A: Hey there, have you heard about the latest news on rice?
B: Nope, what's up?

A: It seems like Japan is going to have a massive increase in its rice harvest this year!
B: Really? How much are we talking here?

A: They're predicting an extra 560,000 tons, that's more than half a million! So the total will be around 7.35 million tons.
B: Wow, that's huge! Why is this happening?

A: The agriculture ministry says it's due to farmers expanding the areas dedicated to table rice for human consumption. They've actually increased by about 100,000 hectares from last year.
B: That makes sense. So where did they cut down?

A: They reduced acreage for animal feed rice by almost half. But the total rice acreage including animal feed remains almost the same as last year.
B: I see, so more rice for people and less for animals this year. That's interesting.

A: Yeah, it looks like higher table rice prices have encouraged farmers to focus on growing rice for human consumption. But in some areas, producers who are too old can't boost the output as much.
B: Thanks for sharing this, I didn't know! It's good to know about these things, isn't it?

A: Definitely! Knowledge is power, my friend! Let's see how this unfolds. 😊
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Japan's agriculture ministry says this year's rice harvest will likely increase by more than half a million tons from last year as prices remain high.



The ministry has announced an outlook for 2025 rice production as of the end of June.



The estimate says that about 1.36 million hectares will be dedicated to growing table rice this year. That's up about 100,000 hectares from 2024.



The harvest is likely to increase as much as 560,000 tons to 7.35 million tons.



The estimate represents the largest year-on-year growth since the ministry began the rice production survey in 2004. It is also an increase of 160,000 tons from April.



Framers have cut acreage for animal feed rice about half, while expanding that for human consumption. Total 2025 rice acreage including animal feed, is little changed from last year at about 1.52 million hectares.



Officials at the agriculture ministry said higher table rice prices have encouraged farmers to increase production for human consumption except for some areas where producers are too old to boost the output."