Local News

Saga Prefecture reports that the number of people in the prefecture who have taken up agriculture as a profession during 2009 totaled 118. This exceeds the 116 total that was the highest of the past 20 years, and is the second consecutive year this total has exceeded 100. The prefectural government said that many of them were people who had reached mandatory retirement age at jobs in other parts of the country and returned to Saga to take up farming. They also suggest that people are taking a second look at farming as a result of the economic downturn.