For all its awesome natural beauty and thousands of years of history, Japan is a nation that is very poor in resources. Back between 1900 and 1945 – taking their cues from Britain, Germany, France and the U.S.A. - the Japanese attempted to rectify that situation by creating their own empire in Asia. That didn't work out so well for them.

Afterwards, Japan started focusing on developing its economic and manufacturing muscle. That actually worked out very well – but the problem of resources remained, especially as the population exploded during the post-World War II decades. The country still winds up importing a lot of its food, since only about 15% of the country is arable...and that situation is not getting any better. Nonetheless, between making the most of what they had through advanced farming techniques and some smart advance planning, Japan has managed to become around 65-70% self-sufficient in agricultural products.

Then came the triple-whammy earlier this month – major earthquakes, tidal waves (tsunamis) and now, nuclear radiation from damaged reactors at the nation's power plants. The latter is especially serious, since radiation can poison the land for decades – and even centuries.

A recent report out of KFGO in Fargo, North Dakota pointed out that the tsunamis, which penetrated in land up to six miles in some places, affected only four of the country's prefectures (those are similar to provinces, counties or boroughs) – and those four account for just over 12% of the nation's rice production. Because of the saltwater, farm production in those areas is going to be out of production for awhile. However, the report did not account for the effect of those damaged reactors, which happens to be located in one of those areas – the Fukishima prefecture, to be exact.

It's something that most people are not talking about, though reporters over at Bloomberg interviewed some knowledgeable sources on the topic. While pointing out that food products are often treated with radiation in order to prolong shelf life (the process is called irradiation, and many people find even this is a questionable practice), the real problem is what happens to the soil. The bottom line is that food production within a 20-mile radius may be affected for up to thirty years – and if the weather or ground water leaching carries radioactive particles further, the problem may get worse. At particular risk are dairy products.

Once some radioactive particles get into the human body, they may remain for years – and wreak havoc on DNA that is not pleasant to contemplate. Japanese agricultural productivity is likely to be down for quite some time.

Note Added April 4 2011

 Friends and family, please check out SolarForJapan.com and consider contributing.  Two contributors will win a free solar system.  If you live out of Hawaii and win you can "gift" the system to a worthy cause like Habitat for Humanity.  (Please spread the word)