Improving rice yield for feed use has been an ongoing subject of policy-making, although the scientific findings are debatable. In particular, it is essential to reconsider the socio-economic importance of raising the unit yields of rice for feed and point of contact with rural planning. The present study revaluates the characteristics of “feed rice theory” and the point of contact with rural planning based on the study by Dr. Shigesaburo Tsunoda (1919–2001), who introduced the concept of feed rice. In addition, the results of the study provide suggestions for the current policy. The primary results are as follows. First, Dr. Tsunoda’s theory on feed rice proposes concrete policies for rural planning on the premise of effective use of farmland where a single crop improved the yield of crops that cannot be planted, such as converted rice fields. Second, the current policy reduces the production cost per unit volume. Third, Dr. Tsunoda posits that the demand for feed rice is infinite; therefore, the examination of rural plan that assumed the use of paddy field which cannot be utilized by the unit yield improvement of feed rice is excluded from the purpose of his study.
