Japan's farming faces falling demand, labor shortage amid pandemic

Japan's agriculture and the food industry face a serious drop in demand as well as a labor shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic, a government report said Tuesday.According to the fiscal 2019 Annual Report on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas in Japan, the farming sector was hit by a slump in demand for products such as school lunch ingredients after the government closed school facilities to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.The prices of flowers and ornamental plants also declined as many events were canceled amid the pandemic, while the government's travel restrictions over …READ FULL ARTICLE