Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/88753

Newcomers are becoming more and more important in Japanese agriculture, where the number of farmers is decreasing and farming issues are becoming more serious. For the success of newcomers in agriculture, the roles played by local farmers, who are called“support farmers”and“guardians,”are significant. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between newcomers and people involved in support for newcomers, including master farmers, and to clarify the importance of master farmers in supporting newcomers. We carried out a case analysis by taking up the effort to support newcomers to strawberry farming in Toyoura Town, where the organization of master farmers is greatly involved in the training system. In Toyoura Town, in addition to the local government that runs the training system and the farmers who actually accept trainees, many other people are also involved in the support for newcomers. In that situation, newcomers built relationships with many people, mainly master farmers, and these relationships were utilized in various situations. The roles played by master farmers in supporting newcomers were (1) education on farm management for trainees, (2) networking with farmers and local residents, (3) provision of farmland information, and (4) providing advice after starting farming. As these roles are closely related to the success of newcomers, we were able to confirm the importance of master farmers. In addition to providing information on farmland and vacant houses, local residents supported the lives of newcomers through daily interactions, such as sharing food. Furthermore, it was suggested that senior newcomers are very understanding of newcomers and may play an important role in the same way as master farmers. In addition, local companies and related organizations were also involved in supporting newcomers.