1994 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

Study on Factors Affecting the Price Formation of Organic Agricultural products

Research Project

Project/Area Number	05454098
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Agro-economics
Research Institution	TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Principal Investigator	UMEKI Toshimi Tokyo Univ.Agri.Tech., Fac.Agri., Professor, 農学部, 教授 (10091365)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	NOMIYAMA Toshio Tokyo Univ.Agri.Tech., Fac.Agri., Assistant of Professor, 農学部, 助手 (20242240)
Project Period (FY)	1993 – 1994
Keywords	Organic Agricultural Products / Factors Affecting the Price Formation / Direct Marketing / Agricultural Marketing / Organic Farming
Research Abstract	The purpose of this study was to make clear the factors affecting the price formation of organic agricultural products. The conclusions of this study were summarized as follows : (1) The price formation of organic agricultural products could be divided in the following three types : (i) compensatory price system for cost of production, (ii) sliding price system linking with wholesale price, (iii) combination of these both price system. Recently, the combination price system has been establishing. (2) Although the compensatory system is desirable for producers, its weak points were the facts that lack of data of production cost and difficulty for appraisal of family labor, feed and manure etc., produced on own farms. (3) The market form of agricultural products was shifting to a semi-open market from closed market. (4) The kind, numbers and size of markets for organic agricultural products have been increasing in recent years. At the same time, the pricing system of the organic products has been becoming indistinct. (5) In order to analyze the price formation of organic agricultural products, it will be necessary to apply the theory of commercial price under the limited methodology.