Japan: Projects to lease abandoned farmland in west Japan urban areas proving popular

Shinichi Ishida, an employee of Seed Town Management, looks after community farmland that the company leases to local residents in Naka Ward, in the Osaka Prefecture city of Sakai. (Mainichi/Yuta Kumamoto)

The firm leases 10- to 30-square-meter lots for 500 to 1,500 yen a month after building sheds for farming equipment and water-supply systems.

(Mainichi Japan)
Kan 19, 2020

Excerpt:

OSAKA — As Japan’s farming population declines rapidly, projects to lease abandoned farmland in urban areas are enjoying high popularity in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka, providing city dwellers opportunities to enjoy farming experiences while allowing plot owners to have their property revived.

Shinichi Ishida, 45, an employee of Osaka-based Seed Town Management which operates such a project, said, “I hope community farmland leased to citizens will play a key role in putting the brakes on the decline in cultivated areas.”

The area of farmland abandoned by aging owners is increasing. According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, more than 400,000 hectares of farmland have been abandoned across the country.

Seed Town Management has borrowed abandoned plots at eight locations in the Osaka Prefecture cities of Sakai and Osakasayama, totaling roughly 12,000 square meters and leases the land to at least 300 people. A company official says, “Many landowners are glad to see their plots being cultivated again.”

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