THE ACTUAL STATE AND REGULATING FACTORS OF THE AGRICULTURE IN THE TSUKUBA ACADEMIC CITY

The influences which the construction of the Tsukuba Academic City (The Tsukuba Research and University Town) has exerted upon the agriculture of the region in Ibaraki Prefecture may be summed up as the following two: 1) Despite the facts that the development of the city which is now proceeding has so far shown a poor capacity for the increase in employment and has not decreased the agricultural area significantly, the flow-out of the farmers from the region has recently becoming especially conspicuous. 2) As for the agricultural use of land, the farmers have been still continuing the relatively extensive farming closely dependent on the land aiming at improving the production means, whereas little efforts have been made for the more intensive management such as capital-intensive horticulture or stock raising. Of the factors which have regulated or specified the farmers' response, we can point out as the most important the change in the labor market centering on Tsuchiura City and the installation enterprises for improving the agricultural management in view of the responding policy of farming. Especially, the latter has given to the agriculture of the region the consolidation of the production means. It has had an effect not only on both land use and labrce, but also on the size of farmers. The Kashima Industrial Development Area on the stage just after the land purchase around 1968 has shown a specialization trend to a suburban truck farming area through the modernization of cultivation techniques in horticulture. These enterprises, especially irrigation establishments, were designed for the stabilization of agricultural management by dint of getting over the water shortage in the dunes. Again, the Academic City in Tsukuba is now promoting such enterprises as mentioned above with characteristic features for improving the means of farming production. This policy has been somewhat effective for promoting the flow-out of the farming force from the region without decreasing agricultural profit, and also for increasing the gross agricultural profit. This should be, however, regarded as a policy to foster part-time farmers, because it has only been converting the pure agricultural area with a high rate of full-time farmers into a suburban farming area.