Japan’s agriculture minister says the impact on rice production of Typhoon Shanshan that battered the country last week is likely to be limited.
Sakamoto Tetsushi said “we have not received any reports of large-scale damage to rice paddies due to river banks collapsing or other incidents. It’s not expected that there will be a major impact on this year’s rice production.”
The minister also touched on Japan’s rice shortage this summer. He said it will ease gradually as this year’s harvest will come early in some areas.
Sakamoto said the distribution of new rice will go into full swing by the end of this month with about 40 percent of the annual shipment being sent out from rice-producing regions.