Japan will keep its reserves of non-genetically modified soyabeans steady at 7,200 tonnes in the 2010/11 fiscal year starting on April 1, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday. An official said the ministry plans to spend 291 million yen ($3.23 million), the same amount as the current financial year, on purchasing more costly non-GM soyabeans for use in traditional food such as tofu.
The country will also keep unchanged from the current fiscal year its national reserve of soyabeans at 31,000 tonnes, or equivalent to two-weeks of local consumption. In the current fiscal year, the ministry doubled its purchase of non-GM soyabeans to 7,200 tonnes from 3,600 tonnes the year before. The official said the ministry plans to gradually boost the proportion of non-GM soyabeans in the national reserves, aiming to make all its remaining soyabeans GM free in the year starting in April 2013, while maintaining the total unchanged at 31,000 tonnes.
Japan, which relies on supplies from abroad to satisfy more than 90 percent of its soyabean demand, started to hold non-GM types of the bean in the national reserve in fiscal 2006/07. Japanese consumers remain wary of buying food made from GM crops, even when GM soya-origin products are cheaper than those made from non-GM soyabeans.
The official also said the farm ministry will not reveal its estimates on soyabean supply and demand for the new business year before March 31, as more precise estimates are needed to compile the data. The ministry provides estimates for supply and demand once a year after hearing views from the edible oil industry. For fiscal 2009/10, the ministry forecast soyabean imports of 3.72 million tonnes, up from 3.71 million tonnes in 2008/09. It also forecast soyameal imports of 1.69 million tonnes in 2009/10, up from 1.68 million tonnes in 2008/09.