Journal of Rural Economics

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This paper empirically analyzes the profitability and determinants of low-input sustainable rice farming (LISRF) by using farm survey data from Kyushu, a region in southwest Japan. Compared with conventional farming methods, LISRF systems generated almost twice the farm income, 5-6 times higher than the net farm income on a per hectare basis because of less yield loss and labor increase and distinctively higher product prices. A two-step regression procedure and farm survey demonstrate that farmers' efforts in substituting synthetic pesticides and fertilizers by the LISRF systems and in marketing have significantly contributed to the improvement in farm income, while the effects of farm size and location are not found. However, the development of LISRF is also facing some difficult problems in farming practice and product marketing, and farmers' incomes obtained from LISRF are generally low. Policy efforts aimed to effectively solve these problems are required.

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