Sustainable Development of Local Farming through Farm Produce Shops: Case Study of the Yoshii District of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture

Abstract

In the mid-1990s, the importation of vegetables to Japan increased rapidly and, in parallel, Japanese consumers began to doubt the safety of vegetables from abroad. In response to those doubts, farmers within the research area established farm produce shops that complied with the demands of local Japanese consumers. Agriculture in the research area at the end of the 1980s was mainly rice farming and sericulture. Because the Japanese government had greatly reduced the price levels of silk by the end of the 1980s, many sericulture farmers converted their production to vegetables. As a result, the amount of farmland under vegetable production increased dramatically and regional agricultural output was maintained. However, farmers who had established farm produce shops became senior citizens. Because the agriculture in this area is small scale, there are only a few farming successors. A regional social system to teach methods for farm production and the management of farm produce shops to new farmers is necessary to maintain agriculture in this area.