International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—This study is a part of research outcomes of JST/RISTEX national project in Japan. Impacts of climate change on Japanese Radish in Ichihara city, Chiba prefecture, Japan, are analyzed. The model incorporates the consideration of both climate variable and technology improvement. Diverting from the public recognition that agricultural production would be significantly damaged by climate change, we find that with the help of technology improvement Japanese radish yields could still increase along with an increase in temperature over the next 30 years. Along with a further increase in temperature, increasing ratio of Japanese radish yield in 2040 to that in 2012 decreases. Such results reflect the sensitive responses of Japanese radish to the changing environment. The results imply the adaptability of local agricultural production to climate variation and the importance of technology improvement to the production of Japanese radish. Stronger adaptiveness to the increased temperature, combined with other adaptation measures such as policy support, may play key roles in restructuring agricultural sector and improving the overall competitiveness of Japanese agriculture. In such a case, the TPP would become a chance rather than risks to the local farmers. All in all, further emphasis should be put on agricultural research.

Index Terms—Climate change, Japanese radish in Ichihara, technology improvement, temperature, adaptability, the TPP.

The authors are with Chiba University, 263-8522 Japan (e-mail: xiangli22@chiba-u.jp).

[PDF]

Cite: Kurasaka Hidefumi, Teruya Sekine, Sashiro Murayama, Takahide Aoyagi, Karen Mitamura, and Xiang Li, "Impacts of Climate Change on Japanese Radish in Ichihara and Their Potential Implications," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 778-782, 2016.