2. Basic Terminology

Abandoned cultivated land	Abandoned cultivated land represents a section in the statistical survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. In the Census of Agriculture and Forestry, it is defined as land that was cultivated in the past but has not been farmed for more than a year and will not be farmed for the next several years. Land that has not been farmed for more than a year but may be farmed in the next several years is called unplanted land and also includes cultivated land under management.
Agricultural production legal person	This is a legal person that can acquire rights to farmlands under the Agricultural Land Act and satisfy all the following requirements: (1) Requirements for incorporation (a stock corporation (not a publicly traded company), agricultural producer's cooperative corporation, a partnership, a joint-stock company or a limited liability company) (2) Requirements for business operations (main business is farming), (3) Requirements for members of the corporation (farming people account for at least three quarters of voting rights in principle), (4) Requirements for executives (the majority of executives are engaged in farming full time.
ASEAN	ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN was established in the Thai capital of Bangkok in 1963 for cooperation in addressing the promotion of economic growth, and social and cultural development, the achievement of political and economic stability and other challenges in Southeast Asia. Upon its establishment, it consisted of five countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei acceded to ASEAN in 1997, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999. ASEAN now thus comprises 10 countries. Prompted by the 1997 Asian currency crisis, Japan, China, South Korea and ASEAN have formed the ASEAN+3 framework for cooperation in East Asia.
Biomass	Biomass means organic resources of flora and fauna origin, excluding fossil resources. Biomass is made by organisms that create organic matter from inorganic water and $ CO_{2} $ through photosynthesis using solar energy falling on the earth. This type of resources is renewable throughout its life cycle as long as there are organisms and solar energy.
Calorie supply/Calorie intake	Calorie supply refers to the total amount of calories from food that is supplied to the public, and calorie intake refers to the total amount of calories actually consumed by the public. As a rule, the value for calorie supply is taken from the Food Balance Sheet issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, while the value for calorie intake is taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey issued by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Although it is necessary to keep in mind that calculations for both values are entirely different, since the calorie supply value includes leftovers and food destroyed in the distribution stage, the difference between this value and calorie intake can be used as a measure of the amount of food that has been destroyed or unconsumed.
Community based farm cooperatives	These farm cooperatives consist of farming households in certain regions that have developed a relationship through the local community or other geographical bases. In these cooperatives, farming households conduct agricultural production as a collaborative enterprise. Adopting the three basic tenets of (1) aggregation of diverted paddy fields, (2) communal use of communally purchased equipment and (3) communalization of the entire farming process from production to marketing with farming leaders playing a central role. These cooperatives take different forms and approaches depending on their geographical location.
Direct seeding	Direct seeding, where rice seeds are directly scattered into paddies, can skip seedling-raising and transplanting steps required for the conventional practices including transplanting. There are various direct seeding methods, which are roughly divided into two groups - flooded direct seeding where seeds are scattered into flooded paddies after plowing and soil pudding, and dry direct seeding where seeds are scattered into non-flooded paddies.
Eco-farmer	Based on Article 4-1 of the Act for Promoting the Introduction of Sustainable Agricultural Production Practices, prefectural governors certify eligible farmers as so-called eco-farmers. As persons expected to become popular among producers and consumers, a name of eco-farmers was selected in August 2000 from those who filed applications with a national conference for promoting environmentally friendly agriculture.