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Report
No.231002 |
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- Domestic - |
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Japan Economic Research Institute Proposes Reform of Agriculture Japan Economic Research Institute (NIKKEICHO) publicized on May 29 a set of proposals on promoting structural reform in agriculture that includes a call for fundamental reform of agricultural land system. The Institute is a survey and research entity established by Japan's business community. The proposals call for early realization of the agricultural structure reform, with suggestions on farmland legislation, on farm business stabilization measures for efficient operations and on response to globalization. The reform proposals point to an increase in the area of farmland lying idle as a result of abandonment of cultivation as well as to slow progress in concentrating the use of farmland in the hands of efficient and stable operations as problems, and makes an emphatic call to reform farmland legislation on the ground that a legislative framework which would facilitate smooth leasing of the farmland is needed. They propose creation of a new agriculture version of 'the Right of Term Leasing of Land,' facilitation of entry in agriculture by non-agricultural entities, and call for revision of farmland-related tax provisions such as the inheritance tax on the ground that they are keeping the cost of farmland ownership low and stand in the way of mobility. On the farm business stabilization measures, they point to the necessity to make post-registration checks to see if the eligibility requirements are indeed satisfied by beneficiaries of the non-product specific farm business stabilization measures soon to be instituted. The proposals also point to clearly presenting a program for achieving the structure reform. They make an advice on the subsidy saying that the payment should be so structured that it starts out thick initially and gradually taper off to facilitate the structural reform and enhanced production. On the organizations for agriculture, they call on the reshuffling of existing organizations including the government administrative structures and agricultural associations based on recognition that what are needed are the supports to help farm business diversify and get sophisticated. Following up on the report published in May 2005 on agriculture policy reform, Japan Economic Research Institute set up a committee to further purse the subject in September of the same year with Mr. Yuki Takagi as its chairman, who is the governor of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Finance Corporation. The committee has compiled a set of proposals and published it in Japanese language under the title, which in English translation may be, "To Realize Agriculture Policy Reform," based on 'the Framework of Farming Business and Income Stabilization Measures' and 'the New Policy on Agricultural Policies Administration for the 21 Century' the government published earlier. |
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