The decline in the population threatens agriculture in Japan

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture said that about a third of agricultural lands in the country will lack the necessary people to grow crops within ten years.

The Ministry attributed this, according to the Japanese Radio and Television website, to the rapid aging of the workforce, and the decline in the population in rural areas.

A report issued by the Ministry relies on surveys conducted in various parts of Japan regarding the use of lands with regard to local agriculture, that within ten years, more than 1.3 million hectares of agricultural lands will lack the workforce needed to grow crops, representing more than 31% of the total agricultural areas in Japan, which amounted to about 4.22 million hectares.