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Agriculture in Taiwan is one the main industry in Taiwan. It contributes to the food security, rural development and conservation of Taiwan.
History
Prehistory
Agriculture has been an important sector of Taiwanese life since ages ago. From archaeological sites in Changbin Township, Taitung County, since Paleolithic Age around 30,000-50,000 years ago, people hunted, fished and gathered. In Neolithic Age around 5,000-2,000 year ago, then only people began to live their sedentary lifestyle where they grew rice and other corps and domesticated animals. In Iron Age around 2,000 years ago, people in the northern coast of Taiwan began to make iron tools and food production increased significantly. In the 17th century, people from Mainland China began to migrate to Taiwan where they fished, hunted and grew crops. Most of them settled in Tainan.
Dutch Formosa
During the Dutch Formosa in the early 17th century, the Dutch promoted the production of sugarcane and rice. At that time, 119 km of Taiwan land was cultivated which the land belonged to Dutch East India Company. The Dutch exported Taiwan's agricultural products and imported peas, tomatoes, wax apples and mangoes from Southeast Asia and United States to Taiwan.
Ming Dynasty
During the rule of Koxinga in the Kingdom of Tungning in the late 17th century, people immigrated from Mainland China to Taiwan increased to 200,000 people. This resulted in the increase of the cultivated land to 292 km. Koxinga established land tenure system and taught people to build reservoirs for irrigation. Rice was the main produce at that time. The mainland Chinese people also brought 43 kinds of vegetable from South China, such as leeks, garlic and Chinese cabbage.
Qing Dynasty
During the Qing Dynasty, immigration from Mainland China to Taiwan increased because of wars and famines in the mainland. People began to build canals for irrigation. At this time, the cultivated land in Taiwan increased to 3,506 km by 1895.
Empire of Japan
During the Empire of Japan, the Japanese greatly improved the agriculture sectors in Taiwan. They built concrete dams, reservoirs and aqueducts which forms an extensive irrigation system. Arable land for rice and sugarcane productions increased by more than 74% and 30% respectively. They also established farmers' associations. Agriculture sector dominated the economy of Taiwan at that time.
Republic of China
After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the government revitalized the agricultural sector first to recover from the damage caused by World War II which eventually it was fully recovered in 1953. The government extended agricultural facilities and introduced the land reform program under the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction.
In the late 1950s, Taiwan underwent fast high-speed economic growth and industrialization. In 1963, industrial sectors output value exceeded agricultural sectors output value. Also in the 1960s, the government shifted their priority to the development of export-oriented economic policy which focused on labor-intensive industries, such as textiles, convenience food and consumer electronics which eventually made Taiwan part of the Four Asian Tigers, along with British Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. However, this caused pressure to the agricultural sector where more and more people move out from rural areas and labor costs increased.
In the 1970s, the role of agriculture shifted from main economy to supporting economy. The government that time issued policies for farmers to grow organic farming. In the 1980s, many farmlands were left idle due to the emigration of people from rural to urban areas and that Taiwan has began opening up itself to staple food imports. On 1 January 2002, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. This accession caused further damage to the agricultural sector in Taiwan.
Recently, the government has introduced new policy to reactivate all of the idle lands left before to ensure food security, food self-sufficiency and to revitalize the agriculture sectors. Policies to develop the sector to be more competitive, modern and green were also introduced.
Government
Agriculture-related affairs in Taiwan is handled by Council of Agriculture. Taiwan houses the headquarter of World Vegetable Center. Taiwan is also the member of world organizations related to agriculture, such as Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and World Trade Organization.
Products
There are four main agricultural products in Taiwan, which are plant crops (46.64%), livestock (31.06%), fishery (22.2%) and forest (0.08%).
Economy
Agriculture sector employs around 540,000 people in Taiwan, about 5% of the total population. It contributes around 1.8% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Combined with agriculture-related tourism sector, it contributes to 11% of Taiwan's GDP. Taiwan exports around US$5 billion worth of agricultural products annually to Canada, Mainland China, Japan, Middle East Singapore and United States.
Organizations
There are government-assisted farmer organizations around Taiwan which gives general assistance to farmers, such as supply, distribution, financial services etc. Farmer organizations in Taiwan consists of 302 farmers' associations, 40 fishermen's associations and 17 irrigation associations.
Research centers
- Kinmen Fisheries Research Institute
- Taiwan Livestock Research Institute
- Taiwan Sugar Research Institute
Tourism
Over the past few years, agriculture-related tourism has become more and more popular in Taiwan. The government has built recreational area around farms and fishing villages by integrating the produce, nature and festivals. There are more than 70 recreation farming zones have been established and there are almost 300 recreational farms have been licensed. Food-related museums are also plenty in Taiwan.
Tourist objects
See also
References
- http://eng.coa.gov.tw/files/web_articles_files/2502181/14670.pdf
- http://www.nmns.edu.tw/nmns_eng/04exhibit/permanent/permanent/Agricultural_Ecology/taiwan-1.htm
