New estimates by the agriculture ministry show that the nation can raise its food self-sufficiency to 55 percent in 2050 from 39 percent now, sources said. The estimates are based on the assumption that Japan will maintain its current farm production while the population declines. The long-term estimates on food self-sufficiency are the first the ministry has ever made. According to the estimates, daily food demand will drop from 307 billion kilocalories in 2014 to 220 billion in 2050 due to the fall in population. To maintain the current output, the ministry believes it necessary to boost productivity, maintain the farming workforce and prevent farmland from being abandoned.