Agriculture is the foundation of the nation. In early days it was the core of the economy and determined the quality of life of the vast majority of the population. Later, its people, land, and water provided the bases for economic growth into the industrial era. However, as its share of the economy has shrunk over time, most people's live have become detached from the rural world, and their thinking about agriculture, if they think about it at all, is limited to its traditional role in the economy.

But there is much more to agriculture than that. As citizens have become wealthier, they have come to demand a higher quality of life and higher levels of food safety. In an era when the frequency and severity of weather events has increased with climate change, and the global population has exploded, resource conservation and food security are issues of global concern. There has also been increasing attention paid to stabilization and diversification of sources of value in the rural economy. And agriculture is facing many new challenges from global trends toward regionalization and trade liberalization.

To deal with all these issues, we must move toward altering the structure of the agricultural sector and its related industries and raising operational efficiency. Given the special local features of our agricultural industrial structure, scale of operations, and labor force, we must adopt unique technical and managerial innovations, change the production system and products, and revitalize the rural labor force and rural communities. We must adopt a long-term macro point of view in our planning, while, at the level of practice, we must invest in foundational areas, and we will surely see results over time.

The government has adopted "health, efficiency, and sustainability" as the core guiding principles of agricultural policy. Based on these, in May of 2009 we came out with the "Quality Agriculture Development Program" (QADP), which revolves around the axes of healthiness of agricultural products, premium quality, and LOHAS ("lifestyles of health and simplicity") concepts. We are improving measures to oversee the safety of agro-products, researching internationally cutting-edge agro-technology, promoting rural tourism, and developing new markets for value-added rural products.

In 2009, the devastating impact of Typhoon Morakot turned restoration and recovery into the COA’s top priority. In 2010, however, we could advance along a broad front. The production value of QADP products reached NT$107 billion, an increase of 10.2% over 2009. The orchid and grouper industries made remarkable comebacks, with export values increasing by 32% and 78% respectively over 2009. We had 4034 hectares of land planted with organic crops in 2010, an increase of 1678 hectares over 2008, the year before the QADP was launched, equivalent to 70% of all the gains made in 13 years of promoting organic farming up to then. Also, four wines or liqueurs made under the “Farm Wineries” program won international awards, showing that techniques and quality in this area have reached world standards. Finally, more than 140,000 international visitors partook of rural tourism, doubling the figure for 2009. Everywhere are signs that agriculture has recovered from the blow of Typhoon Morakot, no mean feat indeed.

Moreover, there are new opportunities for the export of agricultural goods to mainland China as a result of the initiation of direct flights and shipping and the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA): agricultural exports rose 45.7% in value over 2009. And to protect intellectual property rights over superior new plant varieties developed in Taiwan, Taiwan signed a new agreement on IPR protection with mainland China in June of 2010, while also winning the right to mutually apply for primacy in new varieties from the EU (27 countries), the US, Japan, and Australia. Finally, the CAS label identifying premium agroproducts became registered for use in mainland China as of April 2011, and the COA will continue to lead the way toward the goals of market segregation and production efficiency.

As agriculture is a biological industry, highly vulnerable to changes in climate and environment, the government must always be prepared in advance with plans to cope with such changes. That is why a conference on how agriculture can respond to climate change was held in June of 2010, reaching a consensus on “low risk, low carbon, new commercial opportunities,” as well as adopting seven major policies and 208 specific conclusions, which can serve as an action plan for the future. In August, meanwhile, the APEC Food Security Forum created the foundations for a cooperative mechanism for regional food security. The COA has carried on with the drafting of a “Local Production, Local Consumption” action plan, and called an inter-ministerial food security meeting, aiming to construct a national-level food security strategy.

In August of 2010, the Rural Regeneration Act was promulgated and came into effect. This law opened a new page in rural development, focusing on the quality of people's lives as the core value. By the end of the year, 1777 communities—or one-fourth of rural communities—had received basic training. The "Small Landlords, Large Tenants" program, meanwhile, is aimed at increasing farming scale (large-tenant farms average eight hectares) and rejuvenation (the average age of tenants is only 42), and when combined with other policies such as bringing fallow land back into use, organic farming, and import substitution, we expect there will be a multiplier effect. In addition, the Agriculture Bank of Taiwan (ABT) has integrated the operations and channels of the Credit Departments of Farmers' and Fishermen's Associations (F/FAs) into a complete two-level financial services system. The ABT represents 301 Credit Departments of F/FAs, with 1,154 operating centers, in negotiating commercial cooperation, integrating these “country-store” credit departments into a giant chain store. As of the end of 2010, the rate of non-performing loans at the Credit Departments of F/FAs was 3.15%, a 15-year low.

Also in 2010, the COA proceeded with preliminary planning for a number of actions that are vital to the future. These include the creation of the farmer's academy and institutes for agro-technology research and agricultural policy research. The goals of these institutions will be to systematically train skilled people for agriculture, broaden agro-technology R&D and its adoption and use, and deepen the analysis of agricultural policies home and abroad and assist in their formulation in Taiwan. In January of 2011, in an effort to build a consensus on medium- to long-term policy among all interested players, we held a national conference on agriculture and rural land. The conclusions reached there will serve as the foundation for the drafting of a Basic Law on Agriculture, be valuable references in system-building and regulation, and allow us to advance various programs with greater certainty. These are all “foundational-level” tasks whose impact on long-term development will be profound and far-reaching.

The long-term goals of agriculture policy are to ensure food safety, protect the natural environment, preserve rural culture, secure the nation's land against both natural disasters and damage caused by man, diversify sources of value, promote premium-quality products that will be highly competitive, add to the well-being of the rural population, and ensure sustainable agricultural development. However, though everyone will enjoy the fruits of the diversification of sources of value in agriculture, the market mechanism alone cannot be relied on to reward those who should be rewarded. Therefore there is a consensus among all citizens to support agriculture, because without agriculture, the diversified values it provides will disappear. In other words, "agriculture" in the future will not be just a matter for the government and the operators of farms and fisheries, but something that all people will participate in and enjoy. Since those who manage agriculture have the burden of ensuring environmental sustainability and providing safe and secure supplies of agroproducts, we call on all citizens to support local agricultural development, and work together to conserve the nation's land and water and protect our ecology and environment.

Agricultural policy evolves over time to meet changing circumstances. From the search for quantity, to the search for quality, to today’s search for sustainability, there are many threads to the complete tapestry. I have taken this opportunity presented by the publication of the COA Annual Report to record for posterity the COA’s basic concepts for long-term policy, and the foundational-level goals we are striving to accomplish. I hope that this annual report can help citizens better understand agriculture, for we count on them for even more support, encouragement, and advice!

Chen Wu-hsiung, Minister, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, ROC

December 2011