| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this study is to analyze the large-sized and mega farms proliferating under the policy reform and industrialization of agriculture. Its findings and results can be summarized as follows.
Firstly, as for the grain farming, many of the mega grain farms in Kansas are diversified operations with wheat growing and beef cattle feeding. They have adopted new technological system with more intensive crop patterns, and wide use of non-tillage cultivation and GM varieties. On the other in Japan, the large-sized family farms with 20 ha or more of paddy field are emerging in the double cropping areas, and efficient farms among them now achieves the cost of rice production as low as 10,000 yen/60 kg Secondly, as for the dairy farming, the mega dairies in California organize themselves as substantially high-efficient operations based on the new technological system with dry-lot and free stall barns, TMR feeding, milking parlor, and herd-by-herd cow monitoring. However, they are facing some limitations such as their vulnerability to the milk price volatility, and the restriction on expansion and new-entrance due to the environmental regulations. Thirdly, as for the horticultural farming, in the Salinas Valley in California, several mega vegetable farms are emerging based on the new technological system with large-sized machineries, automated irrigation and liquid fertilizer supply through pipeline, and large number of Hispanic employees. They are also expanding their production sites even down into Mexico in order to build up a year-round supply system. On the other in Japan, in the southern part of the Satsuma peninsula, several large-sized vegetable farms are taking place. However, most of them have about 15 ha of cropland and not yet incorporated, thus have different size and organizational structure from those mega vegetable farms in the Ohsumi area and the southern part of Miyazaki prefecture.
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