Subject: PANUPS: Organic Farming in Japan

From: [email-masked] (PANNA InfoPubs)
Date: 4 Jan 1995 08:42:34 -0000

>From: PANNA InfoPubs <paninfopubs>

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Farmer-Consumer Alliance Succeeds in Japan

January 3, 1995

A small but increasing number of Japanese growers are relying 
on organic methods instead of chemical inputs and have 
succeeded in obtaining yields that are 60% to 90% of those of 
their chemical-using neighbors.  Following a "natural" crop 
calendar in harmony with the seasons, organic farmers claim 
that their losses are usually only 15% to 20% and that their 
produce tastes much better than that grown with chemical 
inputs.  Though the produce often has insect holes, a 
significant number of Japanese consumers prefer organically 
produced foods, and are willing to pay a higher price for it.

Roughly 150,000 to 200,000 households in metropolitan Tokyo 
-- half a million to one million people -- regularly eat 
"organic" produce grown without, or with "reduced use" of 
chemical pesticides.  Some schools and restaurants also have 
switched to organic food, and at least one sake brewery 
claims to use only organically grown rice in its premium 
brand.  The total number or organic food consumers throughout 
Japan may be as high as three to five million -- about 3% to 
5% of the population.  Under the country's "tekei" systems, 
consumers have actually entered into "co-partnership" with 
organic farmers, offering financial support, making 
commitments to buy all produce and even volunteering to help 
weed crops.

In Japan, organic food is distributed in three primary ways:

1.  "Tekei" system of close farmer/consumer cooperation.  
Spearheaded by the 4,000 member Nippon Yuki Nogyo Kenkyukai 
(Japan Organic Agriculture Association -- JOAA), this 
partnership, which started in 1971, requires that farmers use 
no synthetic chemicals and that consumers buy whatever the 
farmers produce.  Consumers also periodically help with 
weeding and other farm tasks, and contribute toward the 
purchase of capital items such as delivery vans and cold 
storage facilities.
2.  "Post delivery" system.  Many consumers rely on 
distributors who bring produce to their houses or to a 
predesignated "post," usually serving three to 20 households.  
Some systems have evolved into multi-billion yen operations 
which receive produce from 1,000 to 3,000 or more contract 
farmers located throughout the country and distribute to 
10,000 to 35,000 households weekly.  The largest such group, 
Seikatsu Club, founded by a Japanese woman 20 years ago to 
get safe milk directly from farmers, now claims to have more 
than 214,000 members.
3.  Organic food retail outlets.  Approximately 150 retail 
outlets selling organic foods have appeared in recent years 
in the Tokyo megalopolis, catering to consumers who do not 
belong to established groups.

In the past, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries and agricultural research institutes paid little 
attention to organic farming, considering increased food 
production and food self-sufficiency as top priorities.  "The 
ministry considered organic farming to be a passing phase 
only and did not support any research in this area," 
complained the JOAA secretary-general.  Now that organic 
farming is on the increase, however, the ministry has issued 
guidelines describing farming practices necessary for a 
grower to label produce "organic."  Designed primarily to 
protect consumers from false advertising, the guidelines have 
drawn complaints from the JOAA and consumer groups, who say 
permitting use of such labels as "reduced pesticides" only 
confuses the buying public.  The word "organic," say the 
groups, should be reserved exclusively for crops on which no 
chemicals have been used.

Source: Ceres 148, July-August 1994
Contact:  JOAA c/o Tomoyoshi Kiuchi, Hongo Corporation No. 
1001, 2-40-13 Hongo, 9-Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113, Japan; phone 
(81-3) 3818-3078; fax (81-3) 5684-3417.

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