The Land-Utilization in the Newly-Cultivated Areas in the Southern Slope of Mt. Iwaki and its Relation to Neighborhood.

Abstract

On the southern slope of Mt. Iwaki there are three newly-cultivated areas, Komoriyama, Tsugaru-Haguro and Mizuho.
Settlers moved into these areas in 1949, and have developed the land-utilization in accordance with the conditions of respective areas. But in the early stages, the degree of land utilization was low, and the crops were mainly of the self-support for the settlers.
The farmers of Mizuho area are the repatriates from Karafuto. Since 1952, some farmers have raised in the fields which they rented from the farmers of Karekitai.
The desire of farmers in the newly-cultivated areas was to produce their food with their own hands.
At the beginning of rice cultivation, the yield was low (about 1 koku per tan), because of the low temperature of irrigation water and the poor technical skill. But, as they adopted protected semiirrigated nursery method as well as the introduction of new and stronger variety of rice, the yield per unit area has gradually increased (it showed a yield of about 2.4 koku per tan in 1960). The increase of agricultural income made it possible for the farmers to obtain security of living.
The settlers in Tsugaru-Haguro area and Komoriyama area came from neighboring areas, so they were more or less dependent on their relatives at home. Consequently, the reclamation of the waste land has made less progress in this area. They cultivate mainly upland crops such as cereals, beans, potato, and rapeseed etc., and the unit yield was low, because the soil is covered with volcanic ash and is therefore, less fertile. Moreover the use of tractors for the reclamation made the condition of arable-land less favorable.
But, since 1960 their plan of cultivation has hen intensified with the adoption of new commercial crops, e.g. tomatoes in Tsugaru-Haguro and vegetables and fruit trees in Komoriyama. This enabled them to secure the increased agricultural profit.
In the progress of land-use, the farmers of Mizuho area exercised a favorable influence upon their neighborhood, that is, they encouraged rice cultivation in Karekitai area, and their example was the cause of increased arable-land and more use of farm-machinery. Recently, the joint management of farms is about to be put into practice, and for this reason too, the due consideration must be paid for the progress of land-use a d its relation to its neighboring areas.