Turning schoolyards and golf courses into sweet potato fields… The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is “serious” about the issue of food self-sufficiency and is considering a “potato-centered” diet.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries is “seriously” considering the contents of a diet centered on sweet potatoes…

It is not that the government has not thought about what will happen when imports stop.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is telling us to get calories from sweet potatoes. But how do you grow these sweet potatoes?

They are thinking of “ripping out the turf from school yards and golf courses and turning them into sweet potato fields, or filling in roads and turning them into fields.”

So which golf courses are they going to turn into sweet potato fields, or if push comes to shove, are they arranging to have them turned into sweet potato fields?

I don’t think we have any concrete plans. They have chosen sweet potatoes because they are the easiest for humans to eat and to grow, but if someone who has never grown sweet potatoes before plants them, I am not sure if they will grow at all. There is also the problem of who will be responsible for growing them. Including this, I don’t think there is any particular plan in place.

Why are they even importing “seeds”?

Why are they importing even the seeds?

For example, there are many different types of eggplants. In Japan, fields are small, so if a different type of eggplant is grown in a neighboring field, there is a high possibility of crossbreeding with the seed from the neighboring field. In order to sell them in large quantities, they need to be grown overseas on large farmlands to be produced efficiently.”

That does not mean it can never be done. In fact, 100% of rice is produced domestically.

The Seeds and Seedlings Law was partially amended in ’20, and registered varieties of seeds are not allowed to be taken without permission. However, traditional Japanese native seeds and fixed seeds can be harvested. If we don’t keep these things in circulation, we will be in trouble when it becomes impossible to import seeds.

Kamakura vegetables and Kyoto vegetables are among the native species. These native species can be found anywhere in Japan.

It takes a lot of time and effort to collect the seeds,” he said. That’s why the number of growers is decreasing, but it is important to protect them.