August 19, 2008

The Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is considering raising the ceiling on investment by a public-private farm business support body from the current JPY 200 million (US$1.8 million) per programme, according to Jiji Press.

The move would help the Agribusiness Investment & Consultation Ltd, cope farms facing rising costs provide greater capital to farms which are facing higher costs and are having difficulty obtaining credit or staying in operation.

The move would also help the public-private body take over the operations of failed larger-scale farmers since the organisation would need more funds to acquire farmland from the bankrupt farmers, experts told the paper.

Details such as the margin of ceiling hike would be decided later, the sources said.

Agribusiness Investment and Consultation, established in 2002, has capital of JPY 4.07 billion (US$36.4 million), which was put up roughly on a fifty-fifty basis by government-affiliated Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Finance Corp. and the JA group including the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives.

As of the end of May, the body had invested about JPY 1.7 billion (US$15.5 million ) in a total of 56 agricultural programmes, offering financial support mainly to farmers looking to expand their businesses.