Study of Beneficiary Farmers' Evaluation on the Government-Operated Agriculture and Rural Development Project in Hokkaido

Abstract

In this study, the government-operated agriculture and rural development project in Hokkaido, Japan, has been examined based on the evaluation made by the viewpoint of beneficiary farmers of the project. The consideration for the future projects is also discussed. From the result of the questionnaire, it became clear that the beneficiary farmers are recognizing the effectiveness of the project, such as increase in income, increase in the yield, and quality improvement of the products. The farmers value the project for its low burden charge as well as its coupled correspondence between the measures and the policies. Farmers of paddy field farming and upland farming gave different results in the questionnaire. This difference seems to be a result of the disparity of the agricultural policy in both farming type.