Farm minister Eto Taku said on March 4 that he has told ministry staff to prepare to auction off an additional 60,000 tons of stockpiled rice to deal with rising prices caused by stagnation in distribution.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries decided in February to release 210,000 tons of rice from reserves, and the bidding for 150,000 tons is scheduled for March 10 to 12.

The Japanese government initially planned to see how the situation develops before making the remaining 60,000 tons available.

But Eto said he determined that the earlier the better.

The minister did not say when the bidding for the second batch will take place but did not rule out March.

The varieties of rice set to be released include Koshihikari from Niigata Prefecture and Akitakomachi from Akita Prefecture harvested in 2023 and 2024.