Resistance to cool-summer damage resulting from level of cultivation practices represented by farm household characteristics

Abstract

We developed a statistical model to evaluate the influences of climate conditions and farm household characteristics on the degree of yield loss in paddy rice production. In the model, actual yield loss is divided into potential yield loss and resistance to yield loss. The potential yield loss is assumed to be dominated mainly by the climate conditions, whereas the resistance to yield loss is determined by the level of cultivation practices, indirectly represented by farm household characteristics. The model was applied to two adjacent towns in Tochigi, with a focus on the yield loss from the cool summer of 1993. The results indicated that the yield loss of 1.264 t/ha was prevented through cultivation practices, and the value corresponded to 44.2% of the potential yield loss. The resistance to yield loss was low among farm households with a high percentage of elderly population, without regular workers, and with abandoned arable fields. The negative influence of the percentage of elderly population on the resistance to yield loss was slightly greater than those of other farm household characteristics, raising concerns that the yield loss in paddy rice production may increase with the aging population of the rural area.