Improvement Project of Agricultural Structure and Agricultural Cooperatives in Nara Prefecture

The policy to improve agricultural structure which was planned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has come into operation recently. Considering this development fundamentally, it should be discussed whether or not the agriculture of Nara Prefecture has the basic conditions on which this project will be developed. Also it should be examined whether or not the agricultural cooperatives which will play important roles on this project particularly through their functions of credit have ability for this purpose. Scrutinizing the real conditions of the agriculture and cooperatives in Nara Prefecture, the following points should be emphasized. 1) In Nara Prefecture, the living standard of the farm families is not low, though the most of the farms are very small in size and part-time. And the farmers are now gradually losing their interests in farming. 2) The most of the agricultural cooperatives are also very small in size and concentrate their effort not in guidance of farming but just in credit activities. 3) Accordingly, it is not easy to realize the project to improve agricultural structure and the agricultural cooperatives will not be able to play important roles on this project. 4) However, it is necessary to enforce the project which should be made up as to be adapted to the real situation of the agriculture of Nara Prefecture for its modernization. For enforcing this project , the agricultural cooperatives should also improve their structure, for examples , enlargement of their size through affiliation , improvement of credit system, development of guidance of farming and so on