The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced the ratings for this year’s rice cultivation. Rice crops are rated by an index, where an average year is rated 100. The 2012 rating for Japan as a whole was 102– an above average rating that was reached for the first time in four years. However, Kyushu’s rice suffered in 2012 due to the typhoon and flood disasters of July. Kyushu’s rice crops as a whole were rated 97, with individual prefecture ratings as follows: Fukuoka 98, Saga 97, Nagasaki 98 and Miyazaki 95. The country as a whole reached its target of 23 tonnes of rice produced in 2012. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, Oct. 31
