Outlined Analysis

The goal of agricultural production is to maintain balance between production and sales, ensure food supplies, upgrade production quality and seek equilibrium between human activities and ecology. Although in year 2003, the weather was rather suitable for agricultural production without major natural disaster, the dryer weather caused insufficiency in irrigation water; due to which, the area of fallowing rose. Other than a growth recorded for fishery, production of the rest categories in the four major industries, agriculture, forestry, fishery, and husbandry, fell in year 2003. The index of agricultural production over the year went up by 0.15%, compared to year 2002. Affected by an increase in import of agricultural products due to entry into WTO and an increase in production, prices of agricultural products at places of production had more downfall than growth. Trade of agricultural products became active after the trade thresholds were lifted. The total value of import/export grew 9.75% and 2.26% respectively.

I. Agricultural Production Index

　　 The Agricultural Production Index of 2002 was recorded as 104.26 (setting year 2001 as 100), which shows 0.15% of growth as compared to the index of last year (2002). This was mainly brought about by a notable growth in fishery catchments. Analyzing the index by industrial category, the index of the agricultural product category had a downfall by 2.64%. This was mainly caused by the good harvest in 2002, increase in fallowing area due to insufficient supply of irrigation water, and overall decrease of planting area of agricultural products. The forestry product category had a growth of 4.99% due to an increase in sub-product production such as fire wood, tree-fruits, and fungi. Fishery production increased by 7.08% due to increased production in offshore and inshore fishery as well as aquaculture. The index of animal product fell by 2.00% due to decreased production of major products such as hogs, goats, and chickens.

II. Structure of Agricultural Production

　　 The overall production value of agricultural products in 2002 grew by 2.13% at with a total value of NT$ 350.5 billion as compared to the value of last year. In which, the production value of Agricultural Products has the highest weight with a value of NT$ 147.3 billion, taking up 41.15%; however, this value still registered a negative growth by 3.02%. In the structure of production value of agricultural products, fruits sharing the largest portion yielding 37.50% and vegetables second taking up 23.52%. The rest include rice, sharing 19.24%, crops for specific uses, taking up 5.14%, and miscellaneous stable foods and other crops, sharing 5.1 and 9.48% respectively. Compared to the structure of last year, rice went down by 1.84 percentage points and fruits went up by 2.00 percentage points, The Animal Production Value of this year grew by 7.03% as compared to the value of last year, yielding a total value of NT$ 112.6 billion or 31.46%. In the structure of animal production value, hogs took the lead with 51.04% and poultry second with 26.74%. Eggs shared11.05% and other animal products took up 11.15%. Compared to last year, this year has a growth in hog production by 4.26 percentage points. Poultry and eggs increased by 0.43 and 0.64 percentage points respectively, and other animal products fell by 5.34 percentage points. The Fishery Production Value of this year grew by 5.27% as compared to the value of last year, registering a total value of NT$ 97.4 billion or 27.22% of the total agricultural production value. In the structure of fishery production value, offshore fishery took the lead with 48.44% and inland aquaculture second with 28.02%, inshore fishery sharing 12.96%, costal fishery taking up 6.09%, seawater aquaculture sharing 4.46% and a minor share of inland fishery. Compared to last year, this year has a larger growth in inland aquaculture by 1.18 percentage points and a decline in offshore fishery by 0.98 percentage points.

III. Overview of Agricultural Production

　　 Year 2003 had dryer weather and sufficient sunlight; only irrigation water was insufficient; production of most agricultural products fell in this year. Although growing well, the area of fallowing expanded. Production of rice grains fell to 1.65 million tons, registering a negative growth of 8.59% as compared to year 2002. In the category of miscellaneous stable foods, production of feed corn and food corn shrank by more than 10% due to downsizing of planting area. Production of other crops did not have large scale fluctuation. Affected by imports, production of most crops for specific uses followed the trend of decline. Production of tobacco, fruit sugarcane and raw-material sugarcane fell by 10 to 30%. With healthy fruiting, production of fruits in this year has had more growth than decline. In which, production of orange, lychee, Wendan Pomelo, longgan, and plum grew 20 to 40%; however, production of apple shrank by 60%. Brought by a reduction in planting area, production of most vegetables fell in this year. In which, production of bitter gourd , leaf mustard, carrot, watermelon, pea, onion, cantaloupe, cabbage, cayenne peeper, winter melon, water bamboo, cucumber, and radish fell by 20 to 40%. Production of forest woods was 26 thousand square meters, which fell by 16.02% as compared to year 2002. Production of sub-products such as bamboo shoots and tree fruits grew by 5.05% at a volume of 40 thousand tons. The total volume of fishery production this year was recorded at approximately 1.50 million tons with a growth of 6.68%, compared to year 2002. In which, offshore fishery grew by 6.57%, inshore fishery grew by 4.14 %, costal fishery grew by 28.79%, and seawater aquaculture grew by 19.69%. Production of various animal products showed more positive than negative growth. In which, production of hogs fell by 3.86%, production of goats fell by 2.92%, and production of chickens fell by 1.62%.

IV. Food Consumption

　　 The average per person food supply in year 2002 in the Taiwan Area is calculated as the following: grains 89.75Kg (among which rice shares 49.96 Kg and flour 33.95 Kg), potatoes 19.98 Kg, sugar and honey (mainly sugar) 23.34 Kg, nuts and oilseeds 27.52 Kg, vegetables 121.89 Kg, fruits 146.56 Kg, meats 77.23 Kg, eggs 18.49 Kg, aqua products 36.08 Kg, dairy products 55.88 Kg, and fats 25.04 Kg. Compared to year 2001, other than sugar and honey, potatoes, and eggs, supplies of the rest of the 8 food groups grew in this year. In which, supply of nuts and oilseeds and supply of vegetables and fruits went up by as much as 10% due to increase in import and increased domestic production respectively. Compared to the figures taken ten years ago (1991), supply of aqua products, grains, sugar and honey, potatoes, and nuts and oilseeds fell, but supply of the eggs, vegetables, meats, fruits, dairy products, and fats went up. Among which, supply of eggs went up by as high as 34.74%.

　　 The average per person per day nutrition intake in year 2002 in the Taiwan Area is calculated based on the level of each category of foods supplied – they are energy 2069 Kcal, protein 95.29g (including vegetable protein 47.27 g and animal protein 40.02g), and fats 124.53g. Compared to the data recorded in 2002, intake of calories, protein, and fats increased by 2.27%, 3.08% and 6.29% respectively. Compared to the data taken ten years ago, other than calorie intake (which went down by 0.26%), intake of protein, and fats increased by 1.31 and 8.08% respectively.

　　 PFC ratio refers to the percentage composition of Protein (P), Fat (F) and Carbohydrate (C). This ratio can be used to observe the dietary structure of residents in the country. The ideal PFC ratio is approximately 12:30:58. Calculated based on the main nutritional intake in the Taiwan area in 2002, the PFC ratio is 13:39:48. This ratio indicates that diet of residents in the country has been changing over the years and is inclining to over-intake of fats and insufficient intake of carbohydrates.

V. Prices of Agricultural Products

　　 Prices of agricultural products at place of production in 2002 went down more and up. In which, encounter no major natural disasters or monsoon, production of domestic fruits was on a positive term. Adding the factor of the nation’s entry into WTO, cheaper and more choices of imported fruits replaced part of the domestic fruits, causing prices of lychee, papaya, mandarin orange, and banana to fall by 20 to 30%. Due to bad production in mid-year, prices of bamboo shoots, radish, and leaf mustard fell by nearly 20%. Celery cabbage and spinach fell by 10%. Onion, on the other hand, went up by 86% due to a global reduction in production volume. Prices of bitter gourd and garlic went up by 20 to 30%. Prices of non-necessity items, flowers, fluctuate between positive and negative terms. Due to open market for import and sufficient domestic supply, prices of Japonica Paddy lingered at low market around NT$ 16 to 17/Kg since beginning of the year . After harvest of the second season, the price at place of production once fell to as low as NT$ 15.06/Kg. Although after the government activated the excess-food buyout mechanism, the price returned, the yearly average price was still lower than that of year 2002. Due to a contraction in production of hogs, meat trading market price of hogs hiked by 22%. Seriously affected by SARS and shrinkage in distribution to the fast-food market, price of meat chickens slipped by 11%. Among fishery products, prices of catchments fishes such as tuna, white pomfret, and swordfish at place of production went up 10 to 20%; prices of cultured aqua products such as clam, oyster, and milkfish went down approximately 10%.

VI. Trading of Agricultural Products

　　 After the nation entered WTO, import/export of agricultural products continued to incline. Based on custom data, the total import/export value of 2003 registered a growth of US$ 0.79 billion or 7.74% at a total value of US$ 110.2 billion as compared to the value of 2002. The total import/export value of agricultural products was recorded at US$ 7.78 billion with a growth of US$ 0.7 billion or 9.92% as compared to 2002. This was mainly brought about by a notable expansion in import volume of rice, coconut, chicken meet, pork belly and internals, oriental pear, garlic, and longgan. The total export value of agricultural products was recorded as US$ 3.24 billion, registering a growth of US$ 0.09 billion or 2.83% compared to year 2002. This was mainly brought about by active export of tuna, eel, and mackerel. Domestically produced regional feature products such as banana, mango, and lychee had growths in export for nearly 40%. Export of tea also saw notable growth. Trade deficit expanded by 15.60% at a total value of US$ 4.54 billion as compared to 2002.

VII. Farming Households and Farming Population

　　 Based on the Year 2001 Taiwan Area Farming Household Survey conducted by the Central Region Office of Council of Agriculture, there were a total of 724,949 farming households in year 2002 in the Taiwan Area, which shared 10.50% of the total households in the Taiwan Area. There was approximately 3.67 million of population in the farming households, which took up 16.32% of the total population. In year 2002, an average of 696 thousand of farming population was registered, which indicated a negative growth by 13 thousand or 1.83%, compared to the figure of 2002.

VIII. Income of Farming Households

　　 According to the Taiwan Area Family Income/Expenditure Survey conducted by Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics, income of farming households in year 2002 fell by 2.33% as compared to year 2000. Each farming household earned an average income of NT$ 861 thousand, which was 75.60% of non-farming households. In which, income from farming grew by NT$ 13,000 or 8.11% compared to 2001, which averaged at NT$ 176 thousand sharing 20.49%, and income from sources other than farming was averaged at NT$ 684 thousand, taking up 79.51%. For income per person, each person in farming household earned an average of NT$ 217 thousand, which denoted a decrease of 3.31% as compared to the figure of year 2001.