Research for the development of demand creation and the renovation of production base of decline-stage industrial crops

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19162
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 41:Agricultural economics and rural sociology, agricultural engineering, and related fields
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: SAKURAI Seiichi 千葉大学, 大学院園芸学研究院, 教授 (60334174)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 神代 英昭 宇都宮大学, 農学部, 准教授 (60431699) ; 石塚 哉史 弘前大学, 農学生命科学部, 教授 (70571016)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 工芸農作物 / 製品ライフサイクル論 / 衰退期 / 需要拡大

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated the strategies for regenerating demand and restoring the production basis of three industrial crops (silkworm, devil’s tang, and green tea) by reviewing the competitive market structure, structure of production areas, and technical development. Markets of target crops are under the diminishing stage of product lifecycle theory, which is often mentioned in the marketing analysis. To recover the production basis, enhancing human development, including newcomers, is vital. It is essential to boost exports to the overseas market to improve the new market, which evaluates the new function or the traditional value of products. As for silk products, we confirmed the partial usefulness of the permission system organized by firms at every stage of the supply chain, from silkworm/silk to final products.

Free Research Field

農業経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の成果は，衰退期にある一部の工芸農作物の製品特性を再評価し，市場価値を高め，その生産（原料だけでなく最終製品も含む）拡大を図るうえで示唆になる知見を多く含んでいる。例えば，衰退期の産地と製品工場では規模縮小のため従来の生産者・担い手自身が減少しているため，産地の復活を図るには新規参入者の育成が必要であることを明らかにした。また，埋もれていた製品特性や新機能の評価は海外の市場から発信されることもあるため，輸出振興も重要な戦略となることを強調した。