To address the aging farming population, farmers’ markets have implemented a pickup service for collecting agricultural products. However, previous research has shown that it is unprofitable. Moreover, it is unclear whether the pickup service was designed optimally in the previous study. Given the aging farming population, the spatial distribution of pickup service users is expected to become sparse in the future, and the demand for pickup services is anticipated to expand spatially. In this regard, designing an economically sustainable and efficient pickup route with multiple pickup points is necessary.

In this study, first, we design a farmers’ market pickup model using a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). Previous research on VRP did not take the loading and unloading times into account. However, in the farmers’ market pickup service, inspecting agricultural products and loading and unloading them from the truck is necessary. The driver also has to transmit information to the users of this service. To reflect such reality, we establish a pickup time constraint equation that considers truck running times and loading and unloading times.

Second, we demonstrate that the time limit in the constraint equation is valid for adjusting the designed model for planning pickup services in the mountainous areas of Fukuoka Prefecture.

Finally, we examine the economic viability of the case study. After verifying the balance between total pickup costs and usage fees, we conclude that operating the pickup service on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays is economically viable.

Agricultural cooperatives face various challenges. Efficiency changes during the past few decades has been explored yet necessary to address. This study employed a Data envelopment analysis (DEA) window approach, allowing for time series efficiency change measurements. This study measured the managerial efficiency of agricultural cooperatives in Japan by comparing general and specialized Japanese cooperatives using a DEA model. The results indicate that general cooperatives tended to be more efficient than specialized cooperatives. This is, possibly due to general cooperatives’ economies of scale. Second, a panel Tobit model was used to investigate factors affecting the measured efficiency score. The estimation results revealed that the number of subsidiary companies in general cooperatives significantly positively affected efficiency scores. Nevertheless, the number of female board members significantly negatively affected efficiency scores, indicating that diversified human resource management is essential.

The Japanese government announced its ambitious target to increase the power configuration of renewable energy to 36-38% for all power-generation numbers. However, international criticism requires Japan to exhibit a higher share of renewable energy. Among this 36-38%, the top share is photovoltaic power generation at 14-16%, hydroelectric power at 11%, wind power and biomass power each at 5%, and geothermal power at 1%. Photovoltaic power generation developed rapidly between 2011 and 2019 to reach half the 36-38% target. This was achieved by placing panels over conversed farmland and developed forest land. The used land is substantial, comprising 13,000 ha of farmland and 19,000 ha of forest land, indicating that Japan has lost valuable agricultural land and extensive forests. Agriphotovoltaic power generation in Japan has only been developed over 873 ha until 2019 while maintaining both farmland and power generation. However, this power source should be produced more efficiently.

This study explored the impact of a farm-to-table online store on farm management business performance. We adopted fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to assess the types of farm management actions that lead to higher profit margins for food and agricultural products listed on “T,” a major farm-to-table online store in 2023. The findings indicate the following. First, platform･price competitiveness･communication with consumers; second, price competitiveness･sales promotion support･communication with consumers; third, ~ platform･price competitiveness･~ sales promotion support･~ communication with consumers; fourth, ~ platform･~ price competitiveness･~ sales promotion support･ communication with consumers. The study results suggest that farm management can achieve higher profit margins for food and agricultural products by prioritizing a combination of price competitiveness or communication with consumers, among other utilization factors, when implementing farm-to-table online stores. Regarding farm management, we also found that the farm-to-table online store examined in this study did not prioritize sales in its promotion support system.

COVID-19 tremendously impacted the tourist industry, including rural areas. However, the recovery process of tourist businesses has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, the present study investigated the factors affecting the COVID-19 recovery process of tourist businesses by examining several countryside lodges in rural Japan. The study employed an ordered logit model to investigate managerial factors that affected the recovery process. We developed an online survey questionnaire, distributed to 260 operators of countryside lodging businesses in rural Japan. The results of this model illustrate that the following factors had statistical significance: operators who had experienced a relatively mild decrease in the number of guests who used Instagram for promotion, male-majority guests, and guests of a higher educational background (i.e., college graduates). Furthermore, statistically significant factors in business operations comprised good hospitality and price as business strengths. Based on the findings, support measures to promote internet marketing and enhance good hospitality practices should be designed to revitalize countryside lodging tourist businesses post-COVID-19.

This study examined how farmers use social media as a source of information and how it can be utilized in various aspects of agricultural management in Japan. We compared communication form, social media and in-person, to find out which is easier to engage in interactions from a gender perspective. We analyzed survey results from farmers who participated in agricultural Facebook groups. The findings indicate that social media is an essential source of agricultural information and is used similarly by gender. Particularly for female farmers, social media plays a role in communication among farmers who cultivate the same crops. Moreover, social media makes it easier for farmers to interact with other farmers from different characters regardless of gender.

The MAFF is promoting intermediate management projects to consolidate farmland to core farmers and realize efficient agricultural management. This study examined the operational structure and viability of corporations that aggregate and collectively manage farmland and farmland-consolidative corporations. The goal was to investigate the opportunities and challenges of establishing such corporations. We surveyed three general incorporated associations that adopted a regional middle management method. The results indicate that a system had been established to separate farmland management from farm work while using subsidies for regional management purpose. Moreover, the subsidies encompassed equipment renewal and labor costs. The findings suggest that establishing farmland-consolidative corporations requires subsidies or other revenue to cover these costs.

Small-scale farms still dominate China’s sericulture industry, challenging the implementation of improvements to efficiency and the stable supply of high-quality cocoons. Several sericulture production areas have adopted the “reverse rent through inverse contract” model to address this issue. This study examined Gong County and Wusheng County in Sichuan Province, sericulture production regions that have applied the above model. We collected data through surveys and interviews with local enterprises and farmers. The local enterprise in Gong County handles the entire land transfer process, from local farmers to their affiliated cooperatives, including leasing it back. The enterprise in Wusheng County leases government-acquired land to farmers to complete the “reverse rent through inverse contract” process. The findings of this study show that “reverse rent through inverse contract” in both regions has contributed to the increase in farmers’ income and quality of cocoons.

This study examined farmland lender and borrower characteristics to investigate the relationship between farmland leasing and changes in farm size in northeastern Thailand. We used household panel data collected from 581 farmers in Ubon Ratchathani province. The findings indicate that 22 out of 40 households renting in farmland in 2019 did not own land, while 31 out of 41 households renting out did not cultivate their own land. Furthermore, 27% of farmers increased their cultivated land between 2011 and 2019. However, this expansion was unrelated to land rentals, as land inheritance was the main driver. This suggests that land leasing did not significantly alter farm size during the study period. While agricultural land leasing was practiced among some of the farmers who participated in this study, lenders and borrowers were primarily those who had reduced agricultural production and those who did not own their farmland, respectively.

This study explored the impact of changing dietary strategies on dairy animal productivity and the environment. We used the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to examine the effectiveness of different dietary strategies for reducing methane (CH₄) and carbon footprint (CF) in dairy cows. The simulated dietary strategies encompassed diets of varying hay-concentrate ratios: H100:C0; H80:C20; H75:C25; H50:C50 and H30:C70, respectively. The results confirm that CH₄ and CF from dairy cows can be reduced by 40% depending on the nature of the intervention and prevailing conditions of the study area. The LCA method demonstrated that CH₄ and CF reduction primarily depends on milk productivity and an optimized hay-concentrate ratio (H80:C20). The findings suggest that dairy farm CF calculations should consider milk yield in their analyses. This study illustrates that LCA comprehensively estimates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond ruminal methane production while identifying trade-offs in GHG emissions due to CH₄ reduction.

This study investigated issues and challenges in the tomato value chain based on a case study in rural Afghanistan. We obtained data from surveys of the Khurasan Safa Tomato Paste Cooperative (K-Coop) and a tomato farm in Okuizumo Town (O-farm) as a contrasting case. We qualitatively identified critical factors for improving the tomato value chain in disadvantaged areas based on the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The findings indicate that K-Coop faces seasonal shortages in tomato paste. As a commodity, the company must rely on imports from neighboring countries. Processing relies on family labor, such as participating farmers. Therefore, packaging and other aspects of the process are inadequate to grow the business. The results indicate the importance of production coordination and improving the caliber of employees in tomato processing, such as education level, experience, and training.

This study examined the validity of the results of a private credit survey of agricultural corporations targeting large agricultural corporations. It considers the financial characteristics of agricultural corporations obtained based on the data. The findings indicate the following. First, surviving corporations exhibited specific financial characteristics similar to those of bankrupt corporations regarding profitability, safety, and cash flow, i.e., management whose survival is in danger. Second, the findings indicate that some bankrupt corporations showed above-average profitability immediately before bankruptcy. In contrast, several corporations went bankrupt due to factors other than their core business.

This study approached the discussion of legitimacy through the new institutional theory of organization perspective. First, we explain how rural region management organizations (RMOs) obtain and acquire legitimacy from society. Second, we elucidate how actual RMOs obtain and acquire legitimacy based on a survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Third, we examine the factors for institutional reform of rural RMOs by discussing the issue of rural RMOs from an embedded agency paradox perspective. Fourth, the findings indicate the potential for the sustainable development of rural RMOs. Unlike general RMOs, rural RMOs have the potential to transform the current management and operational systems of regional agriculture by becoming sufficiently involved in regional agriculture.