Quarter of Japan's Soybeans Use for Food

WASHINGTON - May 20/07 - SNS -- About a quarter of the soybeans imported by Japan each year go to food uses such as tofu (soybean curd), frozen tofu, fried tofu, miso (soybean paste), natto (fermented whole beans), boiled soybeans, and soy sauce, soymilk and soy bars, according to a recent report from the U.S. agricultural attache for the country.

While Japan want's to increase domestic output, the island nation does not have the land resources to replace imports and maintain output of other key agricultural commodities such as rice and dry edible beans.

Domestic soybeans are almost exclusively produced for food use. Japan does not produce biotech soybeans domestically. Total soybean planted area was 142,000 hectares in 2006, up slightly from the previous year.

Japan's agriculture department hopes to expand domestic food grade soybean production to 250,000 metric tons (MT) by 2010, equal to a self-sufficiency ratio of 5% as part of a legislated policy to increase the country's self-sufficiency rate for major crops.

Soybean production in 2005 could not meet the self-sufficiency target set by the government. Until recently, the demand for domestic beans in the food industry has not been very enthusiastic due to their expense and poor quality, even though there has been a relatively adequate supply of domestic soybeans.

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