Fears of radiation spread to rice as the planting season began in Japan, prompting the government to ban its cultivation in contaminated soil as fallout leaking from a tsunami-damaged nuclear plant dealt another blow to the national diet.
Vegetables and milk were the first foods that sparked concerns about the safety of Japanese agriculture after the March 11 tsunami flooded the nuclear plant and its reactors began to overheat and spew radiation.
But rice has now come under the microscope as the planting season begins in April and May.
"We had to come up with a policy quickly because we are in planting season," said Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano, who announced the ban Friday.
The ban will apply to any soil found to contain high levels of radioactive cesium, and farmers who cannot grow rice will be compensated. Rice grown in uncontaminated soil will be screened.
Rice may be particularly vulnerable to absorbing radiation because it has a long growing season.
So far, soil containing cesium that exceeds the new limit has been found in only two places in Iitate, a village about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex.
Fukushima, home to the radiation-leaking plant, was the nation's fourth-largest rice producing prefecture (state) last year.
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