TOKYO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Marubeni ( MARUF ) on Friday

began selling salmon from a farm operated near mount Fuji by its

Norwegian partner, marking another step in Japanese commodity

trading houses' expansion into the food business.

Wild and sea-farmed salmon is one of the areas Marubeni ( MARUF ) and

its rivals have been targeting- a growth market in Japan, which

aims to raise the share of locally sourced seafood it consumes

to 94% in 2033 from 54% now.

Marubeni ( MARUF ) has a stake in Danish Salmon, one of the world's

top land-farmed salmon producers that focuses on the European

market, and now is handling sales of Atlantic salmon for

Norway's Proximar Seafood AS, which operates Japan's

first land farm.

Proximar plans to produce 5,300 tones of salmon in 2027, or

around a 10th of Japan's annual Atlantic salmon consumption.

"By farming salmon locally in Japan, we are participating in

increasing Japan's self-sufficiency rate," Proximar Chief

Executive Joachim Nielsen told reporters.

Faced with volatile fossil fuel markets and in search for

stable revenue streams, Marubeni ( MARUF ) and its rivals have been

diversifying into the food business, where demand is set to grow

alongside rising world population.

Mitsubishi ( MSBHF ) owns Norway-based Cermaq, one of the world's

leading salmon farmers, and is also exploring salmon land

farming in Japan, while Mitsui & Co ( MITSF ) is a shareholder of

the world's biggest shrimp farming and processing companies in

Ecuador and Vietnam.

Mitsui ( MITSF ) expects profits in its lifestyle unit, which includes

food, to exceed those earned by chemicals this fiscal year.

Trading houses are also exposed to convenience stores, with

Itochu ( ITOCF ) owning second-ranked FamilyMart and Mitsubishi ( MSBHF )

co-owning third-ranked Lawson.

Their diversified profiles have caught an eye of U.S.

billionaire investor Warren Buffett whose Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A )

has this year raised its stake in the five biggest

Japanese trading houses to around 9%.

($1 = 151.8900 yen)