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JAPAN: GM Soya for Biofuel – Boon for Organic Farmers

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Feb 16 2007 (IPS) - Plans in the United States to boost ethanol fuel production using genetically modified (GM) soybeans has raised cautious hopes among local farmers involved in organically grown crops as well as environmental and consumer groups.

”Global warming has promoted biofuel production using GM soybeans in the U.S. We want to use this opportunity to increase the domestic production of organic soybeans for food,’’ said Yoko Tomiyama, spokesperson for the influential Japan Consumer Association.

Tomiyama was referring to the recent alarm in Japan over the expected decline in soybean supply from the U.S. where farmers now prefer to grow cheaper, pest resistant GM soybeans for biofuels that can produce environmentally safe energy.

The consequences for Japan, that is dependent on imports of non-GM soybeans from U.S., are a spike in the prices of tofu, soybean cake, natto (fermented soy beans) and miso (soybean paste), all staples of the Japanese diet.

GM soybeans and products, though cheaper, are not popular with Japanese consumers.

Reports prepared by the U.S. department of agriculture indicate that almost 90 percent of the 30 million hectares used to grow soybeans in the country has been reserved for the GM variety – up 35 percent points from six years ago.

The world’s largest producer, the U.S. supplies Japan with more than three million tons of soybeans, both GM and non-GM, out of the total of 4 million tons imported annually. Domestically grown non-GM beans account for just ten percent or 200,000 tons of the local demand.

American-grown non-GM soybeans, around one million tons per year, are less than half the price of domestically-grown beans and are used by Japanese makers of soy products except for oil or sauce and other products such as crackers.

‘’The latest news about ethanol production in the U.S.,’’ says Hiroshi Ogata of the Japan Tofu Association, ‘’has led to a growing worry that Japanese consumers will have to shoulder the burden of high costs for their humble piece of tofu.’’ Currently 100 gm of tofu, the highly nutritious, soft soy cake eaten almost daily by the Japanese, costs 1.7 US dollars in a local supermarket, but the forecast is for prices to double as imports shrink.

For activists though, the latest news could be a silver lining in Japan’s agricultural policy, which they say has long been woefully inadequate when it comes to the protection of the consumer and the nation’s farmland.

Tomiyama told IPS: ‘’Environmental concerns have highlighted, ironically, the vulnerability of Japanese food supply that is heavily dependent on imports. The government and the public must now increase support for Japanese farmers.’’

Indeed, Japan has the lowest calorie self-sufficiency rate in the industrialised world – around 40 percent – compared with 80 percent in France and 60 percent in the U.S. The issue is a bitter one for a nation grappling with international pressure to open up its agricultural market.

Kyoko Kobayashi manages the Soybean Trust in Inashiki, a small farming community in Ibragi prefecture, 60 km north of Tokyo. The project was launched to encourage individuals to invest in organic soybean production through a system where people pay around 37 dollars per farmer to produce five kg of soybeans annually for their consumption. The Trust has 600 members in Inashiki.

‘’It is extremely tough to expand the Trust system because of low public awareness to support organic farming not only in Japan but also the world. But we predict that, as prices for soybean products begin to rise, more people will understand the gravity of the agricultural issues facing Japan,’’ she told IPS.

Satoshi Ohashi, official in charge of soybeans at the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, explains that despite the expectations of activists there are drawbacks to increasing local production.

He points out that the Japanese farming population is aging and faces increasing international competition from cheaper products. Moreover, he says, the fact that soybeans can be harvested only once a year coupled with small farming plots makes Japanese soybeans far too expensive for sustainability.

‘’The priority for Japanese companies is to diversify the supply sources as the U.S. reduces production of unmodified soybeans,’’ he told IPS. An additional worry was entry of new suppliers such as Brazil, Canada and now India which can competitively supply small and medium-sized importing companies here.

Prof. Tasuhito Fujimura, an expert on GM food at Tsukuba University, says the choice is hard for the Japanese because apart from the threat posed by biofuels to national soybean supply, China has also lately emerged as a major importer of the beans.

According to Fujimura the solution lies in either Japanese farmers deciding to increase local production with government support or Japanese consumers tolerating GM soybeans better.