[in Japanese]

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the structure of transformation of grass silage to commodity. The study is approached in a case study of TMR Centers in North Hokkaido, Japan. Grass silage in the form of press-packed bale, rapped by a roll baler for chopped material, has the most suitable characteristics for distribution and selling. Grass silage distribution on the market in Hokkaido greatly expanded in the late 2000s. Factors for the increase have been summarized as the following: the diffusion of roll balers for chopped material, the increase in TMR centers and farm work contractors with the machine, and local supply-demand imbalance for grass in Hokkaido. A case study of some TMR centers in north Hokkaido indicates the increase in grass silage in the form of press-packed bale, which is manufactured from silage fermented in a bunker silo. The reasons for the increase are that farming abandonment increased surplus grassland, and that the low profitability of hay and round bale silage led to a shift to silage with a bunker silo. The study has confirmed that the price of grass silage, press-packed, was set at a level of manufacturing cost in the majority of cases. Grass silage for sales has generated smaller margin profits than dent corn, produced frequently for external sales by upland field farmers, because just a part of grass silage for self-supply has translated to commodity.

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There has been a delay of agricultural and rural area development compared with that of industry and urban areas with regard to China's economic growth. The Chinese government has implemented a policy called “New Rural Construction” to help rural areas in order to develop agricultural productivity, food security and the competitiveness of agricultural products. Regarding the three aspects of agriculture-agriculture, rural-farmers and rural areas-this study examines the role of the New Rural Construction policy by the Chinese government. Specifically, it analyzes the village model in the new rural construction in N village, which has seen farm income double in 5 years. Then, it discusses the significance of the New Rural Construction policy to local agricultural economic development.

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The purpose of this study is to analyze the trend of the urban fringe farmland liquidation in city suburbs on the basis of the Farmland Use Accumulation Facilitation Business policy. The Farmland Use Accumulation Facilitation Business policy targets Urbanization Control Areas and the Loose Regulation Areas outside of the Agricultural Promotion Area. We estimate how many and where these farmlands exist by using GIS. Urbanization Control Areas outside of the Agricultural Promotion Area exist in Saitama, Kanagawa and Tokyo, therefore, we researched Farmland Use Accumulation Facilitation Groups in these areas. It is clear that there are three patterns which work as intermediation mechanisms between farmland owners and farmers. First, the area has worked since the Agricultural Land Holding Rationalization Enterprise; second, the area works with beginning of The Farmland Use Accumulation Facilitation Business because targeted farmland expanded, and third, the area works by virture of its uniqueness. From this, we assert that the Farmland Use Accumulation Facilitation Business has a characteristic part and it contribute to urban fringe farmland liquidation.

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In this paper, we studied the development and features of the management system in a Supermarket Chain Head Office-led Shop In-Shop. The research was conducted through an analysis of “K” company in Tokushima-prefecture which is utilizing an in-house physical distribution network and is developing shop in-shop. The research shows that “K” company chooses as the following several reasons that expansion could develop shop in-shop: first, a farmer could ship their goods to all stores; second, “K” company utilized a conventional delivery network and built a delivery system to all stores and third, “K” company utilized a network of industry volunteer organizations in a local supermarket, and developed shop in-shop to other supermarket chains in the Kansai area.

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The aim of this paper is to outline the present situation of farmland owners in urban areas and examine the future of farmland in city areas. Based on questionnaire and interview research in Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture, the research identified implications for reform of the Productive Green Zone Law and regarding inheritance tax system being reviewed by government grounded on enactment of the Basic Law for City Farming Promotion 2015. The conclusion is that making contact with farming successors of farm households in urban area is a crucial factor to keeping sufficient acreage of farmland to the extent to which town planning authority would wish in city.

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This paper analyzes the real incidents of management failure or operation-stop of agricultural waste plastics disposal processors and fully elucidates the reasons in such cases, considering the influence of regulations and competition. The processors who continue agricultural waste plastic processing in the mid- and long-term play a core role in the processing itself, as well as diversifying the kind of industrial waste processing that is undertaken. On the other hand, there are many cases where processors enter the market without fully understanding the specialty of agricultural waste plastic market and then leave after a short period. Although the industry used to be characterized by asymmetric information distribution, information in case of Japanese agricultural waste plastics processing is dispersed evenly to processors. Thus, the reasons for management failure or operation-stop are varied. For semi-public joint companies, the impact of reduced subsidies was substantial. In case of private companies, failure resulted from decreases in the total discharged volume with material conversion from vinyl chloride to polyolefin or due to over-investment based on excessive collection expectation. In some cases, sudden reduction in foreign market or weak sales capability caused operation-stops as well. In somce cases, law violations accompanying the operation-stop occurred. The processing of agricultural waste plastics is a shallow business which tends to face failure because it is, on the whole, carried by the traders with small capital reserves.

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This paper clarifies the actual situation of migration to rural areas based on the questionnaire findings for the households which migrated to Wakayama Prefecture. The findings indicate that, first, when the motives for migration and determining factors in the destination of migration could be achieved, the degree of life satisfaction with the migration increased. Second, when the degree of life satisfaction was high, the number of migrant who resettle increased. Last, the research pointed to several important problems on the acceptance side, such as the substantiality of migration inquiry counter services and the dissemination of information about migration to rural areas.

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This study identifies the sustainability or weakness of some selected salmon hatcheries in the Sanriku region of Iwate prefecture. Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) is a valuable commercial species in this region. Fisheries have heavily relied on the resource of chum salmon that is hatched and released by hatcheries located along rivers. The food system of chum salmon starts from the stage of artificial incubation and release of the fry. Full-grown salmon will be caught mainly by large-scale set netting along coastal lines after migration. Many of the hatcheries were heavily damaged by the Great Earthquake and Tsunami Distster of 2011. However, the research shows that while they have recovered the capacity of fry production with a full support scheme provided by the government, they nonetheless faced some difficulties in effectively operating incubation and releasing.

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