by Jenny Broome, SAREP, Miguel Altieri, UC Berkeley, and Hidaka Kazumasa, Ehime University, Japan

Scientists from the University of California, the University of Minnesota, and several nonprofit organizations together with more than 30 Japanese professors, researchers, students and farmers participated in a Japan/U.S. agroecology workshop at Ehime University, Hojo City, Ehime, Japan in March 1998.

Japanese and American agriculture differ considerably, in terms of scale of operation, farming methods, the natural environment, history and culture. The most obvious difference is that of scale. Japanese farms are small-scale yet farmed intensively, while U.S. agriculture is large-scale and intensive. Both regions, however, share some common challenges to their agricultural systems such as a decrease in the number of people working in agriculture and the environmental and human health impacts associated with their intensive agricultural production methods. In addition, due to the internationalization of the world economy there are very real concerns about competition in agricultural products that may negatively impact the viability of the small farm sector in both countries. In the wake of the “orange wars” of the past decade when there was concern in Japan over the importation of less expensive California oranges, relations between the two regions are growing increasingly strained over the possibility of a “rice war,” related to the cheaper price of imported California rice. Additionally, as we enter the 21st century, there is growing concern in both regions about further population increase, food shortages, and the impacts of the extraordinary weather that appears to be accompanying global warming.

The Ehime University workshop initiated a critical dialogue to deepen understanding about how the agriculture of the two regions, and the agriculture, farmers and other people of the world, can continue to coexist. Through comparative analysis of the agricultural ecosystems of the two representative regions of California and Ehime, participants addressed the questions that must be faced in the 21st century if agriculture is to be sustainable in the long-term. These factors include social and cultural dimensions, the economic challenges of agricultural production in rural communities, as well as environmental problems associated with intensive agriculture.

Topics addressed during the workshop ranged from the common challenges to long-term sustainability of farming in each country, exciting new approaches to address these issues, new partnerships for technical information development and exchange between researchers and farmers, the impact of globalization on agriculture in each region, and the role of education in supporting sustainable agriculture in each country.

Specific topics included:

• Increasing agroecosystem biodiversity as a critical component of integrated farming systems;
• Economic liberalization and globalization and its impacts on agricultural sustainability;
• Agroecological comparisons of conventional and organic farming systems (citrus, vegetables and rice);
• Agricultural chemical reduction in Japanese vegetable cultivation;
• Case study of California broccoli production;
• Chemical-free cultivation with recycled paper mulch in rice;
• Pesticide use reduction by small farmers in Japan using the educational insect observation plate ‘mushi-mi-ban’;
• Farmers’ requests for collaborative research with universities;
• Biologically integrated farming systems in California wine grapes, almonds, walnuts and vegetable/cotton production systems;
• Japanese village society that supports agriculture and the natural environment;
• Community Supported Agriculture in California; and
• The Japanese certification system for organic food.

The workshop also included a visit to an experimental forest project on slash-and-burn agriculture near Ehime as well as a visit to the rice paddy of the world-renowned Japanese writer and promoter of sustainable agriculture Masanobu Fukuoka. He is the author of The One Straw Revolution, which shows the critical role of locally based agroecological knowledge in developing sustainable farming systems. In addition, the group toured a large-scale (for Japanese standards) organic farming operation, the J-Wing Farm in Shigenobu Town.

The exchange was made possible with financial assistance from the Japan Foundation. The U.S. delegation leader was Miguel A. Altieri, associate professor of agroecology, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley. The Japan delegation leader was Hidaka Kazumasa, associate professor, College Research Farm (insect ecology/agroecology), College of Agriculture, Ehime University.

U.S. participants included David A. Andow, associate professor, Department of Entomology (insect ecology), University of Minnesota; Stephen R. Gliessman, professor, Department of Environmental Studies (agroecology), University of California, Santa Cruz; Joji Muramoto, research scientist, UC Santa Cruz, Soil and Fertilizer Science (agroecology); Patrick Madden, former executive director, World Sustainable Agriculture Association (agroecology/agricultural policy); Peter M. Rosiest, executive director, Institute for Food Development and Policy (agroecology); Janet (Jenny) C. Broome, research associate, UC SAREP (agroecology/plant pathology); Clara I., graduate student, Department of Entomology, UC Davis (agroecology/biological control); and Keiko Okano, graduate student, UC Berkeley (agroecology/entomology).