Rice, unlike tea, is a defensive measure for times of crisis. Even as Japan imports food, the point is whether the country can quickly mobilize and ramp up to essential food crops. The point is having options and a hedge, which allows you leverage during economic negotiations for other things.
The percentage of imports you can have should be bounded by the runway and time horizon you have.
It seems Sri Lanka went all in on one crop without a hedge, and it would infeasibly take years to convert.
Same deal in Norway where I live. We maintain an agricultural sector in a rocky subarctic climate at exorbitant prices which probably makes Japanese agriculture look like a bargain.
We have had enough bad experiences in the past however to give up having some level of self-sufficiency.
If you ever wondered why nearly every European country is in the EU, except Norway well there you got part of it he reason.
Rice, unlike tea, is a defensive measure for times of crisis. Even as Japan imports food, the point is whether the country can quickly mobilize and ramp up to essential food crops. The point is having options and a hedge, which allows you leverage during economic negotiations for other things.
The percentage of imports you can have should be bounded by the runway and time horizon you have.
It seems Sri Lanka went all in on one crop without a hedge, and it would infeasibly take years to convert.