Abstract
Poultry raising, like the dairy raising and fruits, is one of the most noticeable part: in Japanese agriculture after World War II. One of the fundamental characteristics of Japanese poultry were a small scale one as a side job. Recently, however, large scale farms have become popular gradually. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the large scale poultry for egg production, especially in dealing with the process of development and the patterns of enterprise. The main results of field survey at Yokohama, Sagamihara in Kanagawa prefecture and Osaka, are summarized as follows:
In postwar Japan, two developing periods might be recognized in poultry raising. In the first period from 1950 to 1955, poultry raising had spread widely with the increase of feed supply and the demand for eggs. In the second one from 1960 to 1964, poultry raising was introduced for the purpose of increasing agricultural income, as the farmers were forced to improve their farm management. The large scale of poultry farms followed by the technical improvement of raising and the promotion of assorted feed, were established mainly in neighbouring areas of the big cities.
There might be three distinguished types in present management of poultry raising.
The first type This is the most popular type in Japan. Each of the farms raises about from 3, 000 to 5, 000 birds depending on regular household members only. The eggs are sold by farmers themselves or through the agricultural cooperative associations. It was formerly possible that farmers of this type could advance to the second type. However, followed by outflow of labourers employed in farms to urban areas, it has become very difficult to employ labourers for poultry farms.
The second type Although this type is rare in number, it is found near the big cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Farmers of this type employ some labourers besides the household members and keep about from 10, 000 to 100, 000 birds. Washing and selecting machines for eggs are installed in the farms and eggs are sold in large quantity directly to the retail stores or department stores. The producer's margin are comparatively greaterr in shipment than in the first type.
The third type This type, called cooperative enterprise or joint management, has developed during the last ten years, urged by Agricultural Basic Law. This is a kind of enterprise which the purchase of feed, selling of eggs and occasionally the possession of the equipments are operated jointly: but raising is generally managed individually.
Regarding to the location of poultry raising, both the first and second type have a tendency to be seen near the big cities. However, the third type is found in many districts.
