地域農業の「組織化」と地域農政の課題

Abstract

One of the points in dispute in Japanese agricultural policy is whether or not special cares should be taken for rural communities. The purpose of this paper is to explain the relation of Japanese agricultural policy and agriculture based on rural community. The conclusion is as follows:1. The period from 1977 through 1985 is often called the period of “agricultural policy of regionalism”. That is because the government treated rural communities as the base or target for developing the agricultural policies.2. The “agricultural policy of regionalism” has the following three characteristics.(1) Agricultural policy corresponding to individual region(2) Agricultural policy according to decentralization(3) Agricultural policy based on autonomy of rural community3. The “agricultural policy of regionalism” went into a rapid decline in the period of “agricultural policy of globalism” after 1986. That means a conversion from the agricultural policy emphasizing rural communities to that emphasizing the market mechanism.4. In the meantime all the three constituents in the agricultural policy of regionalism mentioned above are included in the Direct Payments on Hilly and Mountainous Areas that started after enacting the Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas in 1999. Depending on the policy, some rural communities in the hilly and mountainous areas are to build up new farming systems.5. In this situation the future Japanese agricultural policy is required to intensify again the characteristics of the “agricultural policy of regionalism” and to introduce a policy based on rural community.