Report No.230608

COMMENT

A New Conception Needed to Protect Local Farming Communities

"This will fundamentally revise the agricultural policy of the post-war era,"
-- the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries underlined in publishing 'the Framework of (non-product specific) Farming Business and Income Stabilization Measures,' to be introduced in 2007, which it finalized in October last year.

The government and the ruling parties, at the epochal 60th year after the World War II, decided on a major shift of agricultural policy from 'price policies' applied across the board for all farmers to 'incomes policy' to be applied selectively for core farming entities.

Aging of 'owner-operators' created by the land reform in the days immediately following the end of the war is so advanced that every farming community should recognize now the need to make it a matter of highest priority for their own area to upbring core farmers, instead of seeing it simply as a matter to be resolved by the government policy.

Agriculture in the post-war era has been carried out by owner-farmers who were created as a result of the emancipation of agrarian land under the general headquarters of the allied forces. Their second generation farmers, 'born in the single digit (first) decade of Showa period,' who are the mainstay of work force in agriculture, will be aged 72 - 80 this year. With their retirement forecast to advance at a fast pace, who are going to protect and develop agriculture in each area? Many farming communities are yet to find an answer to this difficult and long-running question.

As a matter of fact, agricultural production base of the country is increasingly more enfeebled in paddy-field farming, on which rice and set-aside conversion crops are cultivated. The Census of Agriculture and Forestry of 2005 reveals an increase in the area of farmland lying idle as a result of abandonment of cultivation by 12% over the past five years to 385,000 hectares, which is almost nearing 10% of the total area under cultivation of 4.7 million hectares. There is no wasting of time to foster core farmers.

Many of the owner-operating farm households of post-war era became part-time farm households and have ended up in difficulty of securing farm successors. To come out of such a situation and to tread a road of rebuilding the area agriculture, village community as a whole would need to have awareness to change the worn-out post-war framework drastically.

The government has set out non-product specific farming business stabilization measures, which are selectively to apply, for core farmers in order to advance structure reform of land-dependent type farming. Eligibility requirements to be a core farmer are the following two: 1) one has to be an 'approved farmer' (in principle, with the size of holding of more than 4 hectares in prefectures other than Hokkaido and more than 10 hectares in Hokkaido); or 2) community-operated farming organization (in principle, with the size of holding of more than 20 hectares). The government, by imposing these requirements, aims to facilitate concentration of the use of land in the hands of core farmers.

During this winter season, consultations are being conducted throughout the country among farmers as to how to foster core farmers in each village community. Such an opportunity will not be attractive if participants come with 'passive attitude' as if the policy is being imposed upon them. Farmers are expected to be 'aggressive' to such an extent as to take advantage of the policy tools in fostering core farmers for the benefit of their own area.

There are some 130,000 Shuraku [village communities] all over the country. Natural features and human relationship are different from one community to another. What is common among them is that all the communities nowadays have much diversified types of farm households. What used to be homogenous type households is now very diverse ranging from top runners trying with new farming business to what have come to to land owning non-farming households. While many have left farming, not a few communities have new entrants to farming business.

Owner-operated farm households stood on the same starting line in the post-war days and they equally put much value on 'Ie [household].' However, these days, diverse types of farm households exist in one and the same area. It may be high time that a new value (perspective) is created, under which agriculture in each community or area as a whole will be supported by mutual help and cooperation, with the constituents reaching out beyond respective 'household.' It is hoped that image of core farmers and ways of fostering them, best fitting respective community, will be identified out of such thought-giving exercises.

(from an editorial in the January 3, 2006 issue of the Nihon Nogyo Shinbun)

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