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The story
On August 28, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced that a risk assessment ahead of lifting the ban on US potato imports has identified 21 pests and diseases requiring quarantine-measure negotiations with the US side. Among them is the pale cyst nematode, first confirmed domestically in Abashiri, Hokkaido in 2015, which continues to affect potato-growing regions there. MAFF plans to hold an online briefing on September 18 to report progress. On 5ch forums, discussion centered on the practical impossibility of eradicating nematodes, the point that damage severity differs vastly between the US, with its far larger farmland area, and Japan, and broader arguments for and against lifting the import ban.
US Potatoes: 21 Pests and Diseases Identified by Ministry Ahead of Import Ban Lift
MAFF announced on the 28th that, as part of the review process for lifting the ban on US potato imports, a risk assessment identifying pests and diseases that could potentially enter Japan has pinpointed 21 species requiring quarantine-measure negotiations with the US side. Before entering the final stage, the ministry will hold a public online briefing on progress on September 18.
The 21 identified pests and diseases include the pale cyst nematode, first confirmed in Japan in Abashiri, Hokkaido in 2015, which continues to affect the growing region to this day.
Source: news.jp / Original article here
What people said
More like, they've already brought in every pest species there is, so whether they lift the ban or not, Japan's potatoes are done for either way — doesn't really matter at this point?
As long as there are buyers, it'll be fine.
What's with the "I hear"? "I hear"?
Get your facts straight from primary sources before you say stuff like that.
People like you are the ones spreading misinformation and steering society in a messed-up direction.
Re: #24
Here we go again with the "vested interests, vested interests!" routine.
This.
Japan might actually be worse.
American potatoes are tastier and safer anyway.
Well sure, native nematodes exist — even in planter gardens, not just farms.
The problem is the nasty invasive species that don't die from American pesticides.
"Who cares about domestic, just import it" — that was the attitude.
Honestly, nobody would be in trouble even without domestic farmers.
Switching over to imports would actually help ordinary people out.
Japanese crops are way too expensive — don't need farmers anymore.
Seriously, this.
Rice, vegetables, everything's too expensive in Japan.
If farming here is this inefficient, just scrap it all and import from the start — it'd be cheaper.
Then why is America itself still growing potatoes just fine?
First off, know this: America's farmland is roughly 86 times the size of Japan's.
So even if they leave an infested field fallow until the pests die out, it's barely a dent.
There's no way Japan could pull off the same thing.
Domestic varieties have no resistance, so they'll go extinct, and we'll end up forced to buy American GMO potatoes and pesticides instead.
Does being an idiot like you actually pay off somehow?
Here you go.
Read it and share it with your buddies too.
Because America has such vast farmland, it can rotate crops on a multi-year cycle, so even with cyst nematodes present, fatal damage rarely results.
Japan, on the other hand, has so little farmland that if cyst nematodes spread nationwide, it would be irreversible.
That's impossible, what even is that.
The pressure involved sounds brutal.
Just do factory farming with hydroponics then.
Nematodes really are a pain.
They wreck vegetable roots too and stunt the fruit's growth.
Can we actually stand firm against that guy?
Didn't you know?
Japanese agriculture uses some of the highest levels of pesticides in the world.
All to maintain that flawless appearance.
Summer cabbage alone gets around 20 applications across 8 different pesticides.
It's drenched in the stuff.
Meanwhile overseas produce that doesn't care about looks — America included — uses far less pesticide than Japan does.
Cabbage gets eaten down to nothing by bugs if you skip pesticide, looks or no looks.
Guess overseas just doesn't have any bugs lol.
Japan gets a lot of rain by global standards and has high heat and humidity, so more than pests, it's bacteria and mold that rot vegetables that are the real issue — pesticides get used heavily to prevent that.
That makes no sense.
More disease and pests means worse-looking produce, right?
In Japan, bad-looking produce doesn't sell.
There are excessive quality standards obsessed with appearance.
Can you really not get that?
It's not just potatoes — all nightshades like eggplant, tomato, and bell pepper would be wiped out, and other crop families would take serious damage too. Japanese agriculture would be devastated.
Stop talking like there are no nematodes in Japanese farmland already.
Background and Key Points of Debate
Fresh US-grown potatoes have effectively been banned from import for years over pest and disease risk concerns, with Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries gradually working through the conditions for lifting the ban via negotiations with the US. The pale cyst nematode that is the focus this time is known for being extremely difficult to eradicate once established in farmland, inflicting long-term damage on both yield and quality. In the thread, opinions clashed between the view that “the US has such vast farmland that even some damage would have little overall impact” and the view that “Japan’s farmland is so limited that once an outbreak spreads, it would be irreversible,” with the discussion weighing not just pesticide-use comparisons but also differences in climate and farmland scale. Note that unsubstantiated claims tying the reasoning behind the import ban lift to specific political motives, along with posts amounting to personal attacks on the responsible cabinet minister, have been excluded from this article.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “US Potatoes: 21 Pests and Diseases, Ministry Eyes Import Ban Lift in Coming Years.”
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