The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will compile its own agricultural reform plan which is likely to be less drastic than the government panel’s proposal and conforms to farmers’ objectives, party officials said.
The LDP’s two project teams, which have been discussing since March on how to reform agricultural organizations, plan to release their proposals in early June, they said.
Many LDP lawmakers representing the agricultural sector pointed out that the government panel’s proposal lacks the viewpoints of farmers and rural communities, saying that they cannot see how the proposal actually leads to an increase in farmers’ incomes.
They said the panel’s proposal, which includes abolishment of the umbrella bodies of the agricultural cooperatives group, interferes excessively in the management of the group which is a private organization. The LDP’s discussion on the group will focus on businesses which will lead to an increase in farmers’ incomes, they added.
(May 15, 2014)