Seed usage by farmers is dependent on their viewpoints on farm management. The usage of seed may entail, for example, the purchase of seed on formal seed markets or the reproduction of seed on farm, or the choice for universal modern varieties or local old varieties. While seed reproduction 'on farm' has been supported by various stakeholders, such as NGO's and Farmers' Associations in particular, with regard to biodiversity and farmers' rights, there are clearly limitations in the commercial viability of 'on farm' seed reproduction in the agricultural market. Therefore reconstruction of formal seed supply systems is required in accordance with farmers' viewpoints. In this study the possibility of the integration of farmer' viewpoints in seed supply systems is presented through a case study of the organic seed supply system in the Netherlands. In the Dutch system, the legal system for organic seed is arranged in such a manner so as to reflect the principles of organic farming, from breeding to market provision, and at the same time, the system is governed to ensure that actors' comportments in the system are coordinated through a negotiation forum. Nevertheless, since seed reproduction and exchange are not allowed legally, farmers' seed usage is still restricted. Furthermore, the organic seed supply system is vulnerable because of its dependence on seed companies' business judgments.

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This paper clarifies the following points regarding development of catering service enterprises in China. First, the events of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Shanghai World Expo had an effect on increasing restaurant enterprises, their employees and catering-related revenue. Second, while the growth of the catering service industry is recently slowing somewhat, on the contrary, the fast-food industry has been continuingly growing. Related to this, compared with dinner restaurant enterprises, the earnings rate of fast-food restaurants is high. That is a result of efficiency of the store operation. Third, according to the survey of a number of restaurants in Beijing city reported on herein, the ingredient pricing for menu items, together with labor costs and rent fees has been increasing dramatically, making necessary raising menu prices in the restaurants. However, while this increase in menu prices results in increased revenue, this is still below the rises in labor and rent costs. Therefore, the management of catering service enterprises seems to be changing for worse recently.

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This paper analyzes the reality of food waste in the Taipei first wholesale market. In a case study approach, this research identified the amount of food waste, the structure that produces the waste, and issues related to food recycling. The conclusions are as follows. The market 23.4 tons of food waste per day in 2011. The contributing causes to this food waste were weather influences, food packing practices and unsold food. As the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation recycles all the garbage produced in the wholesale market, it is difficult to separate the food waste in the garbage for food recycling. Moreover, the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation has a garbage separation system through price incentives for cleaning contractors.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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This study examines farm types and vegetable farm performance in California. Resources required for vegetable farming include extensive landholdings, casual labor supply, and significant capital investment. This study finds that vegetable farms in California are managed mainly as family owned businesses, in contrast to other farm types. The vegetable farming system specializes exclusively in vegetables. An advanced level of mechanization exists for processing foods, but not for harvesting fresh produce. Therefore, manual labor is employed for most fresh vegetable harvesting operations. Further, over time, vegetable production has been centralized toward large-scale farms. While such large-scale farms are highly profitable, small and medium scale farms are not. Moreover, despite incurring substantial debt, large-scale farms are financially stable. Finally, this study indicates that vegetable farming in California, which adapted to the mainstream market by expanding the scale of production and increasing production efficiency, showed high performance until 2007.

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This paper clarifies the differentiation in responses of agricultural cooperatives in the pork industry in response to global competition, focusing on development of such cooperatives in Iwate Prefecture. In Iwate Prefecture, differentiation of the pork industry from other agricultural sectors has been managed by the feed of Kita-nihon Kumiai Feed Company Limited, a breeding swine of the ZEN-NOH Livestock Company Limited, and through a traceability system also of ZEN-NOH. Through such a system, the agricultural cooperative has been increasing the production of branded pork.

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[in Japanese]

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