Geographical Research on Evolution Mechanism of Agricultural Space : Case Study of the Diffusion of Alternative Food Production System

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The purpose of this study is to elucidate how local actors have managed to sustain agricultural production and to revitalize rural community in the face of internal and external perturbations. The agriculture of Japan consists of the industrial/productivism model and post-industrial/post-productivism model. Both industrial and post-industrial model are characterised with a knowledge based economic activity. Farmers are necessary to innovate their skill and farm management continuously to cope with international and inter-regional competition. It is not clear how farmers can create knowledge to gain competitive advantage and how knowledge diffuses into other farmers within an area. Why have some areas sustained their production in the face of internal stress and external disturbance? How do these areas bring about continuous innovation? We would like to explore answers to these questions through a case study of diffusion of the alternative production system into vegetable under greenhou … More se growing area from the standpoint of knowledge creation and learning environment. The findings are as follows:1. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been diffused into the traditional vegetable under greenhouse producing areas (Kochi, Fukuoka, Aichi, Ibaraki and Chiba) in Japan (Fig.3).2. Local actors of Aki in Kochi prefecture have managed to revitalize vegetable production under greenhouse by innovating a new pest control method and diffusing of it since the late of 1990s (Fig.4).3. The new pests invasion to Japan and consumer demand for alternative food have triggered off the diffusion of IPM within the study area. Local actors, for instance regional leader of farmers' study group, prefectural extension service center, and agricultural cooperative have continuously tried to innovate the development of the pest control technique for vegetable under greenhouse production. Continuous regional innovation enabled the self-sustained evolution of the area. The local learning system of the study area has sustained continuous regional innovation. Farmers share their experiences and create tacit knowledge themselves (Fig.5). The success of making local learning system is a main key to understand continuous regional innovation as regional responses to inter-regional competition and changes of consumer behavior. Both cooperative competition and spatial symbiosis within farmers of the study area are a requirement for continuous regional innovation based on knowledge creation and self-sustained evolution of agricultural area.4. In comparison with vegetable producing area in Kochi, the lack of local learning system in the tea growing area of Shizuoka brings about the delay in spreading of IPM method to farmers.5. The technique of IPM has been introduced from the Netherlands to Japan. IPM has now become common practice within Dutch vegetable production in greenhouse. The success of spreading IPM method is due to the advisory system for supporting the decision-making of individual Dutch vegetable growers. Recent shifts in consumer behavior and societal views of the roles of agriculture from productivist to post-productivist bring about the changes of Dutch agro-sector to the adoption of environmentally friendly production technique and pursuit of food quality, especially health scares. Less