Tokyo, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party adopted a proposal on Tuesday for establishing a private sector-led national organization that will collect supply-demand information on rice to prevent an oversupply.

The decision reflects worries about excessive supply of rice after the abolition of the government’s decades-old “gentan” rice production adjustment system in fiscal 2018, which starts next April.

The new organization is expected to be set up by the end of the year at the earliest, LDP sources said.

Under the proposal, the envisaged organization will be joined mainly by the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, or JA-Zenchu, rice wholesalers and associations of restaurant operators and exporters, the sources said.

To help stable rice output, the new organization is expected to encourage producers and restaurant operators to conclude multiyear agreements or expand purchase deals amid a shortage of low-priced rice sought by such businesses.