Our Challenges
Creating a Profitable Industry to Generate Stable Income
In the eight years between 2010 and 2015, the number of farming households in Japan fell from 2.528 million to 2.155 million.*1 This equates to a drop of more than 60,000 each year. Due in part to national policy, the farmland left behind by those leaving the industry was handed over to business farmers,*2 and year on year the scale of these farms grew. A mountain of new issues came to the fore, such as how to efficiently maintain and manage this farmland at a high level, and how to produce and provide agricultural products that met consumers’ needs at a low cost. A fresh approach to farm management was paramount.
Kubota had already begun offering management proposals for farms of various sizes and in various locations. One such example was its proposal for an integrated, all-mechanical direct sowing system for large-scale rice farms. The company’s Tetsuko method, which involved the direct sowing of iron-coated rice seeds across rice paddies, eliminated the effort and time required to raise and transplant seedlings, achieving both increased efficiency and low cost in one. Even further benefits came from combining the Tetsuko method with tractors that could quickly prepare soil and create ridges;*3 with rice transplanters that could simultaneously apply herbicides; or with high-speed, high-performance combine harvesters. Combinations such as these could reduce work times, reduce labor, reduce costs, and lessen the physical burden on farmers. Furthermore, such methods could be used by even inexperienced farmers, making it easier to secure the relevant personnel. Since its introduction 2007, the Tetsuko method continues to be adopted by farmers across Japan.
Stable farm management requires stable income throughout the year. For rice farming—the most prevalent type of farming in Japan—seedlings are raised in spring, transplanted in early summer in the rainy season, and the rice harvested in autumn. Income is only made, then, at a certain time of year. Kubota thus proposed multiple crop farming,*4 suggesting that farmers combine rice farming, vegetable production, and others. To do so, it would be necessary to use rice paddies to grow both rice and vegetables, but unlike rice, which requires flooded fields, vegetables require well-aired, well-draining soil. Many farmers had in fact mentioned that they weren’t achieving the desired results in their vegetable production. Kubota went to inspect rice paddies across Japan, and found the problem to be with drainage. The company immediately engaged in research, and after repeated trial and error, developed technologies and machinery that could optimally and efficiently combat drainage and soil preparation. This increased the yield of vegetable crops, and helped farmers create a stable source of income. Improved drainage also had the added benefit of producing higher quality rice. In its pursuit of sustainable agriculture, Kubota continues to support multiple crop farming, proposing solutions for profitable agriculture from a wide range of perspectives.
- *1Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries—Survey on Movement of Agricultural Structure
- *2A unique term in agricultural policy referring to full-time/part-time farmers, corporations, and others that are driving regional agriculture forward.
- *3Mounds of soil that act as borders between rice fields.
- *4An initiative to increase income from agriculture by managing farms that have more than two sources of income, such as from rice farming or vegetable production.
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