Impact of the Set-Aside Programs on the Agricultural Structural Transformation of the Rice Sector

Abstract

As seen in the previous chapter, rice price-support programs since the early 1960s gave farmers in all size classes strong incentives to stick to producing rice on all paddy lands throughout Japan, indicating an enlarged supply of rice. On the other hand, the consumption of rice per person per year began to decrease simultaneously, not only due partly to the increased price of rice, but mainly due to a rapid “westernization” of food consumption patterns in Japan: bread instead of rice, meats, vegetables, and fruit. This happened because of an increase in income per capita thanks to overall rapid economic growth; in particular, in the nonagricultural sectors from around the mid-1950s to the early 1970s.