noun
tenant farmer's rent
Refers specifically to the rent paid by a tenant farmer to the landowner, typically in cash or kind, under a sharecropping or lease arrangement. Common in historical and agricultural contexts.
戦前、多くの農民は地主に小作料を払っていた。
Before the war, many farmers paid rent to the landlord.
小作料の支払いが遅れると、土地を取り
If the tenant rent payment was late, the land could be taken back.
地代 is a broader term for land rent, not limited to agricultural tenancy.
Compound of 小作 (kosaku, 'tenant farming') and 料 (ryō, 'fee' or 'charge').