TOKYO -- The Japanese government will begin discussions to attract experienced farmers from abroad to a country now suffering from serious labor shortages in the agriculture industry.

The special government program would accept workers with certain skills and experience in agriculture. They would be allowed to work in special strategic zones where restrictions on foreign labor could be relaxed.

The agriculture experts would be paid equal to or higher than their Japanese peers.

So far, government efforts to attract skilled foreign workers have been focused on jobs in urban areas. The government now wants to broaden its scope to rural areas, many of which are suffering from weak economies.

The discussions will start on Tuesday at a council meeting for national strategic special zones. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will chair the meeting. Several local governments have already submitted proposals to the working group regarding foreign agricultural workers.

The government aims to submit a bill to revise related laws during next year's ordinary Diet, or legislative, session. It will likely be based on legislation that has already passed to allow foreign housekeepers to work in certain parts of the country.

To take part in the program, a foreign farmer would have to have experience in agriculture and be able to speak at least basic Japanese.

Japan's farm population is collapsing. As of February, it stood at 3.17 million, 2 million fewer than a decade earlier.

(Nikkei)