Journal of Rural Problems

Research Articles

Ideas and Actual Conditions of Promotion Services for Home Living Improvement: A Case Study on Yamaguchi Prefecture

Yukiko Nakama, Kazuyoshi Uchida

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 1-13
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.1

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An important issue in post-war Japan was the democratization of rural areas. As a measure for achieving democratization in rural areas, the promotion services for home living improvement was implemented in municipalities under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Herein, we first investigated the basic policies adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in the Promotion services for home living improvement. Based on this analysis, we then examined the responses of municipalities to the policies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry by focusing on Yamaguchi Prefecture as a case example.
The following findings were obtained:
1. The goals of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s promotion services for home living improvement were improvement of rural life and promotion of "Kangaeru Nomin" (independent farmers). The latter goal involved developing home living improvement groups as volunteer groups. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry developed a policy of not using existing organizations such as women’s associations in the promotion services for home living improvement.
2. Although Yamaguchi Prefecture officially adopted the basic policies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, it did not necessarily follow the policies faithfully. Home living improvement groups were in effect developed through women’s associations. In consideration of the circumstances concerning rural areas, Yamaguchi Prefecture had deemed the formation of volunteer groups difficult.

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Reconfirmation on ‘the Japanese Rice Productivity Stagnation Hypothesis’: Evidence from Regional Contributions to Japan’s Rice Productivity Growth and Test for Productivity Convergence

Katsunobu Kondo, Jun Sasaki, Yasutaka Yamamoto

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 14-22
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.14

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This research aims to reconsider ‘the Japanese Rice Productivity Stagnation Hypothesis’. ‘The Japanese Rice Productivity Stagnation Hypothesis’ is that the growth rate of Japan’s rice productivity will decline to zero percent in the future. Analytical frameworks are to calculate the regional contributions to Japan’s rice productivity growth and test for convergence through comparisons of productivity growth between the pre-Rice Acreage Control Programmes period 1957-1970 (hereafter pre-RACP period) and the Rice Acreage Control Programmes period 1971-1995 (hereafter RACP period), using the input-oriented Malmquist TFP indices. The empirical results can be summarized as follows. First, the results of the regional contributions to Japan’s rice productivity growth show that Tohoku made the most significant positive contribution in the pre-RACP period while Tohoku made the most significant negative contribution in the RACP period. Second, the results of panel unit root tests for pre-RACP and RACP periods exhibit that regional differentials between prefectures are narrowing. These results suggest ‘the Japanese Rice Productivity Stagnation Hypothesis’ is also supported in this paper.

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The Development of Cattle Fattening in Shiga Prefecture: The Conjunction of Farming and Fattening in the Prewar Days

Mariko Noma

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 23-32
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.23

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This report clarifies the development of cattle fattening and its prerequisite in the prewar days in Shiga Prefecture, particularly its technical and economical aspects. During the period concerned, we should notice that the cattle had usually passed more than 5 years as farming cattle before fattening. The present analysis can be summarized as follows: (1) Regarding the fattening technique, cattle breeders classified their cattle into three categories, according to their form before fattening, thick or thin. Feed and fattening period varied with the category. That is, the condition in which cattle were kept greatly affected their worth as beef cattle. (2) Regarding the ideal beef cattle, cattle breeders developed fattening technique with the aim of marbling. In the late Meiji era, fat lumps were regarded as tokens of well fattened cattle, but in the early Showa, fat lumps seemed to be regarded as flaws. All the fat was demanded to be mixed in red meat. (3) Regarding the balance of cattle fattening, cattle breeders could expect certain profit, although before the introduction of fattening, keeping cattle brought expenditure.

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Influence and Response of the Sugarcane Ordinary Commodity Policy in the Nansei Islands

Norio Sakai

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 33-42
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.33

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The Sugarcane Ordinary commodity policy started in the Nansei islands in 2007. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the requirement to receive the subsidy of the new sugarcane policy and the characteristic response of the farmers. This paper also presents a case study of an effective response to the new policy.
The Nansei islands are classified in 3 groups according to response to the new policy. The first group of islands are large scale and have a very small effect on the policy. The second group, in which many islands included, are middle scale, but management scale and organization is not related to the requirement to receive the subsidy. The third group is small scale and cannot respond to the new policy.
However, the ratio of farmers who meet the requirement for the main stipulation in the new policy is determined by the progress of the use of harvest machines. Hence the ratio of machine use by small-hold farmer has a great influence on the ratio of machine use of the island.
Therefore, among the second group, the study examines the case of Amami-oshima, because the ratio of machine use by small-hold farmers is at a high level with machine utilization being rapidly advanced recently in this island. As a result, it is clarified that the approach of the trustee farmer and the formal organization stimulates the usage of harvest machine demand, and that the formal trustee organization supplements the disadvantaged area.

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Research Papers

Econometric Analysis of the Dynamics of Cocoon Prices in Pre-war Japan while Focusing on the Regional Differences

Motoi Kusadokoro

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 45-50
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.45

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This paper investigates the dynamics of cocoon prices in pre-war Japan. After eliminating the common time effect from the prefectural price data, the ARMA and ARCH models for longitudinal data are applied. In each regression, we find statistical evidence of the existence of individual effects. These findings imply that the prefectural cocoon prices had idiosyncratic mean and variance, factors that are not captured by the common time effect.
The theory of investment under uncertainty is applied to the investment in mulberry fields. The result shows that the uncertainty, which is measured by the variance in cocoon prices, decreased the price elasticity of the investment.

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A Study on the Negative Effect of Subsidies on Farm Businesses

Haruhiko Iba

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 51-56
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.51

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This study aims to present the negative effects of subsidies that support farm businesses under a rapidly changing farm environment. First, subsidies are categorized into three types depending on their purpose: subsidies supporting preparation cost, those supporting initial investment, and those supporting variable cost. Second, a case study of small family farm in the US is adopted to discuss this issue. The conclusions of this paper are as follows. First, subsidies that are used for various purposes can be effective, depending on the ability of the beneficiaries to promote their new operations. Second, subsidies that are used to support initial investment as that on machines or facilities may have a negative effect on the farmer’s ability to adapt to a change in the environment. Finally, subsidies supporting variable cost are expected to work effectively.

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A Study on the Production Branch Calculation of a Farm in Germany

Yasuyuki Shikata

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 57-62
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.57

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The concept of the production branch calculation in Germany has not clearly defined until now. To address the confusion in the understanding of the concept, a working group of Deutshe Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG: The German Agricultural Society) proposed the standardization of the federal unification. According to this standardization, there are several factors that should be evaluated in the application of the bookkeeping procedure, a nationwide comparison was carried out with the cooperation of an organization providing agricultural advice, be applied the farm management to bring about improvements.

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Model Design of Siquasa Production and Product Development after the Recent Boom

Takayuki Aibara, Kazuhisa Goto, Satoshi Onda, Munenobu Yasuda, Kozue Y ...

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 63-68
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.63

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The Siquasa is a small and acid citrus fruit having a distinctive aroma, which is produced in the northern part of Okinawa. The main commercial by-product obtained from this fruit is 100% juice. Recent years have witnessed an increased leveling-off of the sale of Siquasa by-products and lowering of the price of the raw material, i.e., the fruit. It can be said that the production and product development of the Siquasa fruit have entered into a new phase aiming at securing a steady market position. We presented a model design of Siquasa production and product development in the wake of the boom with the aim of facilitating the abovementioned objective.
In Okinawa, a form of Siquasa called “Aogiri” is used as vinegar in August and September. Expanding the sale of Aogiri in mainland Japan would create a new demand and market for the product. However, in order to keep obtaining a higher price for Aogiri, it is necessary to ensure a continuous supply of the quality and quantity of the product that the market demands and to build a committed relationship between the areas of production and the market.

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Application Toward Conducting a Job Satisfaction Analysis of Core Employees in an Incorporated Agricultural Organization

Masaki Kanaoka

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 69-74
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.69

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify, with the objective of facilitating improvements in the organization’s personnel management, whether the core employees in an incorporated agricultural organization derive satisfaction or dissatisfaction from their jobs. Toward this purpose, I conducted a job satisfaction analysis of core employees working on an agricultural land in Kyushu. The results of the analysis are as follows. About half of the core employees appeared to be satisfied. The items that got a high satisfaction rating were “working in close touch with nature,” “interest in agricultural work,” “cooperation of employer and fellow employees,” “family atmosphere at work,” and “communication with executives.” On the other hand, the main items that resulted in a high correlation coefficient with job satisfaction and moreover, a low satisfaction rating, were “our salaries are lower than those given by the other companies in the region,” “the safety and comfort measures at work should be improved,” “the public welfare being carried out is inadequate,” and “the work instructions are not detailed enough.” Improvement of hygiene factors was also found to be a high-priority item.

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Comparative Analysis between Sectors that are New Agriculture Entrants

Comparison between the Food and Construction Industries

Nakanishi Hiroaki, Katsura Akihiro

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 75-80
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.75

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In recent years, there have been increasing instances of non-agricultural firms have entering into agricultural businesses. These non-agricultural firms mainly belong to the construction and food industries.
Previous studies on non-agricultural firms were based on case studies of their respective food and construction industry sectors.
We carried out a questionnaire survey of these sectors and clarified that were many differences between them according to the quantitative analysis of type III.
These differences can be summarized as such: (1) Food processing and distribution companies enter into agricultural businesses with the objective of improving their main businesses. Moreover, the forms of their entry into agriculture are likely to be direct and independent. (2) Buildings and civil engineering companies foray into agricultural businesses with the likely aim of diversifying and expanding their existing business, and (3) restaurants aim at contractual cultivation with farmers rather than direct entry into agriculture.
We think that these differences between the two sectors are related to the characteristics of their businesses and the conditions surrounding these sectors.

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Behavior and Problems of nurturing Rural Leaders in Community Development

Masaya Nakatsuka, Takayuki Uchihira

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 81-87
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.81

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The role of the community leader gains importance under the severe socio-economic environment prevalent in rural areas. How does the leadership shown while the variety of the community increased? In this paper, we explored the behavior of these leaders and the manner in which they were nurtured over the stages of community development through interviews and surveys.
Our study showed that in addition to acquiring the trust of their community, it has become important for today’s rural leaders to acquire knowledge and establish a network by carrying out work outside the community. The emerging problems that they have to face are with regard to the formation of agreements and promotion of community participation, the variety of and the differences between community inhabitants, etc. Furthermore, there is greater emphasis on M-oriented behavior than P-oriented behavior today.
These results clarified that knowledge management and the reformation of the age-grade system (construction of social OJT) are the challenges in the path of the nurturing of new leaders.

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On-farm Experiential Learning Program and Learning Process

Yo Suzuki, Ayami Itakura, Masaya Nakatsuka

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 88-93
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.88

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This study pursued the development of an on-farm experiential learning program through an empirical study of an agricultural educational program in Kobe University. The study was undertaken for two purposes. One was to show the management factors that are essential for operating an on-farm experiential learning program. The choice of educational sites, traffic access, team separation, and time management of farming activities were the main concerns. The other purpose was to show the essential factors of program planning through an analysis of the learning process. The study results showed that an on-farm experiential learning program should include activities such as village roaming, biological surveys, sequential experience from food production to sales, and communication between farmers and students.

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National Forest Conservation in the United States of America

—A Case Study of Roadless Area Rules since the 1990s—

Ikuo Okuda

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 94-99
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.94

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This study attempts to clarify how the “Roadless Area Rules” pertaining to the National Forest System lands have been revised since the 1990s, and why.
Many of the roadless areas inventoried in the Final Environmental Statement: Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (1979) comprised sites that were proposed for Wilderness Areas. In January 2001, the Clinton administration revised the roadless area rules, thereby empowering the federal government in principle to prohibit road construction in these inventoried roadless areas. However, this revision caused much controversy and sparked many lawsuits.
The succeeding Bush administration revised the same rule once again in 2005. This time, each state petitioned the federal government for a new rule that would enable the state to propose a rule more suited to its particular circumstances. In 2008, a new rule was approved for the state of Idaho. This rule relieved the state from the prohibition imposed by the 2001 rule; for example, it permitted road construction for logging and sulfur mining in specified areas.

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Interval Estimation of the Tariff Equivalent of Technical Barriers to Trade in the Case of Japan’s Phytosanitary Measures against Fire Blight in Imported Apples

Tomoaki Nakatani, Ayumi Miyata, Daisuke Sawauchi, Takahiro Sajiki, Yas ...

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 100-103
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.100

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We examine the tariff equivalent estimates of technical barriers to trade (TBTs) in the case of Japan’s phytosanitary measures against fire blight in connection with apple imports. We construct a confidence interval for the tariff equivalent estimates of the TBTs using the Yue, Beghin, and Jensen (2006) model. The results show that the tariff equivalent estimates of TBTs are not statistically different from zero.

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The Institutional Change in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme in the UK and Related Problems

Tomohiro Uchiyama

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 104-109
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.104

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The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) in the UK has been designed to allow farmers to recruit low-skilled overseas workers to undertake short-term agricultural work. Before 2006, the unique feature of SAWS was that the workers were full-time students pursuing higher education in areas such as agriculture or the English language in their home countries. This indicated that their work experience in the farms in the UK would provide them with significant educational benefits.
SAWS changed the eligibility for applicants in 2006 and now specifies that applicants must be either Bulgarians or Romanians but need not necessarily be students. In the present study, interview surveys were conducted on two SAWS operators and these surveys revealed that the quality of the workers has deteriorated after 2006 because of their age and knowledge.
By comparing the former SAWS with the revised one, this study recommends that, in the future, the Japanese government draw upon the former SAWS while considering the regulations governing foreign workers.

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Factors that the Management Needs to Consider with Regard to the Possibility of the Spread of Rice Powder Use

Motoki Ikeuchi, Isao Yokomizo, Yasunobu Komatsu

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 110-114
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.110

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With the view of improving Japan’s rate of food self-sufficiency, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has announced a subsidy of 80,000 yen or less in the current year for each 10 ares of rice planted by farmers who are newly producing the staple for the purpose of making rice powder. It has been forecast that the price of rice powder will fall as a result of this subsidy, which will also help the users of the commodity to make more profit. However, it is not economically viable for farmers to produce a rice crop for the purpose of making rice powder without a subsidy. On the basis of this fact, we clarified the necessary subsidy amount for a farmer to consider producing rice for the purpose of making rice powder on set-aside land. In addition, we clarified the user needs regarding rice powder through our investigation into a bakery. From our investigation, it was clear that the policy did not fulfill the user needs. Finally, we were able to indicate the direction in which the policy needed to aim in the future.

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Transition in the Netherlandic Egg Food System Post the HPAI Outbreak

Michitoshi Yamaguchi

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 115-119
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.115

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HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) is a contagious poultry disease that brings large economic loss to the regions it infects.
In 2003, an HPAI outbreak occurred in the Netherlands; however, Dutch egg producers were able to resume their egg production and export right away.
The purpose of this study is to clarify how the Dutch egg producers could regain their competitiveness in such a short period. Toward this end, the transition that must have occurred in the egg food system is investigated into. This investigation should be able to provide other nations similarly facing an HPAI infection with an insight into the steps they need to take in order to minimize the loss resulting from the disease.
A mail-based survey and interviews conducted with experts reveal that the HPAI outbreak accelerated the ongoing transition in the Dutch egg production system from a traditional cage system to an alternative (barn, in particular) one.
Dutch and German supermarkets were forced to care about animal welfare at that time, so this transition was rewarded favourably.
In addition, the concentration of packing stations seems to have induced greater coordination among them in the emergency.

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A Cause Analysis of the Pig-Cycle Modulation in Japan

Li Wan

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 120-125
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.120

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The Japanese pork market was liberalized in 1971, and the circularity of the pig-cycle began to modulate gradually from the beginning of the 80s. In this paper, I have used certain methods-like the X-12-ARIMA program of Census method for seasonal adjustment, power spectrum for periodic analysis, and multiple regression analysis for revealing the relation between variables-to analyze the cause of the pig-cycle modulation. The results of my analysis are as such: Firstly, the periodic analysis found that the wholesale price cycle of the pork dressed carcasses was 62 months, longer than the conventional wholesale price cycle of 3–4 years. Secondly, it was found that one cause of the pig-cycle modulation was the fact that in a large-scale management, it is difficult to change the management scale in accordance with the fluctuation in the market price. Thirdly, the compound feed prices were found to affect the pig-cycle. It was observed that the wholesale price of pork dressed carcasses goes up through a time lag due to the rise in the compound feed price.

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Pseudo-Panel Data Estimation of Japanese Tobacco Consumption

Phocenah Nyatanga, Toshinobu Matsuda

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 126-130
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.126

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[in Japanese]

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Analysis of Livestock Farmers’ Environmental Consciousness and Sales Intention with Regard to Compost

Shigeyoshi Takeuchi, Hisashi Datai, Toyonobu Satoh

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 131-136
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.131

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Developments in the field of livestock management in Japan have led to a change from the traditional methods of livestock management to a processed form of the same that depends on imported feed. This change has caused the superfluous generation of manure in farmlands, thus resulting in an environmental hazard. In order to solve the aforementioned problem, it is necessary to stop the prevalent scattering of the additional compost in the farmlands and to shift to an environment-friendly management system under which the additional compost is sold outside the farmlands.
The main indicators for the possible occurrence of the abovementioned shift to such a management would be the farmers’ consciousness regarding the environmental problems resulting from the excess compost and their intention to sell this compost.
In this paper, I classify three subjective factors on the basis of the questionnaire administered to livestock farmers: their recognition of the environmental problems caused by them, their subjective evaluation of these environmental problems, and their intention to sell the compost generated on their farmlands. I analyze the measures needed for undertaking a shift to an environment-friendly form of livestock management on the basis of the farmers’ responses with regard to these subjective factors.

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Regional Contributions to the Changes in Korea’s Rice Productivity

Katsunobu Kondo, Yasutaka Yamamoto, Yongkwang Shin

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 137-140
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.137

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the regional contributions to the changes in Korea’s rice productivity for a sample of eight Korean provinces over the period 1994–2006. We calculate the national aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) level by using the share of each province’s rice output as a weight. Then, we decompose the change in the national aggregate TFP over the abovementioned period into provincial contributions. The result shows South Chungchong Province to be the largest contributor to the change in Korea’s rice productivity.

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Situation and Problems in the Private-Enterprise-Linkage (PEL) Type of Dairy Farms Located in Inner-Mongolia, China

—A Case Study on the Integration of a Dairy Enterprise and Independent Farmers in Hohhot—

Yousuke Choumei, Wo Jin Hu

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 141-147
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.141

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The recent economic growth in Inner Mongolia has brought about a rapid expansion of dairy production, a phenomenon that is associated with a newly effected integration between private dairy enterprises and dairy farmers. We refer to the result of this integration as the Private-Enterprise-Linkage (PEL) type of dairy farm. We selected the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. Ltd. as the subject for our case study. The study aims at the following: (1) to reveal the various impacts of a private dairy enterprise’s assistance to individual farmers as regards their management capability and production technology, and (2) to discuss options for issues that may arise in the future.
The survey indicates that the support extended by an enterprise to individual farmers results in a significant increase in both the milk yield and size of the farmer’s dairy cows. The survey also indicates three important necessities: first, the price mechanism of milk should be linked to milk quality in order to strengthen farmers’ awareness of milk quality; second, farmers should introduce improved technological processes by which corn silage is reserved; and third, a standardized system providing roughages and semen should be effected for a long-term development strategy.

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Agricultural Productivity and the Constraints on Female Labor Supply in Turkey

Takeshi Maru

2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 148-153
Published: 2010
Released on J-STAGE: February 24, 2012

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7310/arfe.46.148

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The objective of this paper is to analyze agricultural productivity and the constraints on female labor supply in Turkey using a micro-economic approach. In areas where irrigation has been introduced, farmers have discontinued animal husbandry and now specialize in crop farming. Simultaneously, female household members who worked mainly in animal husbandry stopped participating in agricultural production activities. This paper clarifies whether or not the hypothesis that Islam-specific social customs pertaining to female labor as pointed out by sociological studies impede agricultural productivity is valid. The methodologies adopted are the estimation of the quadratic production function and the comparison between the marginal productivity of family labor derived from the production function and the wage rate of hired-in labor. The result obtained is that the hypothesis cannot be supported.

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