Challenges and Strategies for Expanding Organic Farming: Focusing on the Effects of Farm Size and the Direct Payments Scheme

Abstract

The Japanese government aims to expand organic farmland as an important policy objective. However, the low labor productivity of organic farming may hinder the efforts of large-scale farmers. This paper analyzes the relationship between farm size and organic farming in the Tajima region of Hyogo Prefecture using the Tobit model. The results show that organic farming practices decline beyond a certain scale, yet the direct payments scheme enables the transition of large-scale farmers to organic farming (moderating effect). Therefore, expanding organic farming requires policy support that fosters the participation of large-scale farmers.