Japan and Singapore are to expand cooperation on food technology to protect food supplies from climate change, with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on agri-food innovation due to be announced on 29 October.
Yoshihiro Kuraya, assistant minister at Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), pointed to falling rice grain quality as temperatures rise and to lower salmon catches linked to changing sea temperatures as examples of the pressure on Japanese food production.
Japan is concentrating on four areas. The first is vertical farming, where Japanese companies are developing systems that use AI and robotics to grow strawberries and leafy vegetables, some close to commercial use. The second is land-based aquaculture, building on Japanese strength in water filtration and oxygen dissolution: recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), which filter and reuse water, already farm salmon and shrimp, and Japan had 808 land-based aquaculture facilities registered with its Fisheries Agency as of January 2026.
The third is food machinery, such as automated pasta-cooking robots, and the fourth is novel foods, including genome-edited red sea bream and flounder bred for faster growth and higher edible yield, which Kuraya said are already sold in Japan. Under the new ties, Japan's ARK Inc and the National University of Singapore will work together on research, demonstration and practical use of RAS technology.
The MOU builds on a 2023 memorandum of cooperation between MAFF and Singapore's Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, which is to be renewed with food technology added as the two countries mark 60 years of diplomatic relations.
Source: FoodNavigator
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