Factors in the expansion of vegetable production through partnerships among agricultural cooperatives: Bitter gourds in the Tomo region of Gunma prefecture

Abstract

This research clarifies the factors behind the expansion of the production of bitter gourds due to partnerships among agricultural cooperatives, using examples from the Tomo region of Gunma prefecture, Japan. Since 2002, Zenno Gunma led the three agricultural cooperatives to form partnerships in the Tomo region, and cooperative sales began. The first factor was that sales managers from JA Gunma Itakura and JA Tatebayashi had a cooperative relationship that predated this project. It was therefore possible to build a cooperative relationship among the three agricultural cooperatives in the Tomo region, and Zenno Gunma was able to establish a system of direction for each agricultural cooperative. Zenno Gunma gave instructions on specifications and sales destinations, and cultivation technologies were owned in common and shared fairly. The second factor was that within the three agricultural cooperatives in the Tomo region there were agricultural households with male professional farmers under the age of 60 years who believed that the introduction of bitter gourd cultivation was necessary. As these agricultural households succeeded in gourd production, others began to cultivate them. These included agricultural households that had been mainly producing crops other than cucumbers or eggplants, female farmers, supplementary farmers, and farmers over 60 years of age. The production thus increased.