The Japanese government made a decision on July 1.

S/ Ishiba Shigeru, Prime Minister / We will promote an increase in rice production starting with this year's harvest.

The move came in response to surges in rice prices.

How are farmers taking the news?

S/ Rice farmer / I heard it today and was surprised. It's difficult to increase production from what we have here.

There is a limit to what rice farmers can do.

And the recent high temperatures in Japan are not helping.

S/ Rice farmer / If the rice plants remain in high temperatures and the water remains hot, they won't have time to rest and will continue to weaken.

The prices of rice have been soaring starting about a year ago, and the government has been distributing its stockpiled rice to the market.

The government is hoping to ensure a stable supply of the staple of the Japanese diet to consumers and to secure income for rice producers.

But rice farmers are concerned about the heatwave.

S/ Rice farmer / Rice growth is progressing ahead of schedule. It's going to be difficult to harvest them at the right time of growth.

The continued heatwave could have negative effects on the quality of rice harvested this year.

Two things can happen due to heat.

S/ Rice farmer / There’s a lack of water and there’s heat that can cause rice kernels to break. Another problem is the outbreak of bugs. We can see signs of stink bugs having sucked on rice.

To prevent these problems, the water temperature must be kept between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius.

S/ Rice farmer / The water from the river is about 15 degrees Celsius. During the day, the temperature went up to about 35 degrees today. If we keep the water in the paddy, it becomes about 40 degrees.

If the current situation continues, about a tenth of the harvested rice might not be good enough to sell due to effects of high temperatures.

S/ Rice farmer / I hope the government will create an environment where we can work hard in agriculture.

Another aspect that can affect the stable distribution of rice is the milling capability of wholesalers.

The farm minister announced the result of a survey in which about 40 percent of the 468 business operators that responded said the margin of capacity at their factories stand at 50 percent or more.

S/ Koizumi Shinjiro, Farm minister / I think people generally thought the situation was pretty tight, but my feeling is that of surprise that there is this much unused capacity.

He said the government will work on matching rice millers that have spare capacity with retailers as well as speeding up the process of releasing more stockpiled rice to the market.

It remains to be seen whether the government can respond to the needs of rice producers to help them meet its wish to produce more rice.