No abstract

We review existing studies on rice harvest loss from the aspects of estimation methods, magnitudes, causes, effects, and interventions. The harvest losses examined occurred from the field reaping to storage processes, including threshing, winnowing, and field transportation. We find that existing studies on rice harvest losses have focused on quantitative losses in Asia and Africa. Lack of knowledge, inadequate harvesting techniques, poor infrastructure, and inefficient harvest management practices are considered critical contributors to the losses. The magnitudes and causes of rice harvest losses are now better understood than interventions, which have simply been presented but lack an assessment of the effects and a cost–benefit analysis. Interestingly, reduction in harvest losses may threaten some farmers’ profits, such as rural women who make their living from post-production manual operations. Considering the current status of the literature, future researchers should examine how to balance social and individual welfare since farmers are key stakeholders in intervention implementation. A good understanding of the existing researches can help clarify future efforts for loss reduction, thereby reducing the burden of increasing agricultural production and promoting sustainable development of resources and the environment.

This paper reviews the importance of foreign trainees to farmers whowant to expand their production oflabour-intensivecommodities.Local Japanese youth generally shun farm worker jobs, and Japan is generally closed to low-skilled migrants, but permits farmers, manufacturers andother employers to train and employ young foreigners for up to three years. In Ibaragi Prefecture north of Tokyo, the agricultural cooperatives that provide inputs to farmers and market their vegetables and other produce helped their farmer-members introduce foreign trainees, whoallowed farmers to expand their production andincreased cooperative sales. Trainees must be paid the Japanese minimum wage for most of the 36 months they are in Japan with the additional costs for train-related system, but they are still cheaper than full-time Japanese farm workers. Main data are coming from the statistics like Japanese Agricultural Census and interviews with coops, farmers and trainees.

One-third of the world's food is lost and wasted each year, making reducing food loss and waste one of the promising ways to ensure global food security. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the differences among the factors affecting rice harvest loss of specialized and part-time farmers. Data collected from 1 106 farmers in China were analysed using Tobit regression. The results indicated the following: i) The average rice harvest loss rate of part-time farmers is higher than that of specialized farmers. ii) Among the variables considered, most factors not only increase the loss of part-time and non-rice specialized farmers but also reduce the loss of rice specialized farmers. iii) The use of combine harvesters and the purchase of outsourcing services increases the loss of part-time and non-rice specialized farmers but can reduce the loss of rice specialized farmers. iv) In addition to weather and pests, planting area, terrain conditions, operating attitude, and labour shortage also affect the loss. These findings are valuable to understand how the loss occurs and the differences between specialized and part-time farmers, which will help develop targeted interventions to reduce the loss.

The aim of this study is to review criticalliy the rural policy development after the Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas established in 1999. The following points were found. An important feature of Japanese rural policy is the use of the rural community, which has a long history. The purpose of rural policy shifted from the promotion of rural society to the management of local resources. The key to future rural policy is to support the declining rural community and promote endogenous development.