| NOTA |
(★)(The present deterioration of Japanese agriculture is indicated by such conditions as a marked decline in the number of full-time farmers coinciding with an increase of part-time farmers, an over-production of rice and mandarin oranges coincident with a shortage of beef, soaring prices of feed grains, and debate over the liberalization of agricultural imports. In considering these circumstances, it is necessary (1) to analyze the reasons for the income disparity between agriculture and the manufacturing industries, (2) to investigate the factors that may raise the labor productivity of agriculture, and (3) to establish appropriate policies and countermeasures. We will then be in a position to suggest a way by which the labor productivity in agriculture can be increased. If this can be achieved, it will help maintain a balance between the incomes of agricultural and industrial workers and enable Japanese agriculture to survive in international competition.／ It has long been said that the Japanese agricultural administration is indecisive, and this seems to me to be the result of an ongoing situation in which it is hard to establish proper policy. It is true not only in Japan, but in other nations as well.／ The primary concern of this book is productivity and technological progress in Japanese agriculture. I have analyzed the present situation of Japanese agriculture by applying economic and econometric methods and have tried to come up with a solution for the problems facing Japanese agriculture in the seventies.／ The first part of this work deals with income disparity between agricultural workers and workers in the manufacturing industry and with technological progress. In Chapter 1, I delineate the structural aspects of the factors behind the income disparity between the agricultural and manufacturing industries in terms of capital coefficients, investment rate, and savings rate. In order to close the income gap between the two, an outflow of agricultural workers and a lower birth rate in rural districts are desirable. These aspects are also discussed in Chapter 1.／ The second part deals with the technological progress of agriculture and land problems, both of which are inseparable issues. In Chapter 3, I analyze the mechanism that relates technological progress and land-price formation. In Chapter 4, possibilities for enlarging the scale of rice farming are investigated.／ The third part of this study deals with the structural relations of demand and supply for agricultural products and formation of agricultural prices. In Chapter 5, the general features of the prices of agricultural products are discussed first, and then the price determination of beef and pork is examined. In Chapter 6, the marketing cost of agricultural products is analyzed.／ Part four deals with agricultural investment and the improvement of agricultural labor productivity. Possibilities for expanding the size of dairy farming and increasing agricultural investment are examined in Chapter 7. Then, in Chapter 8, I demonstrate that investment in large-scale farm machinery is required to increase the productivity of agricultural labor, although investment in small-scale farm machinery is also economically rational.／ Throughout all these chapters I have followed the idea that the principle of ´Whatever is, is right´ is most appropriate in the case of Japanese agriculture. It is argued that though Japanese agriculture has several problems --low labor productivity, small scale of farming, and high marketing costs-- these very problems have enabled Japanese agriculture to achieve ´rationality´ under given situations. My point is that the abolition of the present concept of rationality is necessary for establishing a new highly productive agriculture, requiring measures of high efficacy, in addition to enormous sums of financial investment.／ Admittedly, it is questionable whether a huge investment in agriculture would pay off from the perspective of the national economy. Without it, however, we will not be able to reduce the income disparity between agricultural and industrial workers, nor can we cope with the pressure for the liberalization of agricultural imports or with other problems, such as how to develop livestock farming and how to lessen the poisoning and pollution caused by agricultural chemicals.／ [from ´PREFACE´, Keizo Tsuchiya, Fukuoka, December, 1975]／ ▼CONTENTS／ ●PART 1.INCOME DISPARITY BETWEEN AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS／ ◎Ch.1.Population Growth and Technological Progress in Japanese Agriculture／ ◎Ch.2.The Rate of Technological Progress in Japanese Agriculture／ ●PART 2.TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND LAND PROBLEMS IN AGRICULTURE／ ◎Ch.3.Agricultural Land Price and Agricultural Technological Progress／ ◎Ch.4.Technological Progress and Scale Economy in Agriculture／ ●PART 3.PRICE FORMATION AND SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF FARM PRODUCTS／ ◎Ch.5.Agricultural Prices and Agricultural Diversification in Japan／ ◎Ch.6.Marketing Costs of Farm Products／ ●PART 4.INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE AND IMPROVEMENT OF LABOR PRODUCTIVITY／ ◎Ch.7.A Systems Approach to Studying the Increase in Dairy Farm Size in Japan／ ◎Ch.8.Economic and Social Aspects of Farm Mechanization in Japan／ ◎Ch.9.Land Improvement Schemes and Innovations in Agricultural Technology／ ◎Ch.10.Improvement of Agricultural Labor Productivity and the Role of the Government／) |
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