Policies on rice farming, the fundamental agricultural policy, are on the verge of change. Although it represents a major policy shift, discussions have already been focused on deciding specific measures such as the amount of payments by the end of this month, without any principle or picture of the whole system made clear. Farmers are filled with worries and distrust. We must not allow Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take the lead in hurrying conclusion. The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party should take sufficient time in explaining their policies to farmers, agricultural cooperatives and municipal governments and discussing them in detail. No future vision of rice farming can be drawn without gaining support and understanding of farmers.
The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA-Zenchu) was scheduled to hold a symposium on rice farming policies on Tuesday, November 19, in Tokyo, inviting 700 representatives of regional agricultural cooperatives. The representatives were expected to exchange opinions with the LDP’s policymakers. We urge the policymakers, as well as the government, to explain their policies and clear away suspicions of farmers totally flustered by misleading media reports that the government will abolish “gentan,” the program of limiting paddy usage.
First of all, we question the government on how it will bear the responsibility of balancing supply and demand and stabilizing prices of rice, the nation’s staple food. The government should make this point clear. Farmers fear that the government might stop setting rice production volume targets for each prefecture five years from now without establishing a proper system, and eventually leaving everything to the private sector. They are concerned that uncontrolled production would bring about decline in rice prices and create a negative spiral of farmers’ difficult economic conditions leading to deterioration of farmlands.
Why is the issue of cutting direct payments to farmers, which are functioning as measures to limit rice production, suddenly popping up while the government’s level of intervention remains unclear? Is the government taking sufficient measures to cope with declining incomes of rice farmers whose revenues always fall below costs? Are the so-called “bedrock” income compensation measures enough to deal with price fluctuations? The government also lacks clear policies on how to support farmers who take the leadership in utilizing rice paddies. We must not allow the government to create a discriminative policy which abandons the weak, small-scale farmers.
Can the government establish a system of pricing, distributing and marketing rice for livestock feed to secure support for farmers? It is also important to set the amount of direct payments aimed at maintaining the multifaceted functions of farmlands and rural communities. Above all, it is essential to clearly indicate that the measures will contribute to improving farmers’ incomes, developing farming communities and raising the food self-sufficiency rate. In short, the government should create a system which will better support rice farmers continue their business without worries.
We wonder why the government is so hastily trying to review the system, leaving behind farmers’ concerns. We have a deeper distrust of the out-of-norm policy making process, where the policies are decided by the agriculture subcommittee of the Industrial Competitiveness Council placed directly under Abe.
The Abe administration, whose major policy pillar is to implement growth strategy through deregulation, is putting priority on reforming agriculture and the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) group. The agricultural policies currently under discussion will also be included in the revitalization plan for agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry and regions, which is scheduled to be compiled by the government in the end of this month.
The policies apparently reflect the government’s intention to push forward neoliberalism, and take decisive steps to strengthen international competitiveness to cope with globalization, consolidate farmlands and reduce costs through drastic structural reform and review the JA group’s businesses and organization.
Rice farming is the core of agricultural policies and the nation’s foundation. If the government makes hasty political decisions by ignoring the farmers’ concerns, there will definitely be a tremendous bill to pay in the future.
(Nov. 19, 2013)