Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/62639

The purpose of this paper is to examine how to introduce organic farming by means of a case study of Farm A, where organic rice farming has been carried out since the 1970s. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) Farm A has been using original manure that has taken a long time to develop. Learning the proper method of fertilizer application has contributed to the stability of yields on Farm A. However, using original manure results in the increase in cost and work time. Organic farm managers should make up for the increase in their production costs by trading at a higher price. (2) Since Farm A's manager made organic rice production the main farming division, resources such as land, cropping patterns, labor, and machinery have been reorganized. The combination of skilled employees with a high - performance paddy field weeder has resulted in an improvement of weeding work time on Farm A. Organic farm managers should consider how to weed, because the size of the planted area on organic farms depends on weeding efficiency. (3) Organic farm managers have their own management philosophy. Consequently, the production costs for organic farming are higher than for conventional farming. Naturally, their management philosophy reflects not only the costs but also the products. In order for there to be a greater understanding, organic farm managers should inform consumers of their philosophies and their production costs. Through such a trial, an advantageous market indispensable to development of organic farming will be formed.