Ministry Of Agriculture, Forestry And Fisheries Research Articles

Shokuiku by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has promoted Shokuiku from production through distribution, manufacturing / processing to consumption.MAFF is working on Shokuiku by setting four specific aims: (1) Promoting people's understanding on agriculture, forestry, fishery and food industry; (2) Helping people to enjoy a health diet of Japanese style eating habits (3) Perpetuation of traditional food culture; and (4) Providing information on food safetyThe example of Shokuiku by MAFF is popularizing the Dietary Guidelines for Japanese, “the Japnanese Food Guide Spinning Top”. You can see the other information of Shokuiku on web-site of MAFF http://www.maff.go.jp/syokuiku/index.html.MAff has the branch on prefectures. So please contact our branch office near your home.

The Japanese experience with the Blue Book and subsequent activities in environmental biosafety of GM crops

The Blue Book made a big contribution to the development of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) guidelines established in 1991 for almost all of the basic issues. However, the MAFF guidelines could not sufficiently cover some important areas that the Blue Book addressed well, such as potential consequences. This gap has been recovered substantially by a new law established in 2003. Japan still faces several important issues, including assessment of stacked products, potential consequences, comparative assessment, assessment of imported GM commodities and movement of concerned groups.

American–Japanese Expedition to Hokkaido to Collect Berry Crops in 2004

Genetic resources of temperate berry crops were collected 7 to 27 July 2004 in Hokkaido, Japan, under a bilateral agreement between the United States and Japan. This expedition was a collaborative effort between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the University of New Hampshire, and Akita Prefectural College of Agriculture, Japan. Additional assistance was provided by the Hokkaido Governmental Plant Genetic Resources Center, several Forest Research Stations of the Hokkaido University, and private botanists. The expedition obtained 100 accessions encompassing eight genera and 29 species. In all, 84 seedlots, and 23 plants were obtained. The genera collected included: Actinidia, Fragaria, Lonicera, Morus, Ribes, Rubus, Sambucus, and Vaccinium. Plant and seed accessions from this trip are preserved and distributed from the USDA ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Ore., and from MAFF. The target genus for this expedition was Fragaria, so the trip was planned for July. Multiple samples of the two Japanese diploid strawberry species, Fragaria iinumae Makino and F. nipponica Makino (synonym = F. yezoensis H. Hara) were obtained during their prime ripening time. Ribes, Rubus, and Vaccinium fruits ripened later in the summer, but were collected when fruit were observed. Unfortunately, seeds of some of these accessions proved to be immature or nonviable upon extraction. We suggest that expeditions to collect these genera should be planned for late August. Morphological and molecular evaluation of collected germplasm is underway at the USDA ARS Corvallis Repository and at the University of New Hampshire.

The politics of Japan's free trade agreement

For a long time, the Japanese government showed awkward and indecisive attitudes towards trade policy. There was strong opposition from the two political actors — bureaucrats at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — to market opening in the agricultural sector. This article highlights private interests and the public interest of MAFF bureaucrats and LDP politicians and examines how the evolving perception of the interests has influenced debates and the progress of free trade agreement (FTA) policy over agriculture. The central argument is that economic linkages and institutional cooperation in East Asia have changed basic interests of MAFF bureaucrats and LDP politicians, and such changes, then, have induced new moves in Japan's FTA policy towards countries of the region.

New Tea Parental Line, ^|^lsquo;MAKURA No. 1^|^rsquo;, for Breeding Cultivars with High Tannin and Caffeine Contents and a Flowery Flavor

'MAKURA No. 1' (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) is the first tea breeding cultivar that was selected for high tannin and caffeine contents from the genetic resources in the Makurazaki Station of the National Institute of Vegetable and Tea Science (NIVTS). Average tannin and caffeine contents of the 1st and 2nd crops of this cultivar were 24.6 and 5.5%, respectively. 'MAKURA No. 1' also has a strong floral flavor, and this trait was handed down to the progenies at a certain frequency. The results show that 'MAKURA No.1' can be used as a parental line for breeding cultivars with high tannin and caffeine contents and a floral tea flavor. 'MAKURA No. 1' was named 'Cha Chuukanbohon Nou 3' and registered as a parental line by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in August 1998. It was registered based on the Seed and Seedlings Law in June 2002.

Evaluation of Preservation Techniques of Microorganism Resources in the MAFF Genebank

In the central bank of the microorganisms section in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Genebank in Tsukuba, 14,836 strains of fungi, bacteria, yeasts and others are preserved by various methods including cryopreservation and freeze-drying. To evaluate preservation techniques for these microorganisms, the viability of the preserved microorganisms was examined at regular intervals. Almost all tested strains, except for 5 strains out of 2,334 strains, of yeasts, bacteria and Actinomycetes were preserved well in freeze-dried form, indicating that freeze-drying is suitable for their preservation. As for fungi and Oomycetes, 6,578 strains out of 6,681 tested strains (98.5%) and 264 (63.8%) of 414, respectively, survived one-year preservation in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen. The details on survival of the preserved fungal strains were as follows: 99.0% (1,107 strains/1,118 tested strains) survival in Ascomycota, 96.1% (1,552/1,615) in Basidiomycota, 98.6% (73/74) in Zygomycota, and 99.3% (3,846/3,874) in anamorphic fungi. Thus, cryopreservation is excellent for preservation of most fungus strains, but is not suitable for preservation of many Oomycetous strains.

The present and future organisation of Veterinary Services in Asia: the examples of the Republic of Korea and Japan

The Veterinary Services of the Republic of Korea and Japan are reviewed and summarised. To cope with ever-increasing demands on Veterinary Services, both countries have made continued efforts to expand the services, which currently only have a limited number of government personnel. To overcome some of the problems associated with international trade, e.g. outbreaks of foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever (hog cholera), the authorities of the Republic of Korea are considering strengthening quarantine services by combining the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service and the National Plant Quarantine Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). In the field of veterinary public health services, the Republic of Korea and Japan have different organisational structures. All Veterinary Services, including veterinary public health, are kept within the MAF in the Republic of Korea, whereas in Japan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) deals with general animal production and health services and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) deals with the safety of animal products, food poisoning and the prevention/control of zoonoses, such as rabies and Q fever. In Japan, after the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in 2001, the authorities undertook a thorough review of the Veterinary Services, focusing particularly on food safety. A reorganisation of the administrative structure was proposed, and will be completed by the end of 2003. Subject to the approval of the Diet (House of Councillors), an independent 'Food Safety Commission' will be created within the cabinet office which will undertake risk analyses related to foods, and risk management will be carried out by the relevant ministry, i.e. the MAFF or the MHLW. The Animal Health Division of the MAFF will also be moved from the Livestock Industry Department to a new 'Consumer Safety Department' of the MAFF, where additional responsibilities in fish health control and feed safety control will be assumed.

Effects of Vitamin A on Carcass Composition Concerning Younger Steer Fattening of Wagyu Cattle

Regarding the fattening of younger cattle that the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recommends in Japan, this study looked at vitamin A control in feed and blood and its effect on performance of production and carcass composition of Wagyu steers. Five sets from 10 Wagyu artificial identical twins were divided to into 2 groups, a restricted group (Test) and a supplied group (Control). The body weight at the finishing time of the Test was significantly lower than that of the Control (p<0.05). The daily gain from 13 to 21 months old, as the animals in the Test were fed the concentrated feed without Vitamin A, was significantly different (p<0.05) between the Test and the Control. The total daily gains for the Test and the Control for the fattening period were 0.82 kg/day and 0.93 kg/day, respectively, which showed a significant difference (p<0.01). Regarding the rib thickness, the Test was thinner than the Control. The Beef Marbling Scores of the Test and Control were 3.60 and 2.80, respectively. The muscle weight of the Test was significantly smaller than that of the Control (p<0.01). However, regarding the ratio to the carcass, the Test was significantly higher than the Control (p<0.05). For the fat weight, the Test was smaller by about 15 kg than the Control (p<0.01). Furthermore, for the fat ratio to the carcass, the Test was significantly lower than the Control (p<0.05). The bone weights of the two groups were approximately the same. Regarding the ratio of bone to carcass, the Test was higher than the Control (p<0.01). For the younger fattening method, the low level vitamin A in the serum had the effect that the muscle ratio to the carcass weight was greater and the fat was less, but the carcass and muscle weight were less. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2003. Vol 16, No. 3 : 353-358)

Resistance and Its Inheritance to Bacterial Blight of IR8 Rice Cultivar Group

In order to identify the bacterlal blight resistance gene of rice cultivar IR8, one of the rice baceterial blight differentials, a research was carried out under a collaboration between Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. Inoculation test using Japanese and Indonesian races of bacterial blight pathogen, was first carried out with cultivars which are known to show the reaction pattern similar to that of IR8. The results indicated that cultivars of IR8 reaction pattern showed resistance to Japanese races IB, II, IIIA and V, and Indonesian races IV and V but susceptibility to Japanese races IA, IIIB and IV. It was found that Japanese race IV differs pathogenetically from Indonesian race IV. Moreover, there was no difference between the reaction pattern of Elwee and Heen Dikwee which were considered to belong to different reaction groups by YAMADA et al. (1979a). The results of gene identificatlon by F2 analysis showed that IR8, Elwee and RP9-3 have the same gene for resistance to Japanese races IB and IIIA. The allelic test between the resistance gene of IR8, Elwee, and RP9-3, and the resistance gene(s) of Peta and IR944-102-3-2 showed that Peta and IR944-102-3-2 also have the same gene with IR8 and have another dominant gene for resistance to Japanese races. This study showed that IR8, Elwee, RP9-3, Peta, and IR944-102-3-2 have the gene Xa-11 for reslstance originally identified by OGAWA and YAMAMOTO (1986).

New Winter Crop Cultivars Registered by the lvlinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 1987

The following new cultivars of winter crops were registered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on October 27, 1987. The characteristics as well as breeding procedures are summarized herewith based on the notification of “New Crop Varieties” by MAFF (Winter Crops) issued by the Secretariat of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council.

Japanese GLP Requirements

Japanese GLP were developed and published some time after their counterparts in the US. It is, therefore, interesting to see in which way the Japanese authorities decided to make changes in the light of experience in the U.S. Facility petition for confirmation is an example of a different approach. With this procedure, whereby information in great detail must be submitted, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has taken on an ongoing task of some magnitude. For now Japanese sponsors and contract laboratories, there are many possibilities for misunderstandings. These include language, culture, differing corporate/organization structures, differing job titles. We must realize, however, that it is also difficult for the Japanese authorities, who are faced with the same problems in reverse. It appears that bilateral arrangements are the answer, but these are slow to materialize.

New Winter Crop Cultivars Registered by the Ministry of Agriculture : Forestry and Fisheries in 1986

The following new cultivars of winter crops were registered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on October 27, 1987. The characteristics as well as breeding procedures are summarized herewith based on the notification of “New Crop Varieties” by MAFF (Winter Crops) issued by the Secretariat of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council.