What is “Multifunctional Payment Grants”? How to receive subsidies for farmland, waterway, and farm road maintenance projects, etc.

Farmers who are considering mowing farmland slopes, mucking up waterways, and maintaining farm road surfaces may be eligible for grants from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, depending on the conditions.

This section provides a detailed and easy-to-understand summary of the subsidy system called “Multifunctional Payment Grants,” including the conditions for support, how to receive the grants, and examples of use.

Please do not be afraid to take a look at this page.

Table of Contents

What is the Multifunctional Payment Grant?

1-1. Outline of Agricultural Land Maintenance Payment Grants

1-2. Outline of Resource Improvement Payment Grants

Organizations eligible for Multifunctional Payment Grants

Projects eligible for multifunctional payment grants, such as farmland, waterway, and farm road management

3-1. Basic conservation activities for local resources

3-2. Promotion activities for appropriate conservation and management of local resources

3-3. Minor repairs to waterways, farm roads, and other facilities

3-4. Rural Environmental Conservation Activities

3-5. Activities to promote multifunctional activities

3-6. Extending the service life of waterways and other facilities

3-7. Widening and strengthening of the organization

4. eligible agricultural land

5. grant unit price

6. steps to receive the grant

7. examples of use

7-1. Repair of aging waterways on farmland in Aomori Prefecture

8. summary

What is the Multifunctional Payment Grant?

The “Multifunctional Function Payment Grant” is a grant system established to support joint community activities for maintaining and demonstrating the multifunctional capabilities of agriculture and farming villages, and to promote appropriate conservation and management of local resources. In response to rural depopulation and a decrease in the number of farmers, they will support activities that support multifunctional functions and qualitative improvement of local resources (farmland, waterways, farm roads, etc.) that are carried out jointly by the community.

Each eligible project is divided into the following two grants, which differ in terms of eligible organizations, etc.

• Agricultural Land Maintenance Payment Grants
• Resource Consolidation Payment Grants

Outline of Agricultural Land Maintenance Payment Grants

The “Grant for Agricultural Land Maintenance Payment” is part of the “Grant for Multifunctional Payments,” which “supports cooperative activities that support multifunctional functions such as basic conservation activities of local resources. The purpose of this program is to encourage farmland accumulation by supporting the management of waterways and farm roads, etc., which are concentrated in the hands of bearers, in the region.

• Mowing of farmland slopes
• Mud raising of waterways
• Road surface maintenance on farm roads
• Expand and strengthen systems to respond to structural changes in rural areas
• Development of concepts for conservation and management of local resources, etc.

Outline of Resource Improvement Payment Grants

On the other hand, “Resource Improvement Payment Grants” are defined as “support for joint activities to improve the quality of local resources and to extend the service life of facilities.

The following are eligible for support here

• Activities to repair cracks and extend service life of waterways
• Activities to repair and extend the life of depressions in farm roads
• Landscape formation and biotope creation through planting
• Widening and strengthening of the organization

Organizations eligible for multifunctional payment grants

In order to implement activities utilizing the grant, either an “activity organization” or a “wide-area activity organization” must be established. An “activity organization” is defined as follows

1. Organizations composed exclusively of farmers
2. Organizations composed of farmers and others (local residents, organizations, etc.)

(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website)

On the other hand, a “wide-area activity organization” is defined as “an organization based on an agreement among members in a wide-area area, such as a unit of a former municipality, that consists of a community (activity organization), a land improvement district, and related local organizations, according to the actual conditions of the area. The establishment of the organization may receive support ranging from 40,000 yen to 160,000 yen per year.

1. Wide-area activity organization consisting solely of farmers
2. Wide-area organizations consisting of farmers and others (local residents, organizations, etc.)

(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website)

Projects eligible for multifunctional payment grants, such as farmland, waterway, and farm road management

The “Multifunctional Payment Grants” provide support for the implementation of the following projects.

• Basic conservation activities for local resources
• Promotion activities for appropriate conservation and management of local resources
• Minor repairs to facilities
• Rural Environmental Conservation Activities
• Activities to promote multifunctional activities
• Extending the service life of facilities
• Widening and strengthening of the organization

Basic conservation activities for local resources

Support is available for the annual inspection of facilities, formulation of annual activity plans, and implementation of practical activities (mowing of farmland slopes, mucking up of waterways, maintenance of farm road surfaces, etc. based on the plans) for farmland, waterways, farm roads, and other facilities.

Promotion activities for appropriate conservation and management of local resources

Support is available for the formulation of a vision for the future, setting goals for the conservation and management of local resources through discussion and implementation of actions in line with these goals.

(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website)

Note that the promotion activities in “*1” refer to the following.

• Study group by farmers (including farmers with crops and non-farmers with land)
• Establishment and coordination of communication system with absentee village landowners, and necessary surveys for this purpose.
• Opinion exchange, workshops, exchange meetings, etc. with local residents, etc.

In addition, “*2” is a summary of activities and measures and must be formulated during the activity period.

Minor repairs to waterways, farm roads, and other facilities

Support is available for annual functional diagnosis and repair of agricultural land, waterways, and farm roads. In addition to repair work, support includes the following activities

• Planning and functional diagnosis
• Practical Activities (Construction)
• induction course

Rural Environmental Conservation Activities

Support is available for activities to conserve the rural environment, such as ecosystem conservation and landscape formation, which are multifaceted functions of agriculture and farming villages, if a theme is selected and implemented each fiscal year.

This is for the following activities

• planning
• Awareness-raising and dissemination
• Practical Activities

 

Activities to promote multifunctional activities

Support is available for annual public relations activities in addition to any of the following eight activities based on local ingenuity.

• Effective utilization of idle farmland (e.g., securing farmers from within and outside the region)
• Reinforcement of activities to improve the environment around farmland (e.g., installation of facilities to prevent damage by birds and animals)
• Directly managed construction by local residents (e.g., repair of facilities with direct participation of farmers and local residents)
• Strengthening disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities (e.g., developing emergency response systems in the event of a disaster)
• Broad development of rural environmental conservation activities (e.g., shaping the landscape)
• Utilization of relaxation, welfare and educational functions (e.g., strengthening cooperation with medical and welfare facilities, etc.)
• Strengthening rural communities through the transmission of rural culture (e.g., passing on events)
• In addition to the above, activities that prefectures have designated as target activities in their basic policies based on the Implementation Guidelines.

Extending the service life of waterways and other facilities

Support is available for the repair and maintenance of aging agricultural drainage channels around farmland and farm roads to extend the service life of these facilities. We will discuss this at the end of the article, where we will present an actual case study of a grant that has been used.

Widening and strengthening of the organization

If you wish to increase the efficiency of your activities by enlarging your organization or making your organization a non-profit organization, assistance is available.

Agricultural land subject to multifunctional payment grants

To receive a grant, eligible farmland must meet the requirements. The subject is the following two items

1. Agricultural land in agricultural zones
2. Agricultural land deemed necessary by prefectural governors from the viewpoint of the fulfillment of multifunctional roles

Please contact each municipality to confirm the details of (2).

Grant unit price for multifunctional payment grants

The amount of subsidy received through the “Multifunctional Payment Grants” is determined as a unit price per 10a as shown in the table below. (Unit: yen/10a)

(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website)

In addition to the above unit prices, “additional measures” may be taken and the unit price of support may be increased if certain conditions are met.
Since detailed conditions are set, please contact the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) for more information.

Steps to receive multifunctional payment grants

You can receive the “Multifunctional Payment Grant” by following the five steps below. Note that the receipt is not the end of the process; it is necessary to summarize the income and expenditure and submit a report afterwards.

1. Establishment of Organization
2. Business Plan Preparation
3. Submission of Application Documents
4. Implementation of activities and grants
5. Activity records and reports

(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website)

Steps to receive multifunctional payment grants

Finally, we would like to introduce an actual case of repair work on a waterway using the “Multifunctional Payment Grant. If you are considering similar activities, please refer to this page for information on how to utilize the grant.

Repair of aging waterways on farmland in Aomori Prefecture

The grant was used to repair agricultural canals in Aomori Prefecture. The canal, built more than 50 years ago, was deteriorating and required immediate repair work.

(Aging and deteriorated agricultural waterways)

As the roads around the canal were too narrow for heavy machinery to access for concrete placement work, another solution was required, and the “concrete canvas” was adopted through the use of the grant. Concrete Canvas” is a special sheet that can create a concrete surface simply by pouring water on it, making it possible to work on narrow farm roads without the need for heavy machinery.

(Agricultural canal repaired with “Concrete Canvas”)

Aomori Prefecture highly evaluated “Concrete Canvas” due to its ability to solve problems as well as repair work in a short construction period.

For more information or to inquire about Concrete Canvas, please visit the following links
> “Concrete Canvas” by Taiyo Kogyo Co.

summary

In addition to the Multifunctional Payment Grants, several other agriculture-related subsidies exist.
Please see this article for an overview.
> “3 Must-See Subsidy Programs for Farmers │ Summary of Subsidies You Can Receive”

Please contact Taiyo Kogyo Corporation for information on products eligible for grants.
>> TAIYO KOGYO COMPANY, LIMITED│General Inquiries

Please contact the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries regarding the grant program.
> “Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Inquiry Desk