Pathways influencing bearers and abandoned farmlands through farmland intermediate management institutions: using prefectural data in Japan

This study aimed to clarify relationships between regional factors and farmland utilization in the context of the current declining and aging population of Japan. We applied path analysis using prefectural data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries to investigate the effective ways of farmland use through farmland utilization programs such as the Farmland Intermediary Management Program as mediating influences based on prefectural regional characteristics. The main findings were as follows. First, the accumulated subleasing area through farmland intermediary management institutions had a positive impact on farmlands accumulated by bearers, but no effect on the restraint of increases in dilapidated farmland areas. Second, the accumulated subleasing area through farmland intermediary management institutions was an intermediate variable of regional factors and farmer- and rural community-related farmland utilization programs and affected farmland transfer to the bearers. Moreover, this study offers a novel approach by quantitatively examining relationships between community-based farming and farmland intermediary management institutions. Our findings also revealed that the corporatization of community-based farming organizations has a significant positive effect on the accumulated subleasing areas through farmland intermediary management institutions. Therefore, we consider community-based farming corporation transfers and the reorganization of farmland through farmland intermediary management institutions as a way to effectively use farmland and realize endogenous development within the community.