A government white paper on agriculture called Tuesday for Japan to take steps to enhance its food self-sufficiency rate amid the world's tightening food supply-demand balance.
Given that concern about the food supply-demand balance remains strong, farmers should grow more commodities whose export dependence is high, such as barley and soybeans, while making active use of paddy fields that have yet to be cultivated by stimulating demand for rice flour, the fiscal 2008 white paper says.
In fiscal 2007, the country's food self-sufficiency rate recovered to the 40 percent level on a calorie basis because of increased rice consumption.