This paper aims to identify the role of the European PDO (Protect of Denomination Origin) on processed agricultural product branding through a case study of 'Bajo Argon Olive Oil' in Spain. Field surveys identified the following three factors. First, registering into a PDO on the basis of multiple brand elements means that the products not only have a quality certification but also a measure of differentiation. Secondly, the PDO requires completion based on all the production processes of the area of origin, and as such, PDO stimulates the processing industries located in raw material agricultural production regions. Thirdly, a PDO indication and label contributes as a brand element that is guaranteed in intrinsic factors, such as smell, appearance and taste, which are a requisite to PDO registration.

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In the contemporary China, it is difficult for small farmers to sell their produce while relying on the drastic changes that have taken place in the distribution situation. The aim of this article is to clarify the reasons behind the shipping practices of vegetable-growers, using an analysis in Hohhot, the seat of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A two-sided conclusion was reached. On the one hand, in a large-scale vegetable producing village which is located near the heart of Hohhot City, farmers can sell their produce more easily because many merchants frequently gather at this location and farmers can ship their produce to nearby markets themselves. On the other hand, in small-scale vegetable producing villages which are located farther away from the heart of the area, the farmers cooperate in certain parts of the vegetable shipping process because the vegetable market is too far for each farmer. Moreover, few merchants gather at such locations. In such cases, joint shipping through agricultural cooperatives and joint transportations are the concrete forms that emerge. Therefore, the background reasons for the shipping practices and behavior of vegetable-growers in the Hohhot region are related to the vegetable producing scale and the distance to some large consuming city.

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This study examines the causes the melamine problem that occurred in Inner Mongolia in 2008. It analyzes the introduction of a new policy as a decisive point for restraining this problematic outbreak from the point of view of economics and industrial organization theory. The reasons the melamine problem occurred are that the dairy companies were giving a commission to milking stations on the basis of the milk collection volume, there was a low possibility of dairy companies buying milk with protein content levels below the established limit and the dairy companies and the milking stations shared asymmetrical information. The newly launched policies for avoiding recurrences of such melamine incidents are rigid monitoring of the milking stations by the dairy companies, increasing the possibilities of buying milk with protein content levels below the established limit and meliorating the dairy industry distribution channel system. Two directionalities are followed in order to assure the question of fresh milk food security. First is the supervision of the milking station agents regarding the melamine mixtures. The second is marketing integration, thereby internalizing the milk collection function within the dairy industry.

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This study clarifies the role of the JA Investment Agriculture Production Corporation in the promotion of Rural Agriculture on the basis of four points. First, in the rural area of Gifu, an area characterized by few prospective famers, the JA Investment Agriculture Production Corporation EnNouGifu assigned the farmers to be commissioned and performed as managers in the areas of land maintenance and management. Second, because the EnNouGifu is not powerful enough to cover the entire city, in 2007, with support from the EnNouGifu, farming unions were established in Ichihashi. Third, the activities of the EnNouGifu were appreciated by the farmers and are seen as increasing in the future. Fourth, comparing with the contractorization of EnNouGifu and the farming unions, the relationship between the farmers and JA feels stronger and stronger.

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This paper analyzes the Chinese small vegetable farmers' pesticides use management. The results are based on farmers' questionnaire surveys conducted by a village of Shandong province. The paper clarifies the following: First, the farmers lack systematic knowledge of pesticide use management. Second, it is necessary to attach importance to measures for the scatter subject - farmers and the environment surrounded by pesticide use at the pre-harvest stage. Therefore, it is urgent to build farming technique improvement organizations and to take advantage of current pesticide sales organizations to provide pesticide security management education to the farmer.

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This study examined the circulation structure and the transaction form of raw milk, through a survey of participants in the raw milk marketing chain, focusing on dairy manufacturer A in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in China. Under the background of rapid development of China's dairy industry in recent decades, however, some problems appeared in the circulation structure, most notably the instability of raw milk prices caused by unbalanced supply and demand and an accumulation of capital that expanded the market power of major manufactures, which accelerated the monopolization in not only the market of dairy products but also the market of raw milk. Yunnan Province is an area set for major agricultural producers due to its superior requirements of livestock farming and raw milk production. Based on this situation, a stable, sustained and coordinated development of local dairy industry in Yunnan Province is expected. Manufacturer A is one of the largest local dairy companies in the area. Although manufacture A owns specialized farms in order to supply raw milk, its raw milk source mainly comes from organizations of small-scale dairy farmers called Specialized Farmers Cooperatives, which is, as a conclusion, playing an extremely important role in keeping up a steady growth of the local dairy industry in Yunnan Province.

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This paper examines the impacts of commercialized farming on the Governor Grain Supply Responsibility System in China. Recently, the supply-demand balance of grain in the region of Chongqing City, a "supply and demand balanced district" under The Governor Grain Supply Responsibility System, is in a difficult situation. However, non-grain product production in T prefecture in Chongqing City has expanded rapidly, especially the expansion of the vegetable production, despite the area having the responsibility on self-sufficiency of grain. This study considers the changes of grain self-support structure of T prefecture, and clarifies the future direction of agriculture in an inland city and its outskirts where self-sufficient grain farming originally operated. The study found three diffident aspects of self-sufficient grain farming. The first is the importance of large-scale production based on the grain self-sufficiency. The second was a rapid shift from the subsistence farming to commercialized farming due to the effect of vegetable enterprises. And third was recognition of a conversion to the commercialized farming by organizing vegetable base.

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The purposes of this paper are to clarify the problem of the agriculture, commerce and industry network and its new direction. The new trend of plum supply and demand after 2000 is illuminated on the basis of interviews with retailers and manufacturers. The analysis case is Wakayama Kinan Area (Tanabe City and Minahe Town), which are famous plum production centers. The main conclusions of this paper are summarized as follows: There is a focus on the "Green Tourism" approach which aims at city-farm-village exchanges and the "syokuiku (food and nutrition education)" and the "kisyuu umedori umetamago" use of industrial waste fodder in the production of "Plum Vinegar." The importance of the wide region network and area tourism in the development of the agriculture, commerce and industry network in the future is emphasized.

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[in Japanese]

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This paper considers the problems facing efforts of facility development companies when attempting to spread the practice of hydroponic production. M Hydroponic Research Co., Ltd. has received Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries subsidy for support projects by which M Hydroponic Research Co., Ltd. seeks to tap markets consisting not only of general consumers but also neighboring restaurants and convenience stores. It can be considered that technical support to new customers by the company is a highly relevant approach to retaining customers. M Hydroponic Research Co., Ltd. contracted with a Taiwanese producing company regarding such technical supply. From this examination, it is clear that in order to be successful, a correspondence between demands in domestic markets and foreign markets, while also promoting technical supports and sales of producer goods in future, is necessary.

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