Aeon Co. will begin rice production in Saitama Prefecture in 2015 by utilizing a government-backed farmland-leasing program, becoming the first major retailer to do so, sources said Tuesday.

The move could prompt other companies to make use of the program, under which small pieces of leased farmland are aggregated into large lots for entities, such as companies, seeking to implement large-scale agriculture.

Aeon is aiming to secure a stable supply of low-priced rice by producing it on its own, the sources said.

Its farming subsidiary, Aeon Agri Create Co., is expected to sign a contract to lease 11 hectares of rice fields in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, by the end of this year and start production of a local brand of rice named Sainokagayaki next spring, the sources said.

Aeon hopes to harvest 60 tons in fall 2015 to sell at its supermarket chains and serve at its group restaurants, they said.

In connection with Aeon's envisioned move, agriculture minister Koya Nishikawa said Tuesday that companies entering the farming sector are "on track to increase."

The Abe administration is promoting the farmland-leasing program to help raise production efficiency of the nation's agriculture through a shift to large-scale commercial farming.

With Japan engaged in talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade zone with 11 other countries, the effort is partly aimed at withstanding a possible influx of farm product imports in the future.