Citrus Faming by Post-retirement Farmers and Its Significance : A Case Study of Iwagi Island, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

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  • 高齢期離職就農者による柑橘農業の実態とその意義 : 愛媛県岩城島を事例として
  • コウレイキ リショクシュウノウシャ ニ ヨル カンキツ ノウギョウ ノ ジッタイ ト ソノ イギ : エヒメケン イワキトウ オ ジレイ ト シテ

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Abstract

This paper discusses citrus farming by post-retirement farmers in Iwagi Island, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, and its significance. The major industries of Iwagi Island are citrus farming and shipbuilding, and many households of citrus farmers work in shipbuilding. In recent years, the number of farmers who have retired from shipbuilding has been increasing. Because farming is different for post-retirement farmers than for fulltime farmers who can make a living through farming alone, it is important to understand the methods of farming followed by post-retirement farmers, and the significance of this farming. In recent decades, significant changes have occurred in the primary citrus cultivars used on Iwagi Island. After the fall in price of mikan mandarins in 1972, hassaku oranges became the main cultivar. After hassaku, in turn, fell in price, lemons, in the 1980s, and new cultivars in the 1990s, were introduced to Iwagi Island by the Fruit Tree Research Center. However, post-retirement farmers in the 2000s, often just after their retirement, introduced lemons and a number of new citrus cultivars. To clarify the purpose of introducing new citrus cultivars, 18 citrus farmers were interviewed. Although prices per yield are higher for new cultivars than for older cultivars, the new cultivars are less profitable than the older ones, owing to low productivity per land area. However, the citrus farmers introduced these new cultivars, not to earn a livelihood but to challenge themselves by trying their hand at new cultivars or to produce attractive gifts for their friends. Therefore, because post-retirement famers do farming as a hobby, Iwagi Island does not serve as a citrus-producing area for new cultivars. However, Iwagi Island serves as an experimental area for the introduction of new cultivars, thereby minimizing the risk that major citrus-producing areas face when introducing new cultivars.

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