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Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Stockpiled rice shipped within three days, set to hit shelves next week
The first batch of the government's stockpiled rice sold through no-bid contracts was delivered to buyers Thursday, just three days after the agriculture ministry started accepting purchases from major retailers through the program, with the grain expected to hit shelves as soon as Monday. The rapid shipment is in sharp contrast with previous arrangements using auctions, under which it took months to sell and ship 310,000 metric tons of rice in phases. It is not yet clear whether the latest move will help lower the overall price of rice or will be limited to a one-off windfall for shoppers until the stockpiled rice sells out. Twelve metric tons of rice arrived Thursday morning at a rice-polishing factory in Miyagi Prefecture operated by a subsidiary of Iris Ohyama, which purchased 10,000 tons in total. The company will polish the rice, repackage it and start selling it at some of its stores in Miyagi, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures from Monday at ¥2,160 for a 5-kilogram bag of rice. Iris Ohyama also started selling the rice on its website later Thursday, but shoppers had a hard time accessing the website due to a large volume of traffic. Online retailer Rakuten also started selling rice on its website Thursday at ¥2,138 per 5-kg bag, with stock selling out in a few hours. Delivery of that rice would be about two weeks from now, the company said. Rakuten had prepared a special website for the sale, limiting purchases to one bag per day and up to two bags in total per purchaser. To prevent resale of the rice, the company said it may cancel orders from customers who place more orders than are permitted. On Wednesday, farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with transport minister Hiromasa Nakano to ask for the ministry's cooperation in getting help from the truck industry to ensure there are enough trucks and drivers to ship the stockpiled rice to retailers. Under the no-bid method, the government will release 200,000 tons of rice produced in 2022 and another 100,000 tons from the 2021 harvest. Tokyo has also released 310,000 tons of stockpile rice to distributors through auctions since March. The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh), which bought 296,000 tons in the government auction, had shipped about a third of that volume as of May 22. The ministry aims to sell smaller retailers the remaining 100,000 tons of rice harvested in 2021, which is expected to be sold on at a retail price of about ¥1,800 per 5-kg bag of rice. The initial 200,000 tons sold out with 61 major retailers placing purchasing orders. Information from Jiji added
BreakingNews.ie
09-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Royal ritual in Thailand's capital predicts good year for farmers
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has presided over an elaborate annual ceremony that marks the start of the rice-planting season and honours the nation's farmers. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is held to read auguries that predict the farming conditions for the year ahead. Advertisement As is usually the case, good times were predicted, even though Thailand's economy is sluggish. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn addressed the crowds (Pool via AP) The King and Queen Suthida were sheltered from the bright sun by ornate umbrellas at the ceremony's traditional venue, Sanam Luang, or 'Royal Ground', a large field near the Grand Palace in the capital Bangkok. According to Thai historians, the ritual goes back some 700 years. Then, as now, the cultivation of rice was central to the country's culture and economy, and the ceremony is meant to give encouragement to farmers as the new planting season begins. Advertisement Oxen are presented with a tray of various choices of food by Thai officials during the ceremony (Pool via AP) The ceremony was led by the highest-ranking civil servant in the agriculture ministry, serving as the Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. In a colourful traditional costume, he chose from a selection of cloths, and the one he picked was interpreted to signify satisfactory rainfall and an abundant harvest. In the ceremony's second stage, he anointed the heads of two 'sacred' oxen, who then pulled a plough around a section of the field several times, as he scattered seeds at the front of a small procession with more traditionally garbed participants. Royal attendants guide the two oxen, called Por and Piang (Pool via AP) The two oxen, called 'Por' and 'Piang' – which together mean 'sufficiency' – then chose from a selection of food offered by Brahmin priests. Advertisement The foods chosen were water, grass and liquor, which symbolise adequate water supplies, abundance of food supplies and what was interpreted as good international trade, respectively. After the departure of the king and queen, onlookers sprinted onto the field to collect the scattered seeds as souvenirs or to add to their own rice stores at home for a meritorious mix.
