Abstract
Agriculture in an island region has specific problems such as labor shortages, capacity of shipping facilities and instability of the agricultural products transport. Examining the potato production of Okinoerabu Island, it is considered that not only agricultural cooperatives but also merchants play an important role in the collection and shipping system. In this paper, we clarified and elaborated on merchant behavior and roles. Firstly, merchants are divided into two types, the collecting agent and the independent merchant. Secondly, the collecting agent doesn't select potatoes and ships to the large-scale vegetable merchants in Kyushu. The selling price and sales volume are judged by the large-scale merchant. At present, the circumstances of the collecting agent is not profitable and they show a tendency to turn to independent agents. Thirdly, the independent merchant selects the potatoes which have been carried out of the island and sells mainly to wholesale markets, shipment centers for processing, retail trade and to large-scale merchants. They have developed sales channels, decided the volume and price on their own and have sold potatoes aggressively. Finally, merchants have shifted the operation of selecting potatoes out of the island which has promoted the formation of potato production area on Okinoerabu Island. As such, the merchants of Okinoerabu Island are indispensable to maintain the production area.
