「新農政」における農産物価格問題(市場問題からみた「新農政」,1993年度春季大会シンポジウム報告)

抄録

For the last ten years, the situation surrounding Japanese agriculture has been critical. So in June of 1992 the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced "the Basic Direction of New Policies for Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas". It is based on the market oriented policy, so several problems will come about by this policy. In the New Policies, it is proclaimed that future pricing policies will require the establishment of levels by reflecting the supply and demand situation, while endeavoring to reduce the costs will be made possible through reforms of agricultural structure. I have several criticisms of the New Policies. They are as follows: The first point is that Japanese food self-sufficiency rate is not clearly stated in it. Essentially we suppose that pricing policies of agricultural products is to make decisions to a demand quantity, then its supply quantity depends on its demand quantity. Price levels are determined by its supply quantity. If we assume that the food self-sufficiency rate is not clear, we can not decide the quantity of domestic supply. The second point is that we can not establish a goal of farm management, as a rice price level is not clear in the New Policies. If a farmer asks for farming scale expansions, a certain price level is necessary for his success. In the New Policies the realization of farm management depends on setting up a rice price level. A price level acts on the number of an efficient and stable farm management. The third point is that the role of the government is reduced in a rice market. That is to say the quantity of voluntarily marketed rice is much superior to the quantity of government-marketed rice. If this situation becomes common, the influence of pricing policies must be reduced. The fourth point is that protection of farm management is abandoned in the pricing policies of the New Policies. So the market oriented pricing policies must be diversified to a rice control system from governmental control system to market principles.