Abstract

Izumo Plain, situated on the coast of the Japan Sea, is the largest alluvial plain in the San-in District. In prewar times, dispersed settlement and a unique farming method under the large land-owner system made great features of the plain. In the end of last century, a farming method which required extremely hard labour was established on this plain. This method consisted in digging wet field deep, then heaping up the earth to make high ridges, upon which clovers (medicago denticulta) were planted for making green manure. Though it was hard for the farmers, this farming method was profitable on the part of the land-owners, so they had little intention to improve theirland. Their chief concern was to protect their land from frequent floods of the Hii River, and the energy of the farmers was directed to the river conservation works instead of land improvement. This is why this district has been so backward with respect to land-improvement. The conservation works of the Hii River were done from 1922 to 1944. After World War II, the first. attempt to improve the land was made on the lowest part of the plain on the coast of the lake. Encouraged by the successof this attempt coupled by the influence of the farm-land reform, farmers came to realize the importance of improving their land. So farm-land over 3, 200 ha was improved during the period from 1952 to 1957. First, dikes were formed along the lake coast, which prevented the salty lake water from coming into the fields. Then the water within was pumped away, and paddy fields were partitioned into 10 or 20 a. After the improvement, barley for beer-making is planted in some parts in place of clover which was commonly seen before the improvement, but this is not so widely known here. Orchards have shown a remarkable increase, but, when compared to the whole farm-land, they take only small part. Dairy in the wet fields, which is now being encouraged as a new type of agriculture, is experimentally adopted by a small number of farmers. Fodder culture is also restricted to only a small portion. In short, the rotation of rice and foddy culture does not go well. The commonest type of the utilization is single rice culture. Next to this, two-crop farming and horticulture are attempted in some place. The last one is dairy. These types, except the first one, are still on the experimental stage. This is caused by 1) farmers' inability to get accustomed to the new farming techniques (especially in raising milking cow), 2) lack of labourers, and 3) instability of the prices. For these reasons any effective utilization has not been observed. yet, though wet fields were changed into dry ones, except the only merit that the extremely hard labour of the farmers has been much reduced. For the future development of the land utilization, the following measures are to be desired. 1) The fields which still remain wet must be changed into dry ones by underground drainage. 2) For the ample supply of water and prevention of floods caused by the accumulation of sand, radical conservation works of the Hii must be performed. 3) A firm sale cooperative system directly connected with Osaka Metropolitan Market must be establi-shed. Both the agricultural cooperativeassociations and cooperative management of agriculture play agreat part for the realization of this purpose.

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