About 2.3 percent of farmers in Fukushima Prefecture yielded rice with radioactive cesium levels exceeding the government’s new safety standard, according to prefectural government officials.
About 2.3 percent of farmers in Fukushima Prefecture yielded rice with radioactive cesium levels exceeding the government’s new safety standard, according to prefectural government officials.
The new standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram will take effect in April, replacing the provisional standard of 500 becquerels per kg.
The results of the Fukushima prefectural government’s emergency survey, released on Feb. 3, will be used by the central government to decide on areas where farming will be banned this year.
But farmers in areas around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are growing impatient with the central government’s indecision on the matter. They are also worried that no one will buy their produce over fears of radiation contamination.
According to the survey, which covered about 23,000 rice-growing households in 29 cities, towns and villages, contamination levels exceeded the new standard in rice grown by 545 farmers in 12 municipalities, many of them in northern Fukushima Prefecture.
The survey also showed rice cultivated by 38 farmers in three cities had readings above 500 becquerels per kg.
Radiation levels in rice grown by 84.3 percent of farmers were below measurable limits, according to the survey.
The prefecture conducted the survey after radioactive cesium levels higher than the provisional standard were found in rice grown in the Onami district of Fukushima, the prefectural capital, in November.
The central government said it will prohibit the planting of seeds in areas that are heavily contaminated. But it has not decided which areas should face such restrictions under the new standard.
Agriculture minister Michihiko Kano said in a news conference on Feb. 3 that the government should not impose limits on planting.
“We should respect the feelings of farmers,” he said.
A farm ministry official also said the decision for this year would be extremely tough because the lines marking sections under restriction must be drawn within areas where contamination levels are publicized.
The government banned planting last year in areas from where residents had evacuated. But officials at municipalities have already announced plans to go ahead with planting this year, even in areas where contamination levels have exceeded the new limit.
The prefectural chapter of Japan Agricultural Co-operatives is seeking permission to plant in sections of areas where this year’s rice crop will likely clear the new safety standard. The chapter said rice paddies will be decontaminated and other measures taken before the planting starts.
The JA group is expected to forbid planting in areas where radiation levels are expected to remain above the safety limit.
In addition, the Fukushima city government is calling on the central government to permit the planting of rice crops that will be used for purposes other than for food.
“If farmers are not allowed to grow rice (this year), it will reduce their willingness to produce,” an official in the city’s agriculture section said. “Rice fields will also become run-down.”
The city governments of Date and Motomiya have already said they will allow farmers to grow rice, in principle, while requiring decontamination of their rice paddies.
However, decontamination work could cause a new problem for the farmers, according to local officials.
“If rice fields are dug up too deeply, they may not be fit for growing the crop with too many rocks turning up,” an official said.
The heavily contaminated village of Kawauchi, meanwhile, said it will not allow any planting.
Rice farmers are divided.
A 58-year-old farmer in Date said contamination levels found in his rice were up to slightly more than 100 becquerels per kg under the survey.
He has already ordered seeds and fertilizers for his rice crops this year.
“Unless I can plant this year, my rice paddies will be overrun with weeds,” he said. “The fields would not be restored to the original condition for five or 10 years.”
He said he is frustrated by the lack of any long-term perspective by authorities over his livelihood.
“Is (the restriction) for just this year or for many more years?” he said. “It would mean a lifetime if the restriction is put in place until there is no more cesium contamination.”
Saburo Watanabe, a farmer in Aizubange, where all rice crops were found to be safe, said planting should be banned in areas where contamination levels exceed the new safety standard. He said the image of rice grown in Fukushima Prefecture must be protected.
“Consumers tend to think all rice crops from Fukushima Prefecture are the same,” said Watanabe, 58, who cultivates rice in a 12-heactare field.
He said most of his rice from last year remained unsold.
A 56-year-old farmer in Nihonmatsu said, “I want to grow rice, but we will be in trouble with unsold rice if we push for it and face another bad result.”
The rice in his district in Nihonmatsu was found with contamination levels above the new limit.
(This article was written by Ryo Inoue and Keiichiro Inoue.)