The objective of this paper is to clarify the nature of restructuring in the flowering plant production areas engaged in agricultural assistance projects sponsored by the government. This research focuses on the relationship between production areas and farmers in terms of the effects on the structure of the flowering plant market.
1) Structural changes in the rose market possess a special character in the sense that innovations in rose culturing technology have proceeded at a faster rate compared with other flowering plants. Although roses are shipped throughout the year to all parts of Japan, it is expected that other flowering plants will follow a similar pattern. The introduction of facilities for rose production has directed farmers towards management involving even higher costs.
2) If an assistance project for greenhouses had not been implemented in Sakaki town, Nagano Prefecture in the 1970s, Sakaki town may not have become a rose production area. However, there were also no problems involving the organization of a floricultural greenhouse cooperative or the need to bear joint responsibility during times of management hardship. In Sakaki town, the main body of production areas has shifted from local organizations to other farmers, including those in areas other than Sakaki town.
3) From about 1995, rose farmers in Sakaki town began to be divided into a number of groups: those who decided to leave the floricultural greenhouse cooperative, those who continued to remain members, those who reduced the scale of their operations, new members and advanced farmers. Changes in the market structure did not allow farmers to grow and develop at the same rate. This represented a change from when farmers could join the floricultural greenhouse cooperative regardless of their management capabilities in the implementation of the assistance project.
4) Even if the assistance project implemented in Sakaki town had some problems, farmers were forced to cope with the current market. Advanced farmers opening up markets using their own techniques have been able to utilize the greenhouses of farmers who left the floricultural greenhouse cooperative without large investments. In other words, the weeding out of farmers in production areas provided an opportunity for growth by advanced farmers.
5) A new shipping cooperative comprising farmers having enthusiasm for management is important for Sakaki town to maintain its rose production areas. This type of autonomous effort is enabling producers to restructure production areas. It is thought that during the course of deploying agricultural policies in the future, it will be necessary to evaluate each production area after implementing the assistance projects with respect to farmers' attempts to create production areas on their own.