豪州における無農薬有機栽培米農場の収益性と持続可能性 : 輪作体系による環境保全型米作農場の事例分析

Abstract

In this paper, 4 traditional rice farms and 4 organic rice farms are compared in terms of profitability and sustainability. Strictly speaking, alternative farmings are classified into two farming types, sustainable farming and organic farming. The former is farming type in which chemicals & fertilizers use is minimized and do not burn but plough rice straw into soils so that the sustainability of resources such as water, air and soils could be maximized in the long run. The latter is farming type in which chemicals, pesticide & hormone preparations are not used in farming in order to satisfy standards for chemical remnants in food. The yield per ha for the alternative farming tends to be lower than the traditional farming. But the profitability of the organic farming is almost same or higher than the traditional farming due to price premium reflecting the better food quality. For this reason in Australia, returns per ha in organic rice farmings were $1046 to $1452, which were higher than that of traditional rice farming, i.e. $858 although the yield or productivity gaps were not clear between them.