Aging farmers face extreme temperatures as they struggle to maintain Japan’s rice crop

Associated Press

KAMIMOMI, Japan (AP) — In the remote village of Kamimomi in Japan’s western Okayama Prefecture, a small group of rice farmers began their most recent harvest in sweltering heat, two weeks sooner than usual. The prefecture is called “the Land of Sunshine” because of its pleasant climate, but farmers working among the paddy fields and ancient rice terraces say that climate change is hurting the harvest of rice, long a cornerstone of Japan’s diet. Hot weather hurts the crop yield and quality of rice. The government is promoting the adoption of heat-resistant rice variants, but have to convince sometimes-reluctant farmers to switch.