Lecture "Expectations for the Future of Hokuryu Agriculture" by Mr. Kenichi Suzuki, Director General, Sorachi Regional Promotion Bureau, and exchange of opinions.

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

On August 5 (Mon.) from 4:00 p.m., Mr. Kenichi Suzuki, Director General of the Hokkaido Sorachi General Promotion Bureau, was invited to give a lecture to the agricultural youth of Hokuryu Town and exchange opinions with them at the multipurpose space of COCOWA, a commercial revitalization facility in Hokuryu Town.

Lecture: Expectations for the Future of Hokuryu Agriculture
〜Sorachi Agriculture in Ten Years' Time: The Review of the Water Use Subsidy

Moderator: Masaaki Okuda, Deputy Mayor

Yasuhiro Sasaki, Mayor of the town

Mayor Sasaki said, "I look forward to hearing what Director Suzuki and Chief Nogami have to say, and to further deepening our friendship through exchanges of views with you all."

Opinion exchange attendees

Hokkaido Sorachi General Promotion Bureau: 2 persons

• Kenichi Suzuki, Director General, Sorachi Regional Promotion Bureau
• Tatsuya Nogami, Agricultural Affairs Section Chief, Industrial Development Department, Sorachi Regional Promotion Bureau

Hokuryu Town: 19 persons

• Yasuhiro Sasaki, Mayor, Hokuryu Town
• Masaaki Okuda, Deputy Mayor, Hokuryu Town
• Katsuyoshi Takahashi, Manager, General Affairs Division, Hokuryu Town Hall
• Hokuryu Agricultural Promotion Council, Satoshi Hashimoto, Member
• Masayuki Takada, Hokuryu Agricultural Promotion Council, Member (Representative of Farm Zenzo Co., Ltd.)
• Tomohiro Fukase, Representative, Hokuryu District JA Agri-Support Council (private farmer)
• JA Agri-Support Council, Hokuryu District, Takahiro Fujii, Vice Representative (Individual Farmer)
• JA Kitasorachi Hokuryu Agricultural Cooperative Youth Club, Yuta Kawamura, Supervisor (Individual Agriculture)
• JA Kitasorachi Hokuryu Agricultural Cooperative Youth Club, Mr. Tatsuya Zenoka, Chairman of Agriculture and Farm Management Department (Toyoryu Farm)
• Agricultural Cooperative Association HONOKA, Hiroto Sakamaki, Director
• Agricultural cooperative corporation HONOKA, Taishi Yoshio
• Junpei Mihara, Director, Hokuryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club (Heki Sui Co., Ltd.)
• Tetsuya Yamazaki, Deputy Director, Hokuryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club (Taira Construction Co., Ltd.)
• Kiyohiko Fujinobu, Chairman, Hokuryu Construction Industry Association Kenseikai (Hokko Construction Co., Ltd.)
• Hokuryu Construction Industry Association Kenseikai, Shinichi Sasaki, Vice Chairman (Hokuso Co., Ltd.)
• Kiyotaka Fujinobu, Planning Committee Chairman, Hokuryu Construction Association Ken Seikai (Shiomi Construction Co., Ltd.)
• Keiko Tsuneki, Manager, Industry Division, Hokuryu Town Hall
• Junichi Iguchi, Counselor, Industry Division, Hokuryu Town Hall
• Ikuo Hase, Executive Director, Hokuryu Agricultural Committee

Kenichi Suzuki, Director General, Hokkaido Sorachi Regional Promotion Bureau

Lecture: Expectations for the Future of Hokuryu Agriculture
〜Sorachi Agriculture in Ten Years' Time: The Review of the Water Use Subsidy

1. self-introduction
2. Outline of Partial Amendment to the Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas Basic Law
3. Current Status and Issues in Hokkaido Agriculture
4. Sorachi Agriculture's Direction
5. Examples of Sorachi Agricultural Initiatives
6. Expectations for Hokuryu Agriculture
7. At the end.

(1) Self-introduction

• Born in Saroma Town, Okhotsk Okhotsk Oken (age 57, born in June 1967)
• Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, and entered the Hokkaido Government in April 1992.
• Director of Production Promotion Section, Agricultural Affairs Division, Sorachi Branch Office (at that time) for three years from April 2005.
• After serving as Director of the Agricultural Policy Division of the Agricultural Policy Department of Hokkaido and Deputy Director of the Agricultural Policy Department, assumed post of Director General of the Sorachi Regional Development Bureau in June 2023.
• Hobbies include running and cross-country skiing

(2) Outline of Partial Amendments to the Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas

The outline of the revision is to establish basic measures related to the establishment of food security, securing a food system in harmony with the environment, improving productivity for sustainable development of agriculture, and promotion of rural areas (effective utilization of local resources, environmental improvement for agricultural and welfare cooperation, and measures against birds and animals damage) in response to various changes in the circumstances surrounding agriculture and rural areas.

reference example

1. Decline in food self-sufficiency (Japan's food self-sufficiency rate is the lowest among the seven industrialized countries (G7), and the government has set a goal of raising the rate to 45% by 2030)
2. Consider a menu of foods that can be self-sufficient in Japan.
3. As for fertilizer prices, the majority of chemical fertilizers are currently imported, and prices have skyrocketed. In the future, it is important to make effective use of existing domestic resources, such as securing compost through arable-livestock cooperation and effective use of sludge fertilizers.
4. As part of the appropriate price formation for agricultural products, the sales price should be examined in light of the soaring prices of production materials and consumer prices.
5. Major changes in Hokkaido's weather include higher average annual temperatures, increased precipitation, decreased solar radiation, extended frost-free periods, and early snowmelt.
6. Increase in guerrilla downpours
7. Development of "high temperature tolerant rice" that is resistant to heat. In Hokkaido, consideration is being given to developing Hokkaido-type high temperature tolerant rice that adds high temperature tolerance to the current cold tolerance and good eating quality. (This needs to be considered in conjunction with thorough water and fertilizer management of current varieties.
8. World population growth (mainly in Asia and Africa): less than 10 billion people around 2050
9. Population Trends and Estimates for Hokkaido and Sorachi District (Population Decline)
10. The number of rice farmers is decreasing and there is a shortage of rice. 2025 may not meet the domestic self-sufficiency ratio of about 100%. 2030, will rice need to be converted from feed to staple food in order to secure rice! In 2040, if there is a poor harvest, the government's stockpile of rice will run out!

(iii) Current status and issues of Hokkaido agriculture

1. Wheat production trends:Improving productivity in rice paddies is important to maintain rice paddy functions through crop rotation.
2. Produces Hokkaido soybeans:The number is increasing every year and represents 40% of the national total. Strengthening productivity in Hokkaido is of utmost importance, and efforts must be made to improve productivity in shifting rice fields in addition to field land
3. Buckwheat production:In order to continue to produce buckwheat on farmland that has been converted to farmland, it is necessary to increase the unit yield from the current level.
4. Agricultural output:Among the four major municipalities in all of Hokkaido, Tokachi tops the list, followed by Abashiri, Kamikawa, and Sorachi.
5. Response to change:Charles Darwin said, "The strongest do not survive. The wisest do not survive. Only those who can adapt to change will survive."
6. It is important to preserve history and traditions while conducting agriculture in a way that suits each era.

4) Direction of Sorachi Agriculture

1. Review of water activity grants:The policy is that farmland that has not been watered at least once during the next five years (2022-2026) will not be considered for the grant.　If waterlogging has been carried out for at least one month and there has been no yield loss due to continuous crop damage, the paddy field will be considered to have been flooded.
2. Expectations and roles for Sorachi agriculture:Sorachi agriculture contributes maximally to improving food self-sufficiency and strengthening food security.
   The key points are "human resource development (building a system to pass on skills and wisdom)," "soil development (securing and effectively using compost, conducting soil analysis)," and "demand-oriented production (polarization of paddy rice into high-quality and low-cost rice, efforts to rotate fields, and efforts to shift to field cultivation for high-quality, high-yield rice)," as well as the promotion of agricultural and rural development projects and the development of production and distribution systems (securing lots through incorporation and cooperation among agricultural cooperatives). Promotion of agricultural and rural development projects, improvement of production and distribution systems (incorporation to increase efficiency, securing lots through cooperation among agricultural cooperatives).

(5) Examples of Sorachi Agriculture

1. Promote Sorachi-type crop rotation (introduce dry-field direct seeding to avoid continuous cropping)
2. Production of feed rice (WCS) and arable-livestock partnership
3. Production of Sake Rice, Yamadanishiki (Initiatives of Kato Farms, Ltd., Ashibetsu City)
4. Garlic production (JA Pinne's efforts)
   Promotion as new face crops in the field (garlic, sweet potatoes, peanuts)
5. Production of tomatoes for processing (Hokkaido Tomato Expansion Council for Processing, JA Iwamizawa's efforts)
6. Sorachi Flower Production
7. Production of grapes for vinification (winery)
8. Utilization of sewage sludge as fertilizer (Iwamizawa City's efforts)

6) Expectations for Hokuryu Town Agriculture

1. Maintain and secure paddy field functions
   Paddy rice (high-quality rice, specially cultivated rice (Sunflower Rice), sake rice, rice for export)
   (4-year crop rotation of paddy, wheat, soybeans, and buckwheat)
   Highly profitable crops (sunflower watermelon, sunflower melon, flowering plants)
2. Sustainable Development of Agricultural Management
   Establishment of agricultural corporations (maintenance and management of farmland)
   Establishment of contractors to support agricultural work (supplement labor force, improve efficiency)
   Promotion of Smart Agriculture
   Branding of agricultural products (securing lots, inter-regional cooperation)

(vii) End

In "Food is the source of life" (to live is to eat), the agriculture of Hokuryu Town has the potential to continue producing food for the Japanese people.

We want people to value agriculture and take pride in farming.

The session concluded with Director Suzuki's words, "I hope that you will continue to engage in "demand-responsive production" and "responding to change" in your mind as keywords for the coming era and for the next 10 years.

We would like to thank Director Suzuki for all of his valuable and wonderful talks.

question and answer session

• About Smart Agriculture
• Regarding the demand for infrastructure development (for areas with low population density)
• Soil preparation (compost and fertilizer measures)
• Conducting soil diagnosis (confirming the necessary components for soil quality)
• Subsidy Support Programs
• Agriculture-Livestock Cooperation in Composting
• Establishment of a system for accepting new farmers
• Transportation Issues

Various questions and opinions were raised, and a lively discussion ensued.









With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers, I would like to thank Mr. Kenichi Suzuki, Director General of the Sorachi Regional Promotion Bureau, for his valuable talk, and to the young people of Hokuryu Town, who bear the future, for this invaluable opportunity to actively exchange opinions and think about Sorachi agriculture, which can respond to changes in the future.

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◇ Reporting and writing by Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editorial assistance by Noboru Terauchi)