vulnerability ?to food supply disruptions amid heightened geopolitical ?tensions.
A house is seen bordering the SA Lithium's mine in Magog, South Africa, on June 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 5, 2026
Lithium mining for green power triggers eco-outcry from South African farmers
Thousands of angry farmers fear losing productive land to open-pit mines.
Seiichi Yamaguchi has spent decades growing rice in Yaita, Tochigi Prefecture. Now in his early 70s, he says modern machinery has allowed him to keep farming longer than he once thought possible.
JAPAN / Society / Photo essay
Jul 31, 2026
A succession crisis in Â鶹´«Ã½ fields
Technology has transformed rice farming in Japan, extending older farmers¡¯ careers while making succession a matter of choice.
Bags of rice displayed for sale at a store in Aichi Prefecture. The amount of domestic rice consumed in the year from July 2025 hit a record low of 6.83 million tons on a preliminary basis in terms of brown rice.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2026
Japan sees record low consumption of domestic rice following shortages
The decline in domestic rice consumption is largely due to an increase in rice imports that came as domestic prices jumped in the wake of severe shortages in summer 2024 and later.
Anchovies power a $500?billion global aquaculture industry, and when their supply collapses, as is happening now due to El Nino, the entire farmed?seafood sector feels it.?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2026
The world has an anchovy problem
The tiny fish may sound utterly mundane, but its importance to the global economy is far larger than just foodies¡¯ craving for the umami taste.
A combine harvester reaps a field of wheat early in the season due to France's current and late June heat wave in Marly-lez-Valenciennes, northern France, on July 7.
WORLD
Jul 23, 2026
Heat and war deal Europe¡¯s grain harvest biggest blow in decades
High temperatures are expected to cut the region¡¯s corn crop to the smallest in 19 years, as the Middle East conflict conflict has pushed up fuel and fertilizer costs.
Shine Muscat grapes
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2026
Japan passes bill to prevent unauthorized overseas crop sales
The bill aims to better protect the rights related to Japan-developed fruits that are popular overseas and prevent a loss of profit.
Farmers ride an ox cart along a street in Bauta, Artemisa province, Cuba, on June 27.
WORLD / Society
Jul 16, 2026
Tractors out, oxen in for fuel-starved Cuban farms
U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s imposition of a fuel blockade in January intensified the worst energy crisis in Cuba¡¯s post-revolutionary history.
Members of Hiroshima University's equestrian club work on fermenting horse manure to produce fertilizers.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 13, 2026
University equestrian club turns horse manure into farming gold
The club has been composting the manure to produce roughly 40 metric tons of organic fertilizers a year, with the number of local farmers who use them increasing gradually.
Gentaro Yui, a 51-year-old executive of Moriumius's operator, in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in December
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2026
Farm experiences in disaster-hit Japanese area attracting children
Since opening 11 years ago, the Moriumius facility has received a total of some 15,000 elementary and junior high school students, with many becoming repeat visitors.
Representatives of organizations behind products newly registered as geographical indications (GI), including Japanese tea, pose with Vice Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yuhei Yamashita (second from right) at the ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2026
Government registers ¡®Japanese tea¡¯ under brand protection system
The agriculture ministry aims to combat intellectual property infringement by imitation products amid a global boom in matcha.
Fully sealed units are stacked on top of each other at Plantx's vertical-farming facility in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2026
World¡¯s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo
At Plantx¡¯s facility, light, air and water are controlled in each unit allowing the system to tailor the nutritional values and sugar content of agricultural products.
Bags of rice at a supermarket in Aichi Prefecture. A bill designed to stabilize rice supply and demand has been passed by the parliament.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2026
Diet enacts bill to stabilize rice supply and demand
Various businesses will now have to report inventory, shipments and sales volumes in order to help improve the accuracy of forecasts.
Workers harvest coffee cherries at a farm in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2026
Coffee trader seeks to shield more Vietnam growers from weather
ECOM Agroindustrial piloted the insurance program five years ago, under which payouts are triggered if it rains too much or too little and farmers don¡¯t have to prove crop losses.
The diffusion index for Â鶹´«Ã½ three-month rice price outlook fell 4 points to 19 in June, matching the record low set in August 2014 and staying below 50 for a ninth straight month, according to an agricultural group.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ rice prices likely to fall in coming months
An index for the outlook on rice prices over the next three months has shown stronger expectations for lower prices.
Afghan farmers Habiba (left) and her sister Bibi Jan work in a wheat field in the Eshtiwi village of Afghanistan's Parun district June 8.
WORLD
Jul 6, 2026
The Afghan women farmers keeping their village alive
In Afghanistan, women are generally allowed to farm despite being banned by the Taliban government from most employment.
Bears killed 18 people and seriously injured more than 200 in Romania and Slovakia over the past five years.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 23, 2026
EU nations want reduced protection for bears
Bears killed 18 people and seriously injured more than 200 in the two countries over the past five years.
A man harvests sugarcane in a field in the Kolhapur district in the western state of Maharashtra, India, on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2026
India likely won¡¯t export sugar for years as El Nino and ethanol squeeze supply
The two challenges could keep millions of tons of sugar off the world market, tightening supplies for importers across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Japanese agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki promotes Japanese rice at a supermarket near Paris on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ farm minister promotes Japanese rice in France
Agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki handed out rice balls made from Japanese rice to shoppers during a Japanese food fair.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
How Â鶹´«Ã½ racehorses find second careers away from the track
TCC Therapy Park is supported financially by racing organizations as well as donations from members of the public.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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