Some Observations on Location of the Truck Farming in Japan

Abstract

Although Japan's area hardly exceeds that of the State of California, U.S.A., the vegetable cultivation for metropolitan areas is flourishing exceedingly more in suburban districts than in tracts remote from market. After the War the truck farming has increased, but it does not surpass the market gardening as yet.The author studied the vegetable transportation problem of linear programming from the supply-demand relationships between producing districts and markets, and compared the program with the actual features. As a result the distance equilibrium based on transport expence found to be held, even on items which seem to be controlled by complicated local supply-demand relationship.In Japan there are four regions of concentrated population, which form centres of the biggest consumption. They are Tokyo-Yokohama, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Nagoya, and Kita Kyushu regions. The number of vegetable growing districts are so many and scattered throughout the country, that competition for market is serious between market gardening and truck farming districts, and even among truck farmers themselves. When the cost of transportation to different markets are about the same, or the producing districts situated too far away from the markets, the choice of market tends to be decided by other factors than freight rates. However, the choice of market in this sense is very much limited.In Japan horticulture is practised in the tracts remote from the metropolitan areas. This is at least due to two fundamental reasons. One is to make use of peculiarly favoured natural conditions, the product made under different climates and soils from those at suburban districts, brings about farmers a great profit. The other is to make use of cheap cost of labour, by keeing farmers' own standard of living very low. There are many truck horticulture districts, in which natural conditions are no better than in suburban districts.