Land reform in the Republic of China is based on Dr. Sun Yat-sen's
doctrine of "land to the tiller".
It has been carried out gradually and peacefully to ensure that
land reform and regulations are feasible, efficient, reasonable
and fair, thus accomplishing the goal of "of the tiller,
and by the tiller." The outstanding results achieved have
made Taiwan a model for land reform in Southeast Asia. There
have been three stages:
Land rentals were reduced from 50% to 37.5% in 1949. Contracts signed covered a land area of 256,557 hectares and benefited 296,043 farming families.
A total of 139,058 hectares of land has been sold to 286,563 farming families since 1951.
Beginning in 1953, this program was designed to enable tenant
farmers to own the land they tilled, so as to increase farm production
and farmers' income, as well as to transfer landlords' capital
to help develop industrial construction. This policy of "nurturing
industry with agriculture and developing agriculture with industry"
has laid a solid foundation for Taiwan's rapid economic progress.
A total of 194,823 farming families have received a land area
of 139,249 hectares.
The equalization of land rights program
begun in 1956 was designed to maximize land utilization and bring
the public to share the benefits thereof by "regulating land
value, taxing and purchasing land according to the value, and
giving the unearned increment to the public." Under current
regulations, the Provincial Government verifies and adjusts land
values by cross checking with actual cases and prices of urban
land transactions in all counties, cities, district towns and
townships. These are analyzed to ensure an accurate picture of
movements in land prices as a basis for adjusting county and city
land values, setting new land values and banding taxation levies,
with the aim of making tax assessments fairer and more reasonable
and thoroughly implementing the policy of directing price increases
into public coffers. In 1994, land value was reassessed, and
the total land area affected was 1,765,422 hectares.
Cooperative use of land in both urban and rural areas has been effected to maximize land utilization.
In order to solve the problems of inadequate drainage and
irrigation inherent in fragmented and
narrow farm plots, the government made its first try at farmland
consolidation in Changhua and Taichung Counties, both of which
had just been devastated by the flood of August 7, 1959. This
was accomplished by consolidating many farm plots into one large
area which was then redistributed on a proportional basis according
to land valuation. In line with the central government's overall
revamping of agriculture, we are continuing to carry out farmland
consolidation, updating and improvement of irrigation channels
on earlier consolidated farmland, updating of farm communities,
and repair of farm roads on consolidated farmland, in order to
promote land use, rural modernization, and development of the
rural infrastructure.
By the end of fiscal year 1994, a total of 374,835 hectares of farmland had been consolidated. In 1993, the farming population was 3,993,051 in total. 82.5% of these citizens were farming their own land, with each family farming an average of 1.07 hectares and each person owning about 0.22 hectares. Currently the government has begun the third stage of farmland consolidation, hoping to expand the scale of farm operations and to promote joint, entrusted, and cooperative management. Under this program, a professional farmer may own five to ten hectares of land. Meanwhile, farmland consolidation will continue to advance and take agriculture in Taiwan to a higher plateau.
Under this program, urban plots that are irregular, fragmented, or unfit for construction are to be consolidated and reallocated to the original owners after public utilities have been installed. The owners involved are to balance their exchanges themselves. To date, 128 cases of urban consolidation have been completed, totaling 5,968 hectares of land.
The Provincial Government is accelerating its program to build
improved public housing for low-income families, laborers, aborigines
and military dependents. Under this program, county and city
governments are to establish waiting lists of housing applicants
and procure and manage land for housing projects in order to rapidly
solve the housing problem, improve living surroundings, and raise
the quality of life for residents. To promote urban development,
the Provincial Government is actively planning new town developments,
implementing life-routine road transport systems and urban mass
rapid transport systems, building urban car parks, and assisting
local governments in their planning and construction of roads,
bridges, storm drains, waste water sewers, parks and green space
in new urban areas, industrial zones and new communities.
Due to fast economic growth, people
have experienced major changes in society. The in creasing percentage
of the elderly and women in rural areas and changing consumer
habits have slowed down agricultural development, which in turn
has affected farmers' income. Economic and trade internationalization
and liberalization, as well as the prospect of ROC entry into
the GATT/WTO, mean that Taiwan's agriculture is facing increasingly
complex problems and difficulties necessitating major changes.
In order to help farmers overcome present difficulties, the Provincial
Government's agricultural development policy aims to look after
farmers, develop agriculture, and develop prosperous and attractive
rural communities. In coordination with central government proposals
for over all agricultural reorientation, we are continuing to
promote the "Taiwan Province Local Agriculture Development
Project" aimed at developing agricultural production on business
lines, modernizing the farming way of life and preserving the
natural ecology of rural communities. Project items include:
coordinating government functions with private research institutions
to promote new agricultural knowledge, improve production technologies,
and adjust the agricultural production mix; processing special
loans and disaster relief payments for farmers and fishermen on
a case-by-case basis; overhauling the farm produce marketing system
to stabilize produce prices; strengthening agricultural management
to ensure safe consumption of farm produce; protecting agriculture
as appropriate and effectively controlling farm imports; disseminating
non-pesticide techniques; improving disease prevention for livestock
and poultry, expanding domestic animal insurance, and stabilizing
live stock operations; overhauling forestry industry operations
to promote ecology and resource conservation; improving water
and soil protection and slope utilization management to maintain
protection of the land; developing fishery resources and promoting
international fishery cooperation; integrating agricultural science
and technology, and raising farm productivity. The government
also operates farmers' health insurance to provide farmers with
appropriate medical care, and is promoting leisure farming and
fishing, as well as developing tourist fruit farms and forest
recreation zones, to provide more public leisure space and to
expand the range of services provided by the agricultural sector.
Agricultural production includes farming, forestry, fishing,
and livestock. The production index in 1993 with the 1991 index
standing at I 00, reached 103.7. Farm produce accounted for 42.7%
of 1993's total agricultural production of US$13.79 billion.
Food products and special crops dominated farm produce, with rice
leading at 2.23 million metric tons. Furthermore, the government
buys and sells cereal grains at guaranteed prices and operates
a rice procurement policy to stabilize grain prices and protect
farmers' incomes.
In order to fortify
agricultural structure and to maximize profit, a satellite-farm
system has been implemented, and guaranteed buying prices for
agricultural products have been established, In addition, to diversity
agricultural development, efforts have recently been directed
toward tourist farms and high economic value produce such as mushrooms,
asparagus, sugarcanes, tea, grapes, melons, and vegetables. These
not only supply the domestic market, but are also exported. in
1993, total exports of special produce reached US$933.95 million.
The government has set up a sound marketing system and a comprehensive farm produce marketing information network as part of its marketing modernization drive to ensure balanced market supply and stabilize farm produce prices. To ensure the health of the public, we are also upgrading the work of "crop pest diagnosis stations" and encouraging safer use of pesticide technology and prevention to ensure pesticide quality and the safety of farm produce In line with rising living standards and growth of the tourism industry, a six-year plan for the development of leisure agriculture involving the opening of 42 leisure agriculture reserves came into force beginning in fiscal year 1992.
Taiwan has 1,864,700 hectares of forest land, accounting for
52% of the total land area. The total timber volume is 326,421,397
cubic meters. The principal forest components are hardwoods,
conifers, and hardwood-conifer mixtures. The well-known varieties
are red cypress, China firs, and machilus. The utilization of
forestry resources emphasizes land preservation and national security.
The government is determined to improve afforestation, forest
protection, landslide and flood prevention, water catchment area
management and forestry operations in order to protect forest
resources and develop the beneficial functions of forested areas.
In order to best utilize forestry resources, the Provincial Government
has set up forest recreational zones in Ali Mountain, Tahsueh
Mountain, Taiping Mountain, Hohuan Mountain, Kenting, and Hsitou,
in addition to several ecological protection zones which are designed
to promote ecological conservation and to protect Taiwan's rare
animal and plant species as well as its unique ecology for educational
and scientific research purposes.
To ensure the development of advanced forestry operations, the Provincial
Government's main tasks are: (1) afforestation and forest nurture;
(2) developing forest recreation; (3) forest operational management;
(4) forest management and conservation; (5) protected forest operational
management; (6) nature conservation zone operational management.
With its vast surrounding waters rich in fishery resources,
Taiwan is an ideal place for fishery development. The fish catch
in 1993 totaled 1,423,971 metric tons, of which the inshore catch
accounted for 18.16%, the deep-sea catch 58.63%, piscicultural
production 17.57%, and the coastal catch 5.64%. Along with the
growth of the fishing industry, related trade has also increased.
In 1993, total imports were US$589.11 million, while exports reached US$1.33 billion, about 2.3 times the former and a 1.6-fold in crease over the total exports of 1979. As of the end of 1993, the number of workers in the fishing industry totaled 288,350, of which 64% were fishermen and 36% were pisciculture workers. In order to nurture fishery resources, increase production and improve fishermen's living standards, the Provincial Government is strengthening the protection of coastal fishery resources; planning pisciculture zones and improving the pisciculture production environment by preventing excessive pumping of groundwater; constructing fishing ports (Taiwan has 216 fishing ports at present), docks, and coastal infrastructure; developing regional fishing harbors; improving the fishery investment climate; creating effective fishermen's associations and fish market organizations; improving fishery technology and pollution prevention; and strengthening fishermen's services and welfare measures. The government has mapped out a "lowland farming and fishing communities planning and construction project" aimed at improving the living environment of farming and fishing communities, raising farmers' and fishermen's living standards and narrowing the gap between urban and rural life. Other measures include insurance for fishermen and fishing boats, promoting fish products marketing and processing, and establishing a comprehensive fishery information system.
Action is also being
taken to promote international fishery cooperation, reduce operational
costs, minimize fishery disputes, and accelerate the development
of deep-sea fishing. Moreover, in order to facilitate sale of
catches and procurement of supplies for deep-sea fishing boats,
a total of 67 foreign bases have been established, of which 11
serve the Pacific Ocean, 23 serve the Indian Ocean, and 33 serve
the Atlantic Ocean.
Under government guidance, animal husbandry in Taiwan has advanced
from being a sideline for farmers into being a rapid growing industry.
Among all types of agricultural production, it now ranks second
only to rice production and contributes to the country's booming
exports. Reclaimed riverside and coastal land and hillsides are
used to help develop the livestock industry. The major livestock
animals are pigs, cattle, and goats. Production reached 14,811,785
pigs, 40,833 head of cattle, and 181,000 goats in 1993. The present
stage of development emphasizes dairy farming. Focused areas are
breeding, management, and care.
The goals are to upgrade quality, raise productivity, establish a comprehensive disease reporting system, strengthen poultry, livestock and aquatic animals disease prevention work, establish a system of animal drugs, feed and feed additives management and live stock hygiene and health care, and to expand livestock insurance, to enable farmers to increase their income and guarantee the hygiene and safety of animal products. To solve pollution problems of animal products. To solve pollution problems from poultry and livestock effluent, we are strengthening waste water treatment and animal product drug residue prevention measures to maintain the quality of the environment and safeguard public health. Assistance is also provided with promoting distribution and marketing of animal products, hogs, poultry, goats and meat products, as well as helping farmers' groups to organize shared distribution and marketing task forces and arranging training for them. This helps to improve distribution facilities and lowers distribution costs.
excellent facilities for recreation and sightseeing. Comprehensive
water resource development projects now being phased in include: Pinglin
Reservoir and Paoshan 2nd Reservoir in Northern Taiwan; Chichi Common
Diversion Inlet, Liyutan 2nd Reservoir and Chienmin Reservoir in Central
Taiwan; Nanhua Reservoir and Kaoping River Barrage in Southern Taiwan;
small barrage construction projects throughout Taiwan; and Penghu Water
Resources Overall Development Plan. Current reservoir silting and pollution
problems are receiving close attention and improvements are being studied.
By the end of 1993, well-digging engineers had completed 2,119 water
producing wells. Irrigation and drainage schemes now cover 401,067 hectares,
or 46.15% of the total arable land area of Taiwan Province. In addition to
maintaining existing flood prevention facilities and regularly overhauling
their maintenance and management, new flood prevention measures such as the
Taipei Area Phase 3 Flood Prevention Project, river levees and sea dikes,
irrigation drains, and major river works on the Tali River, Pachang River
and New Huwei River are under construction to ensure uninterrupted national
development and the safety of life and property.