The rural landscape is shaped by the three elements: rural village, farmland, and water resources. The renewal of rural landscape is one of the three major facets in the New Agriculture Movement. Through construction of new rural villages, orderly utilization of farmland, and improvement of irrigation system, it is anticipated that the quality of rural life will be improved, and sustainable development of rural villages secured.

1. Agricultural land consolidation and space allocation planning

1) Farmlands of Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Tainan County, and Taitung County were re-designated. The work involved the collection of current use of agricultural land, analysis of future development of agriculture and regional division, and subsequently future planning of integrated development of farmland resources and space designation for each county. This is to ensure proper maintenance and effective use of farmland resources, and will be used as base for future designation of special areas for agricultural development, agricultural business special zones, investment of agricultural resources, or site selection for related construction.

2) For the construction of value-creating special agricultural zones, efforts were taken to bring business development in association with the integrated land utilization plan and management standards for farmland. This is to ensure agricultural resources will be used within the special zones. Through a reorganized management system to reduce production costs, and based on the regional needs, efforts were to create quality production environment and use collective force to improve competitiveness. Based on the plan for systematizing special agricultural zone that was set in 2005, the detailed work plan was charted. It is expected to implement some demonstrative projects in 2007 so that the farmers can voluntarily join the managerial group to have regional agricultural business, which sustains integrated and safe production environment.

2. Creating a new look in rural village

Many tasks were completed in this area of endeavor. They include 16 county-level plans, 114 cases of constructions, incentives granted for 328 cases, environment improvement works for 70 districts with 214 cases, 74 gatherings and 44 demonstrations on rural village development. To build human resources for this endeavor, different levels of training classes were conducted. They include 76 classes at the basic level, 75 classes at the advanced level, 57 classes for the core level, and eight classes for the specialist level. A total of 6,767 persons was trained.

3. Construction of the farmland irrigation and drainage system

1) Irrigation facilities were renewed and basic agricultural production environment improved whenever there were needs. In order to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, the planning, design and construction of the irrigation system were carried out with careful consideration of landscape and environment improvement without sacrificing the irrigation function. The effort was also to display the three-prong functions of production, living and ecology of the irrigation and drainage system. In the past year, more than 300 km of irrigation canal were renewed and improved, 1000 set of irrigation constructions renewed, 403 hectares of agricultural land re-zoned, and agricultural waterway in 2,567 hectares of previously planned agricultural land improved. And in response to the Changhua and Yunlin land-subsidence control plan, the legalized wells within 3 km distance from the rail of Taiwan High Speed Railway that passes through Yulin County were re-organized. Seven existing wells were sealed and eight banned, seven new ones dug, and about 13 km of waterway improved.

2) The pipeline irrigation system with multiple functions of saving water and labor, as well as irrigating and applying fertilizers and pesticides was installed. The pipeline irrigation system for dry-season cropping reached 2,037 hectares, which effectively saved substantial amount of irrigated water. Moreover, the hydrological monitoring system was digitalized and automated in 77 locations. The system, which integrated with the geographic information system, records rainfall, and water table and flow, and serves well in the irrigation management and disaster mitigation warning system. Training workshops for 50 technical staffs were conducted. And the on-site technical advising groups were formed to provide technical assistance to the irrigation demonstration stations. To promote the protection of farmland irrigation environment, 61 hectares of fallowed paddy field were converted to water storage experimental field, which will serve as a base to evaluate its public welfare functions and economic values. The COA has also assisted the Taiwan Joint Irrigation Association (TJIA) to establish a monitoring network for irrigation water quality in order to strengthen the control mechanism for pollution of irrigation water.