【特集】現場の戸惑い･･･「工事まで30年待ち!?」財政難に揺らぐ農地整備：県政課題の実情を深掘り②「農業」【新潟】スーパーJにいがた5月27日OA

A look at the challenges facing prefectural government, prompted by the gubernatorial election. This second installment focuses on "agriculture," particularly land development. We'll hear from reporter Chiba, who covered the topic. ---What exactly is land development? ■Reporter Takuro Chiba: "Various construction projects are undertaken on farmland, but the main one is expanding the 'farmland' itself. When a single farmer owns scattered rice paddies, and each one is small, it's difficult to use machinery, making farming labor-intensive. By consolidating these paddies and enlarging each one, work can be made more efficient. This is how 'land development' aims to improve productivity." What are the problems with this? ■Reporter Takuro Chiba: "The national and prefectural governments are currently promoting land development, and there's high demand from farmers. However, in Niigata Prefecture, there's actually a situation where 'there's a 30-year waiting list for construction.' We investigated the current situation surrounding land development." --- Harigasone district, Nishikan-ku, Niigata City. Construction work to expand 83.4 hectares of farmland has been ongoing for several years. The total construction cost is approximately 2.64 billion yen. ■Toshiaki Miura, Head of Farmland Development Section, Maki Agricultural Development Department, Niigata Regional Development Bureau "There are about 10 fields of 10 ares each between roads. The work involves leveling (consolidating) them into one field of 1 hectare. This construction area has 5 fields of 1 hectare each, and we are working on a total of about 5 hectares. (Q. So, 50 rice paddies will become 5?) Yes, that's right." This is the Kasagi district in Nishi Ward, Niigata City, where some construction has been completed. You can see that the area per rice paddy has increased significantly. 'Farmland development' is not just about expanding rice paddies. ■Niigata Regional Development Bureau, Maki Agricultural Promotion Department, Toshiaki Miura, Head of Farmland Development Division "This is the irrigation system for the rice paddies. By turning the pipe around, water flows out from the irrigation channel on the other side. (Q. Is it all done manually?) It's time-consuming, as farmers have to come and turn the pipe each time. There's one in each field. (Q. So if there are 50 fields, that's 50 times?) That's right." To replace the old irrigation equipment, construction will also be carried out to bury the water supply pipes underground. ■Niigata Regional Development Bureau, Maki Agricultural Promotion Department, Toshiaki Miura, Head of Farmland Development Division "This is the new facility. As you can see, turning the handle makes it easy to dispense water." The purpose of farmland development is to improve the efficiency of agricultural work. More than 30 years ago, there were approximately 360,000 agricultural workers in the prefecture. As of 2020, that number has fallen to approximately 110,000. It's less than a third of the original number. Unless work efficiency is increased by more than three times, agriculture cannot be sustained. Within the prefecture, the need for agricultural land development is increasing. This was triggered by a national policy introduced eight years ago, which eliminated the burden on farmers for project costs. Applications flooded the prefectural government, which serves as the application window. However, the demand exceeded the prefecture's expectations. As of March 2026, the amount of agricultural land awaiting construction had piled up to approximately 12,000 hectares. The cost burden for agricultural land development projects is 62.5% for the national government, 27.5% for the prefecture, and the remainder for municipalities. Given the prefecture's severe financial situation, it can only develop approximately 400 hectares per year. This means it would take 30 years to complete all the work. This created a situation where new development projects had a "30-year waiting list." Therefore, in September 2024, the prefecture announced the suspension of new applications for agricultural land development. ■Prefectural Agricultural Land Planning Division, Division Chief Yuji Takahashi "(Q. What was the reason for the suspension?) We explored ways to minimize the burden on the prefecture within the system, and we've completely exhausted all possible options. Dividing 12,000 hectares by 400 gives us '30 years.' To be honest, even 30 years is already overwhelming. Adding more new areas and increasing the total by another 12,000 hectares won't make anyone happy. We decided to suspend the project for now, thinking it's better to cut it off, organize things, and connect it to the future. (Q. Was the demand higher than expected?) It was higher than expected." ――――― So, the demand for agricultural land development has far exceeded the prefecture's expectations, and they can't keep up with the demand. ■Reporter Takuro Chi...