著者

井上 守

出版者

日本農業市場学会

雑誌

農業市場研究 (ISSN:1341934X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, no.4, pp.19-27, 2010-03-31

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The oil crisis of 2008 had severe implications for many agricultural farms and companies. Farmers, in particular, were distressed by the increasing costs for greenhouse heating and agricultural materials. This is seen as a structural problem in Japan, as farmers cannot determine the prices of own products on the basis of cost. In response, JA-Miyazaki (Federation of Miyazaki Prefectural Economic and Agricultural Co-operative) started an oil surcharge system for agriculture to overcome the problem. This paper considers this structural problem from economic and organizational viewpoints, and evaluates the oil surcharge system of JA-Miyazaki in order to clarify its importance and problems. The paper concludes that, because the scale of farms are not large enough to control the entire supply chain of their products and they are unable to form partnerships, Japanese farmers cannot overcome such structural problems. The paper also notes that the oil surcharge system of JA-Miyazaki succeeded, owing primarily to the excellence of the staff. Lasly, the paper notes that from now, the necessity of the risk hedges such as oil surcharge systems will be increasing.