Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's government may provide 285 billion yen ($2.7 billion) in farm support in a supplementary budget, the Mainichi newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

The spending may include 135 billion yen to help farmers cope with rising costs for fuel and fertilizer, and 130 billion yen to deal with property damage from natural disasters, Mainichi said on its Web site.

Separately, the Agriculture Ministry plans to help farm owners lease and sell property in an effort to increase the consolidation of farmland and boost productivity, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

The ministry plans to allow brokers to handle negotiations on behalf of farm owners, replacing the current system under which agricultural cooperatives and local authorities oversee transactions, Nikkei said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tak Kumakura in Tokyo at tkumakura@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 4, 2008 21:38 EDT