May 12

Agricultural ministers from the Group of 20 economies concluded two days of talks in Niigata, central Japan, on Sunday and adopted a joint declaration.

The meeting was the first in a series of G20 ministerial conferences to take place in Japan, leading up to the G20 summit in Osaka in June. The statement calls on G20 members to play a leading role in using artificial intelligence and other technologies to improve productivity in farming amid global population growth. It also urges them to make efforts to reduce food waste.

Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Takamori Yoshikawa chaired the meeting. He said after the talks that it was significant that the participants confirmed the importance of sharing knowledge. Yoshikawa also said that the participants gave high marks to food prepared with ingredients from areas affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

Before Sunday's session, Yoshikawa met with his Chinese counterpart Han Changfu and called on Beijing to lift its import restrictions on Japanese food that were imposed following the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Chinese delegates reportedly showed understanding of the importance Japan places on getting import restrictions lifted, but the talks made no major progress.

NHK