農業・農村の発展を推進した農業協同組合の役割

―高度成長期を中心として―

抄録

This paper offers the role of agricultural cooperatives in agricultural development and life improvement of farm household in Japan, focusing on a decade over 1960s', experienced high economic growth rates. Through reviewing the experience in the agricultural cooperatives in Japan, it can be expected that the useful lessons on doing the process of agricultural and rural development efficiently in the developing countries will be pulled out, from the viewpoint of figuring out the importance of farmer's union.

The contents of this paper are as follows. Section 2 overviews some important functions and roles having undertaken by agricultural cooperatives after second world war, on promoting the agricultural development and improving the rural life. Section 3 examines the specific experiences performed by the vigorous agricultural cooperatives, taking some activities as examples. Section 4 refers to the valuable implications pulled out from the activities in agricultural cooperatives of Japan, for agricultural and rural development in the developing countries.

The functions played by agricultural cooperatives, in terms of agricultural development, are composed of some items as follows: extending the new farm technology to farmers, purchasing agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizer, improved seeds, feed grain for livestock and agricultural machinery at the cheaper prices and distributing them to farmers, assembling agricultural products harvested by farmers and transporting them to the local wholesale market and selling at the higher prices, in order to maximize farmer's profits.

Due to the combination of important functions performed by the agricultural cooperatives in the past periods, it should be noted that agricultural development and rural life improvement were done successfully, which made up the basis of economic development in Japan.