Agriculture is inextricably intertwined with the daily lives of all citizens, not just rural citizens. In the past, the agricultural sector played a critical role in national economic development. Today, though its share of GDP has declined, “agriculture” is in fact more complex and diverse than ever before, and today this term embraces all aspects of the non-urban economy, land planning, and rural culture and ways of life. Our role at the Council of Agriculture (COA) reflects this new complexity.

For example, in the face of global climate change and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather, growing attention has been given to problems like resource conservation and food security. We have also been devoting increasing thought and effort to issues of food safety for consumers, ecological and environmental conservation, maximization of the multifunctional values of the environment, preservation and enhancement of rural culture and scenery, and prevention of natural disasters and destruction of the land.

Meanwhile, as regional integration and economic liberalization advance throughout the world economy, agriculture must adapt as well. In so doing, we must take into account multiple considerations including production efficiency, environmental friendliness, and the preservation and continuity of rural culture. We must ensure that the crises sparked by the tide of economic liberalization are transformed into opportunities for rethinking old models and
moving forward with new ones. This is our biggest challenge!

The guiding principles for policy at the COA are “healthfulness, efficiency, sustainability.”Our goals include: developing high-quality agriculture; ensuring that agriculture develops in a responsible way that takes into account the health of consumers and environmental sustainability; encouraging the advance of agricultural science and technology, while building on R&D to create competitive advantages for local agriculture; paving the way into foreign markets for exports of agro-products from Taiwan; promoting interconnections between the rural way of life and the increasingly popular LOHAS concept (“lifestyles of health and sustainability”); reshaping, diversifying, and adding value to the rural economy; and raising the quality of, and the effectiveness of branding for, rural goods and services. We are also carrying on with the “Small Landlords, Big Tenants” program; rural regeneration; and the development of the newly-founded Farmers Academy, an institution designed to enhance the capabilities of farmers and other rural citizens.

At the strategic level, we must prepare medium-term and long-term measures that will allow agriculture to adapt to climate change, and we must have policies in p lace to ensure food security. We are also currently drafting a “Basic Law of Agriculture” which will raise the public profile of the diverse functions of “agriculture” in the broadest sense of that term, and will show respect for the contributions made by rural citizens to the pluralized values of our society. All of these strategic projects will have a profound long-term impact.

In the paragraphs that follow, we look at some of the COA’s most important activities and achievements over the past year, 2011.

Ensuring food security and building a borderless food security network

In 2010 Taiwan’s food self-sufficiency rate (calculated by calories) was 31.7%. However, our self-sufficiency rate remained over 80% for all staple foods including rice, vegetables, fruit, meat, and seafood. To ensure even greater food security, in May of 2011 the COA convened a cross-ministerial conference on this issue, and the conference set a target of 40% overall food self-sufficiency by 2020; this target will serve as a guiding principle for long-term policies governing the use of land and water resources and the production structure in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, we continued to promote the creation of an APEC food emergency response mechanism and the construction of an Asia-Pacific regional food security network.

Giving farmers a better deal on rice purchased for public stocks

The price for the purchase of rice by the state in the first harvest of 2011 was increased by NT$3 per kilo. During the second harvest of 2011, we began to offer further subsidies of NT$2 per kilo for the costs of drying and storing rice to be purchased by the state, and we furthermore allowed farmers to deliver wet paddy, the first time this had been done in 37 years.

Promoting “local production, local consumption”

We have been conducting a public information campaign encouraging citizens to enjoy fresh local agro- products and to avoid excessive dependence on imported foods that require long-distance transport. This policy will help reduce carbon emissions and save energy, while reinvigorating the rural economy and helping maintain ecological balance.

Raising exports of agro-products, implementing a global strategy

In 2011 the value of exports of agro-products was US$4.67 billion, an increase of 16% over 2010. Looking specifically at the orchid industry, the ROC is the only country in the world that can market orchids-in-growth-media to the US, New Zealand, and Australia. In 2011, exports of Phalaenopsis orchids were worth US$98.47 million, an increase of 19% over 2010, showing the great competitiveness of Taiwan’s orchid industry.

Exploiting new cross-strait commercial opportunities with ECFA and direct shipping

In recent years the government has made major policy breakthroughs vis-a-vis mainland China. These include the opening up of direct flights and shipping, the winning of the right to ship live grouper direct to 15 ports in the mainland, and the signing of numerous agreements—among which are the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) as well as accords on (a) quarantine and inspection of agro-products, (b) matters related to fishing-boat crews, and (c) protection of intellectual property rights. These policy achievements have led to new commercial opportunities to exploit Taiwan’s comparative economic and geographic advantages and to increase exports of agro-products. In 2011, exports to mainland China of items in the “early harvest list” of ECFA totaled US$126 million, 1.3 times the figure for 2010. In particular, exports of live grouper to the mainland (including Hong Kong) reached a value of NT$3.58 billion (well over US$100 million), an increase of 143% over 2010.

Promoting rural regeneration, enhancing the well-being of rural residents

The Rural Regeneration Act came into effect in 2010. In line with the goals of that Act, the COA has been training human resources at the local level to draft and implement rural regeneration plans. As of the end of 2011, training had been provided to 87,431 course attendees in 1920 rural communities, and 115 such communities had proposed rural regeneration projects. It was also decided in 2011 that beginning 2012, the living allowance for elderly farmers would be increased to NT$7000 per month, and we will build a mechanism under which in the future the amount will be systematically re-evaluated and adjusted once every four years, taking into account changes in the consumer price index. Finally, in November of 2011, after reassessing the nature and costs of production of various agro-products, we adjusted the categorization rules for eligibility for disaster relief and increased disaster-recovery subsidies.

Encouraging larger-scale farms, younger farmers

Two of our goals are to enlarge the scale of farm operations and to help and encourage young people to get into agriculture. In pursuit of the former, in 2009 we launched the Small Landlords, Big Tenants program, and as of the end of 2011, tenant farmers working under this program were cultivating a total of 8433 hectares with an average of 8.4 hectares per household, more than seven times the national average size for farms (1.1 hectares). As for the latter goal, in order to recruit a high-quality successor generation into agriculture, we have established the Farmers Academy offering systematic courses in conjunction with practical internships.

Looking back at the past is like pressing the shutter on a still camera: at any given moment you can see only the outcome of what has been going on up to that point. But, to switch metaphors, each piece of fruit represents enormous effort invested in cultivation and irrigation, and though some fruit may not yet be ripe, the trees are still thriving. So it is with many of the COA’s areas of endeavor.

The agreements signed with the US, the European Union, Japan, and Australia on mutual acceptance of applications for priority in plant variety rights, as well as the agreement signed with mainland China on protection of intellectual property rights, are the products of the deliberate construction of a conducive atmosphere and of pro- active negotiating strategies. Though there is still much to be done in the area of food safety, our multi-track strategy based on farmers’ management capabilities and market-oriented guidance, a strategy that takes into account the interests of both consumers and farmers, has already yielded impressive results on a broad front. The combination of the Small Landlords, Big Tenants program with the policy of bringing fallow land back under cultivation— programs which have moved from trial implementation to creation of integrated systems to full-scale implementation—is turning a whole group of young “farmers” into “managers” and “entrepreneurs.” And after more than 1000 information seminars, we have now gained widespread support for the rural regeneration program, and we look at the N$150 billion budget for this program not as a “golden goose,” but as a solemn trust.

Taiwan’s comparative advantage in agriculture lies in its human resources and technology. We must devote thought to how to use this advantage to discover new international commercial opportunities and markets and create innovations that will drive continued agricultural development. There are so many tasks to be accomplished: exporting of agro-technology, internationalization of the recreational farm industry, exploitation of information technologies, employment of green energy…. We must, by bringing together our land, technology, and human resources, create an environment for high-quality agriculture. We must attract more young people into farming, and link the agricultural value chain with other economic activities, to create an agricultural sector that is youthful and vigorous, and has high competitiveness, while at the same time contributes to individual “lifestyles of health and sustainability.” These tasks are essential to ensuring the future economic security and well-being of our rural citizens.

In the coming year, we will aim to be more effective and meticulous in the implementation of all agricultural policies, as we lead the agricultural sector of Taiwan toward greater innovation and internationalization, and restore to agriculture the glory that is its rightful due.

Bao-ji Chen, Ph.D.
Minister Council of Agriculture November 2012