The nation's food self-sufficiency rate on a caloric intake basis was 37 percent in fiscal 2018, the lowest level in 25 years, after domestic wheat and soy bean production dropped sharply due to bad weather, the latest data compiled by the farm ministry has revealed.
The self-sufficiency rate fell 1 percentage point from the previous year to equal the lowest total on record, the ministry said in a report released Tuesday. Self-sufficiency was last recorded at the 37 percent level in fiscal 1993 due to a poor rice crop that year.
The drop underscores the government's challenge in reaching its goal of 45 percent by fiscal 2025.