Even At 10X Price, Japanese Rice Increasingly Popular In China; Less Cadmium And Lead And Such

[hatrack]

EDIT

Pollution from industrialisation has exacted a heavy toll on China's soil and water. In May 2013, officials in Guangdong province in southern China said 44 percent of rice samples contained excessive levels of the metal cadmium.

A study by the Ministry of Environmental Protection last April estimated that 16.1 percent of China's soil was contaminated. In parts of the country, soil pollution is so bad that some rice farmers refuse to eat what they grow. After the cadmium revelations, some Chinese consumers began to see rice from Thailand as an affordable and safe substitute.

In contrast, Japanese rice is neither cheap nor easy to find in China. Japanese rice imported by Chinese grain trader COFCO sells for 74 Chinese yuan ($12) a kg on PinStore, an online supermarket run by Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp . Domestic rice sells there for as little as 7.5 yuan per kg.

EDIT

To meet demand, some Chinese producers now say they use Japanese seeds and promote their rice as a safer alternative to purely domestic strains. Zhejiang Xinxie Yueguang Agricultural Science and Technology says its Echizen brand rice is safe and grown with "water from pure sources and strict quality control". The packaging says the rice is a Japanese variety. But Echizen rice is grown in Changxing county, a hub of lead-acid battery production in eastern Zhejiang province. Battery production can be highly polluting.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/25/china-japan-rice-idUSL3N0UV2SI20150125

[djean111]

1. Yes, the seeds are not the problem here, I think.

Funny thing - some here condescendingly assure us that the TTP will help us compete with China. No, it will not, but one thing that may happen is we will have greater levels of pollution as following environmental regulations may affect Investor State profits, and they will sue to have them overturned or weakened. Race to the bottom!!!!!

I believe there is a pollutant problem with veggies grown in NYC gardens, too. Contaminated dirt makes organic gardening moot.

[Nihil]

2. "some rice farmers refuse to eat what they grow"

> In parts of the country, soil pollution is so bad that some rice farmers refuse to eat what they grow.

How then can it be legal to export - as food FFS - something that is so toxic that even the farmer
will not consume it?

[hatrack]

3. It's OK - they'll just feed it to animals!

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. And the Japanese rice doubles as a night light!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/05/us-fukushima-food-idUSKBN0KE07920150105

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Fukushima rice passes radiation tests for first time since disaster: official[/font]

TOKYO Sun Jan 4, 2015 10:33pm EST

[font size=3] (Reuters) - Fukushima rice passed Japan's radiation checks for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster that prompted international alarm over the region's produce, a prefectural official said.

Fukushima official Tsuneaki Oonami said about 360,000 tonnes of rice, nearly all of last year's harvest, had been checked and none had tested above the 100 becquerels per kilogram limit set by the government.

"The fact that the amount of rice that does not pass our checks has steadily reduced in the last three years indicates that we're taking the right steps," said Oonami, who heads the department that oversees Fukushima rice farming.

Miniscule amounts of rice produced in 2012 and 2013 failed to pass radiation checks and had to be destroyed.

…[/font][/font]

[FBaggins]

5. Looks like you misread that article

There hasn't been a problem with even Fukushima's rice crop (let alone Japan as a whole) since the crop that was in the field when the earthquake hit.

Cadmium and lead contamination are FAR more dangerous.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. No, I didn’t misread it

I misrepresented it. (But, then, so did you.)

http://www.pnas.org/content/108/49/19530.full?sid=a47bd246-6c00-45bc-bfe8-4f3762a980f4

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Cesium-137 deposition and contamination of Japanese soils due to the Fukushima nuclear accident[/font]

…

[font size=4]Abstract[/font]

[font size=3]The largest concern on the cesium-137 ([font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs) deposition and its soil contamination due to the emission from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) showed up after a massive quake on March 11, 2011. Cesium-137 ([font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs) with a half-life of 30.1 y causes the largest concerns because of its deleterious effect on agriculture and stock farming, and, thus, human life for decades. Removal of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs contaminated soils or land use limitations in areas where removal is not possible is, therefore, an urgent issue. A challenge lies in the fact that estimates of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs emissions from the Fukushima NPP are extremely uncertain, therefore, the distribution of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs in the environment is poorly constrained. Here, we estimate total [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs deposition by integrating daily observations of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs deposition in each prefecture in Japan with relative deposition distribution patterns from a Lagrangian particle dispersion model, FLEXPART. We show that [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs strongly contaminated the soils in large areas of eastern and northeastern Japan, whereas western Japan was sheltered by mountain ranges. The soils around Fukushima NPP and neighboring prefectures have been extensively contaminated with depositions of more than 100,000 and 10,000 MBq km[font size="1"]^-2[/font], respectively. Total [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs depositions over two domains: (i) the Japan Islands and the surrounding ocean (130–150?°E and 30–46?°N) and, (ii) the Japan Islands, were estimated to be more than 5.6 and 1.0 PBq, respectively. We hope our [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs deposition maps will help to coordinate decontamination efforts and plan regulatory measures in Japan.

…[/font][/font]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-13/rice-farmers-in-japan-set-tougher-radiation-limits-for-crops.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Rice Farmers in Japan Set Tougher Radiation Limits for Crops[/font]

By Aya Takada and Yasumasa Song October 13, 2011

[font size=3] Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Rice farmers near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will impose radiation safety limits that will only clear grains with levels so low as to be virtually undetectable after government-set standards were viewed as too lenient, curbing sales.

Farmers now completing the harvest in areas affected by fallout from the nuclear station are struggling to find buyers amid doubts about cesium limits, which are [font size=4]less stringent than in livestock feed[/font]. No samples have been found exceeding the official limits.

A self-imposed, near-zero limit on radiation in rice may help spur sales from Fukushima, which was the fourth-largest producer in Japan last year, representing about 5 percent of the total harvest. The prefectural office of Zen-Noh, Japan’s biggest farmers group, plans to only ship cesium-free rice to address safety concerns, as does the National Confederation of Farmers Movements, which includes about 30,000 producers nationwide.

“We advise our members to test their rice for radiation and sell only if results show no cesium is detected,” said Yoshitaka Mashima, vice chairman of the confederation. The government has tried to “hide inconvenient information, which is deepening consumer distrust.”

…[/font][/font]

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/rice-grown-in-miyagi-contains-more-than-double-legal-limit-of-radioactive-cesium

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Rice grown in Miyagi contains more than double legal limit of radioactive cesium[/font]

National Jan. 11, 2013 - 05:30PM JST ( 59 )

[font size=3]SENDAI — Rice grown in Miyagi Prefecture was found to contain more than double the legal limit of radioactive cesium, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced Friday.

The rice, which was grown on a farm in Kurihara last year, was found to contain around 240 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, over twice the legal limit of 100 becquerels per kilogram. Fuji TV reported that this is the first time rice grown outside Fukushima Prefecture has exceeded the legal limit.

The local government has requested farmers growing rice in the same ward as the affected farm to check each bag for radiation before shipping. It added that it will strive to carry out spot checks on rice from neighboring prefectures.

In order to quell public fears about rice already shipped from the farm in question, a ministry spokesperson said that spot checks had, until now, given no cause for alarm.[/font][/font]

[FBaggins]

7. I thought "misread" gave you the benefit of the doubt

If you want to admit to a misleading misrepresentation instead... that's fine.

I certainly didn't do so. Hint - None of the three articles you linked to refute my statement.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. I was making a joke (i.e. the rice does not glow in the dark)

On the other hand, your statement, “There hasn't been a problem with even Fukushima's rice crop (let alone Japan as a whole) since the crop that was in the field when the earthquake hit.” Is clearly false. Note (for example) the date of the 3rd article, and the location where the rice was grown.

Note also the use of the negative: “In order to quell public fears about rice already shipped from the farm in question, a ministry spokesperson said that spot checks had, until now, given no cause for alarm.” — (As in, this finding gives us cause for alarm.)