Recent Circumstances of the Work Process and the Organization for Rice Cropping in Niigata Plain

Authors investigated the present work process of rice cropping in connection with the farmers' organization for production in Niigata Plain. Results obtained may be summarized as follows.1) During past two decades, the work process of rice cropping has been remarkably simplified and standardized. Therefore, regardless with the difference in the organized form of machinery utilization in three investigated farms, the work process in them resembled each other and the ratio of required machine-hours to the total required man-hours per hectare was almost similarly 35∼40%. The qualitative difference in their work processes remained only in the kind of equipment for fertilizer application.2) Required labour per hectare in three farms was similarly 40∼48% of the average in Kaetsu District, the greater part of which is Niigata Plain. However, the required labour was least in a cooperative organization of 180ha among three farms.3) Even in the smallest individual farm of 3ha investigated, work cost per hectare was about 75% in comparison with the average in Hokuriku Zone.4) At present, the majority of farmers' organizations for rice production can hardly slough from local relations to functional or contracting ones. It is necessary for modernization of such traditional organizations to promote the mobility of farm lands and to stabilize the employment conditions for part time farmers in other industries.