A Recommendation for Eco-Agriculture

ABSTRACT

Eco-agricultural products are high value added products that respond to the needs of consumers who want safety and reassurance in their produce. The competition for these products in Japan's market, however, remains poor. In fact, Japan depends on imports for the majority of its organic produce, the highest added value eco-agricultural product.

Compared to the other advanced countries, Japan ranks lowest in its consideration for the environment, the safety, and the stability of its food supply. In Europe, eco-agriculture products have been promoted through strong government policies, the in-depth studies of research institutes, and the active work of major retailers and NPO's. Even South Korea has been implementing proactive measures such as the adoption of a direct payment system for eco-agricultural producers.

While the importance of eco-agriculture has been recognized in Japan, the measures to support it have been ineffective. Though the issues of higher efficiency and expansion of scale are often raised in the debates on agricultural administration reform, solutions to these problems are not enough to revive competitiveness in Japan's agriculture industry. The policies to promote high added value eco-agricultural products, an essential way to facilitate the needed shift from quantity to quality, lacks a sense of urgency.

There are, however, some innovative initiatives to build a supply system for eco-agricultural products on the regional level. Shiga Prefecture, for example, has adopted an independent system of direct payment and in Miyazaki, K?chi, and Okayama Prefectures there are plans to strengthen the brand name of eco-agricultural products and to increase their added value.

Eco-agricultural production provides a way to combine the efforts to increase competition in the agricultural industry on the one hand with the efforts develop sustainability in the regions on the other. Once the road to eco-agricultural proliferation has been clearly established, it will be necessary to set a numerical target, to consider concrete policy measures for the adoption of a direct payment system, and to develop a way to integrate the small-scale, locally rooted farming activities with the large-scale aggregated farming operations.