Fukushima May Abandon Rice Planting Amid Radiation in Soil

Farmers in Fukushima prefecture, Japan’s fourth-biggest rice producer, may not plant the grain this year after tainted soil was discovered near a crippled nuclear plant leaking radiation.

“Farmers cannot grow anything without assurance from the government that their paddies are safe for food production,” Takuo Ichiya, agricultural production manager at the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, Japan’s largest farmers group, said today in an interview. “Concerns about radioactive contamination may hinder planting not only in Fukushima but neighboring prefectures too.”