By Kaori Kaneko and Mariko Katsumura

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a top contender to become the next premier, downplayed criticism on Friday over his ministry’s handling of a licensing deal for a prized grape variety that sparked an official protest from producers.

At a press conference the day before, the governor of Yamanashi prefecture, a major producer of Shine Muscat grapes, criticised the ministry for entering discussions with New Zealand about growing the prized fruit without the prior knowledge or input of producers.

Governor Kotaro Nagasaki, along with a representative of the local agricultural cooperative, met with Koizumi to lodge the complaint and urge steps to expand the market for exports, rather than offering a cultivation licence for producti

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