<論説>戦後沖縄における熱帯果樹の導入と産業形成 (特集 : 食)

Abstract

本研究では戦後沖縄における熱帯果樹の導入と産業形成の過程と諸相を、関連諸主体の動向から解明した。本土復帰前にはハワイ大学の園芸研究者が実地調査と勧告、新品種の導入、研究者の育成を図り、産業形成の芽が生じた。一九八〇年代に熱帯果樹は県外移出を妨げていたミバエ類の根絶に目処が立つ中、地元紙誌での関連記事の掲載、地元新聞社と種苗業者の組合との協働の取り組みにより、庭先栽培と経済栽培の両面で導入が活性化した。産業形成の点では、生産者は生産拡大の初期に農協の支援が得られなかったため、台湾や東南アジアへ行き種苗を入手したり通販の顧客を開拓したりして、農協外で独自に生産・販売対応を図ってきた。ゆえに、沖縄農業の課題として論じられてきた農協による産地形成は、熱帯果樹では十分進展しなかった。しかし農協広域合併などを背景に二〇〇〇年代から成果が現れはじめ、農協外でも市場成熟化のもと高付加価値化の機会が生じている。

In this study, I elucidate the processes and aspects of the introduction and industrialization of tropical fruit production in postwar Okinawa by focusing on the efforts of various actors from the perspective of agricultural geography. Today, Okinawa produces a variety of tropical fruits such as mangoes, papayas, and passion fruits. Since the region is a subtropical climate zone, most tropical fruits and temperate fruits can be grown there, and it is said to be an environment that can grow the largest number of fruits in the world. However, only a limited number of fruits are considered native to the region, and most of the cultivated species of tropical fruits were introduced in the modern era, especially after the Second World War. During the period when Okinawa was under U.S. military rule after the war, Henry Nakasone, an agronomist at the University of Hawaii, was invited as a horticultural advisor by the USCAR and the Ryukyu government. He conducted extensive field surveys of tropical fruit production, made recommendations based on them, introduced new varieties, and trained local horticultural researchers. Although tropical fruit production in the region was quite limited at that time, the seeds of industrialization were planted due to a series of efforts by Nakasone. Following Okinawa’s return to Japan in 1972, it appeared in the 1980s that fruit flies, which had been a barrier to the transportation of tropical fruits outside the Okinawa area, would be eradicated, and demand for them was expected to increase in the region as the tourism industry was revitalized. Under such circumstances, the government began to actively promote the production of tropical fruits, mainly mangoes and papayas. Local newspapers and magazines published articles reporting examples of cultivation, editorials on promotion policies, and columns introducing cultivation methods for tropical fruits. In addition, tropical fruit seedling suppliers appeared, and they organized an association with the main purpose of spreading home gardening of tropical fruits in Okinawa. The association, in cooperation with local newspaper companies, regularly held exhibition and sale events of seedlings as well as tours to Southeast Asia for acquiring seeds and seedlings. With the above as the background, tropical fruits experienced a boom in both home gardening and commercial cultivation in the 1980s. In terms of commercial cultivation, production of mangoes and papayas expanded in the 1980s, and in the 2000s dragon fruit, passion fruit, etc. also emerged. Taking the example of mangoes, which were the earliest to be industrialized, producers did not have sufficient support from agricultural cooperatives in the early days of the industry, so they developed a way of independently producing and selling mangoes outside the sphere of the agricultural cooperatives. The producers formed loose small-scale organizations, visited Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries to obtain seeds and seedlings, selected promising varieties, developed cultivation techniques, and acquired mail-order customers. As this initiative shows, the formation of production areas and the establishment of a cooperative sales system by agricultural cooperatives had not made sufficient progress in the tropical fruit sector, except in some areas, and producers took the lead in industrialization. Agricultural economists argue that organized efforts at the production area level, led by agricultural cooperatives, would overcome the “backwardness” of Okinawan agriculture in terms of adaptation to the market economy. Nevertheless, some results started to be achieved after the 2000s against the backdrop of mergers into single agricultural cooperatives in Okinawa and measures aimed at improving the supply system in production areas. Outside of agricultural cooperatives, multiple initiatives for sixth-order industrialization aimed at higher value-added and the development of differentiated products, including minor items, are progressing within Japan’s mature food market. Additionally, PR and direct sales to consumers are becoming easier with the development of EC sites and SNS. As a result, ambitious producers have gained an opportunity to make large profits by handling their own production and sales outside of agricultural cooperatives. Considering this situation, joining the production area organizations of agricultural cooperatives is not the only rational economic choice for producers, and thus why should it be thought that the only direction that local agriculture should aim for is to place all producers under a single organization? It appears that it will be necessary in the future to relativize the “backwardness” debate developed by agricultural economists on the basis of historical and geographical conditions, and to form perspectives and approaches to Okinawan agricultural theory that suits the situation of today’s markets and local communities.