Abstract
This paper deals with the roles of areal functional units and their hierarchical structure of the apple industry in the Nagano basin by applying the method of areal functional organization.
The cultivation of apple in the Nagano basin was begun in the early Meiji era. But the rapid expansion of apple growing areas was first seen after the Second World War. In 1968 the total cultivated area of apple of bearing ages reached 5, 504 hectares. Apple orchards are mainly located on natural levees and alluvial fans. The average size of apple orchards per farm household is quite small (28 ares).
As the number of farmers cultivating apple and the yield of apple increased, the farmers have organized various cooperative associations. Cooperative spraying was begun in 1951 in order to make up for the shortage of agricultural labor and to control insect and disease infestations. At the present time there are 217 spraying cooperative groups in the Nagano basin. Spraying cooperative groups, in terms of area and participating membership, are mostly associated with the buraku (traditional rural communities). Cooperative irrigation has been practiced since 1960. The scale of each cooperative irrigation facility i s small except cooperative irrigation facilities in Obuse Town and Nagano City. There are 75 irrigation cooperative groups in the Nagano basin. Packing and shipping cooperative groups had been already organized in the late Meiji era. But the present 104 packing and shipping cooperative groups were newly reorganized after the Second World War. Although some packing and shipping cooperative groups are associated with one buraku, most of them are composed of several buraku Reorganization of the present agricultural cooperative assosiations took place after 1948. Today, there are one or more agricultural cooperative assosiations in each of the official administrative units in the study area. Keizairen (Nagano Prefecture Economic Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives) is essentially an administrative organization handling the marketing of the fruits rather than matters related more directly to the cultivation and handling of apple. In the Nagano basin, it is estimated that Keizairen handles about 60% of the total sale of apple in 1968. Approximately 93% of the apples handled by Keizairen goes into the market as fresh fruits. Shinren (Nagano Prefecture Credit Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives) is also an administrative organization, and is to take care of financial affairs as to the apple industry.
Combining the function and area of each organization, it can be identified as an areal functional unit. The following table illustrates the hierarchical structure of areal functional units as to the apple industry in the Nagano basin.
