Page 182 - Changing Living Spaces

Noriko Yuzawa

million—yen
30
Purchased fertilizer
25
Self-sufficient
20
fertilizer
15

10

5

0
1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921
Figure 3 Trends in Fertilizer Consumption in Aichi Prefecture (Amount of
Money)
Source Aichi Prefecture Industry Department (1923, 43–6).

According to the Station, population growth and improvements in liv-
ing standards increased the demand for vegetables. In addition, a com-
plete transportation system made it possible to transport vegetables out
of the prefecture. As a result, vegetable cultivation developed rapidly
and the production value reached high amounts; it is now the only culti-
vation area in Japan (Aichi Prefectural Agricultural Experiment Station
1919).
Looking at the structure of fertilizer consumption in Aichi in 1913,
purchased fertilizer accounted for 13.4 percent of total consumption
and self-sufficient fertilizer accounted for 86.6 percent. The proportion
of self-sufficient fertilizer was significantly high, and human waste as
self-sufficient fertilizer accounted for the highest proportion of total
consumption, 38.4 percent. On the other hand, purchased fertilizer ac-
counted for 67.7 percent of the total amount by value, which was signif-
icantly higher than the 32.3 percent of self-sufficient fertilizer. In other
words, at that time, fertilizer consumption in Aichi Prefecture depend-
ed on a large amount of self-sufficient fertilizer, which in some cases was
used alongside expensive purchased fertilizer.

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