抄録
How has the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) developed its organic agriculture policy? This paper reviews the changes in the position of organic agriculture in agricultural policy over the 40-plus years, from the 1970s to the revision of the Food, Agriculture, and Rural Areas Basic Law in 2023. MAFF, which has promoted modern agriculture, has consistently failed to properly position organic agriculture in its agricultural policy, instead promoting what is called “environmentally friendly agriculture”, which reduces only about 20 percent of agricultural chemical and chemical fertilizer use. Furthermore, agro-environmental policies centering on environmentally friendly agriculture have lacked systematic strategies, and individual policies have been promoted in a disjointed manner without recognition of interrelationships, and thus have failed to produce sufficient results. However, the introduction of policies in Europe and the U.S. that promote a drastic reduction of pesticide and chemical fertilizer use led MAFF to suddenly launch its Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems (MIDORI) in 2021, in which it announced the drastic expansion of organic farming. In 2023, the revision of the Basic Law for Food, Agriculture, and Rural Areas will include a commitment to mainstream sustainable agriculture, including organic agriculture. However, we cannot help but feel a danger in that MAFF’s stance of promoting organic agriculture takes place without building on any preceding policies.
