JAPAN: Food supplies 'threatened' by reliance on water abroad

[FarCenter]

Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun

Countries exporting food to Japan use about 42.7 cubic kilometers of water annually to produce that food, according to an estimate by a group of researchers at Tokyo University. The figure, equivalent to 42.7 billion tons of water, works out at about 80 percent of the total agricultural water used annually for food production in Japan.

...

Almost 10 percent of the water used abroad in producing food for the Japanese market comes from underground sources. In recent years, concern has been growing that water supplies from underground sources in many food-exporting nations could dry up in the not too distant future, threatening Japan's efforts to secure food from overseas. "Underground water is such a scarce resource and yet it accounts for such a large percentage of water . If it dries up, it could dramatically push up food prices," Oki said.

...

The volume of underground water was estimated at about 2.9 cubic kilometers, or about 6.8 percent of the total. The group found that the United States, the largest food exporter to Japan, was particularly dependent on underground sources of water for food shipped to Japan.


Read more: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/20080302TDY02308.htm

[Vincardog]

1. Thus the water wars begin

[SpiralHawk]

2. "We are ready. Smirk." - Commander AWOL & republicon crony Rev. "JC" Moon

"We gots a whole big batch of water rights locked up. Thirsty? Please pay the cashier. All them what gots money may drink. Too bad about the rest of you. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL & republicon crony Rev. "Second Coming of Christ" Moon

[aquart]

3. How far above sea level is Japan?

Because water may solve the problem...if losing all coastal cities and low-lying islands can be considered a solution.

[diane in sf]

4. Watch the clever Japanese find a low-cost way to make fresh water. This

article sounds like the dawning of enlightened self-interest to me--the Japanese are thinking out of their own box.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. Meanwhile, here in Japan

I have seen countless rice paddies and dry fields get bulldozed over for dubious construction projects, while other fields lie bare or get overrun with weeds because there is no one to tend them. And so Japan, with ample water resources but an agricultural policy in disarray, ends up importing foods like lettuce and cabbage that can be easily grown domestically.