Japan’s agriculture ministry plans to incorporate environmental requirements into all of its subsidies by April 2027, in a move to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and contain pollutants such as agricultural chemicals, as reported by Nikkei Asia on December 30. Starting from fiscal 2024, applicants seeking certain subsidies must submit checklists covering various environmental standards, including factors like appropriate fertilizer and pesticide use, reduction in fuel consumption, waste management, and biodiversity considerations. Typically, these requirements will not involve numerical benchmarks. By fiscal 2027, checklists will be mandatory for all subsidies, and recipients will be required to submit reports on measures implemented. Businesses that fail to comply with these conditions or provide false information will receive guidance from the ministry for improvement.

The agriculture ministry’s recent requirements accord with the Japanese government’s Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems. Introduced in 2021, the strategy set out targets of reducing Japan’s pesticide use by 50% and chemical fertilizer use by 30% by 2050, while increasing the percentage of total farmland used for organic agriculture to 25%. When farmers apply excessive fertilizer, the nitrogen will not be fully absorbed by crops but transform into nitrous oxide and enter the atmosphere, causing a potent greenhouse effect. To address the issue, the agriculture ministry’s recent guidelines include avoiding the excessive use of chemical fertilizers for soybean and wheat production. Furthermore, the ministry is also mulling a new subsidy program for applicants in advanced fields such as organic farming.

Sources:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Agriculture/Japan-to-require-all-subsidized-farms-to-cut-emissions-chemicals

https://www.maff.go.jp/e/policies/env/env_policy/meadri.html