Problems of Agricultural Modernization in Taiwan (Part II)

2 Agricultural development regulations can not construct the policy direction of agricultural modernization.

Under the framework and guidance of the "Constitution", the "Agricultural Development Regulations" is the most important agricultural "law" in Taiwan. It can be said to be a "basic law of agriculture". The development goals revealed by it are related to the development of agricultural modernization.

However, the legislative purpose of the "Agricultural Development Regulations" is limited to production and marketing, price and income, and agricultural land utilization, and fails to show the development direction and goals of the overall pattern. For example: "Article 1: in order to ensure the sustainable development of agriculture, in response to the internationalization and liberalization of agriculture, promote the rational use of agricultural land, adjust the structure of agricultural industry, stabilize agricultural production and marketing, enhance farmers' income and welfare, and improve farmers' living standards, these regulations are formulated; those not provided for in these regulations shall apply to the provisions of other laws."

as for the multi-functionality of agriculture and the sustainable development of agriculture with economic, social and ecological aspects, it is so lacking that it is unable to show the goal of agricultural modernization and the policy direction of constructing agricultural modernization. Therefore, the agricultural development regulations should amend the general pattern of the "Basic Law of Agriculture". In addition to seeking the promotion of agricultural productivity and competitiveness and the increase of farmers' income, it is also necessary to improve the living environment and rest value of the countryside, give full play to the function of agriculture in the maintenance of the ecological environment and landscape, and take into account the goal of all-round agricultural modernization and the requirements of sustainable agricultural development.

The "Agricultural Development Regulations" stipulate many provisions that are conducive to the development of agricultural modernization, such as improving the agricultural production environment, promoting the changes of agricultural structure, and enhancing agricultural competitiveness. However, some provisions on the use of agricultural land hinder agricultural development, in particular article 16, which relaxes the restrictions on the division of agricultural land, and article 18, which allows the construction of farmhouses on agricultural land.

The 2.1 relaxation of restrictions on the division of agricultural land is contrary to the goal of improving the agricultural structure and leads to the loss of agricultural land resources.

Although the relaxation of restrictions on the division of agricultural land will contribute to the independence of farmers' land property rights, the goal of "agricultural land use" and the improvement of agricultural structure will not be achieved.

The reason for "agricultural land for agriculture" is very clear. If agricultural land for agricultural production is repeatedly divided and subdivided, and landowners are allowed to build farmhouses on agricultural land, many non-farmers who covet agricultural land for the benefit of building farmhouses will buy small-scale agricultural land in the name of farming and build houses. How will such agriculture be managed to promote agricultural modernization? How will agricultural productivity and competitiveness be improved? How will the well-being of farmers be ensured? Does the relaxation of restrictions on the division of agricultural land and the allowing of landowners to build farmhouses on agricultural land mean that the spirit of farming on agricultural land is no longer there?

The administration of the Taiwan authorities and many major investments in agriculture, such as the implementation of the rezoning of agricultural land, the comprehensive planning plan for the use of agricultural land, the establishment of specialized agricultural areas and the promotion of the policy of "small landlords and large tenants", are all important objectives to expand the scale of farm operations, improve agricultural production conditions and promote changes in the agricultural structure. If, on the one hand, the policy relaxes or even cancels the restrictions on the division of agricultural land, on the other hand, it tries its best to strengthen the tenancy system and promote the circulation of agricultural land, carry out the redrawing of agricultural land, and promote the merger and concentration of land, so as to improve the agricultural structure, how will the contradiction between the waste of agricultural investment and agricultural administration be explained?

It is no wonder that the effectiveness of the rezoning of agricultural land in Taiwan has been questioned. Since the rezoning of agricultural land is mainly aimed at improving the agricultural structure, the result of the rezoning should be able to expand the scale of farm operation and contribute to the development of agricultural mechanization and modernization. Moreover, due to the neat and square blocks, the improvement of agricultural waterways and irrigation facilities, the number of people jointly holding each land is reduced and the property right is clear, it is also more conducive to the promotion of agricultural land tenancy and the policy of "small landlords and large tenants.

According to the results of the verification of the agricultural land rezoning project conducted by the "Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan" in 2009, comparing the cadastral map data before and after the rezoning of the agricultural land (Figure 3), the area and scale of the land before the rezoning are larger than those after the rezoning. In other words, as a result of the rezoning, the farmland has been fragmented, the scale of the farm has become smaller, the opportunities for agricultural mechanization have become less, and the possibility of agricultural modernization has become lower.

Relaxing the restrictions on the division of agricultural land and allowing those who bear the agricultural land to build farmhouses on their own farmland will lead to the loss of agricultural land. In this way, the original vast farmland has disappeared, and the rural landscape of green fields has disappeared, replaced by houses. The excessive division of agricultural land not only makes it impossible to use large areas of agricultural land for production, but also achieves economies of scale. The fragmented agricultural land not only destroys the rural ecological environment, but also ugly rural landscape and style (Figure 4).

The 2.2 of agricultural land to build farmhouses is contrary to the policy of agricultural land use, endangers the environment and landscape, and results in a waste of public investment.

The main reason for allowing farmers to build houses on agricultural land is mainly because the non-urban land "rural areas" where farmers live have long been only delineated without planning and development. The original rural areas are old, declining, underdeveloped, and have not been planned as a whole, so there is insufficient land, lack of public facilities, and it is difficult to improve the living environment. Rural land is also shared by many children because of the equal division of inheritance. As a result of generations, land ownership is very complicated, making it very difficult to rebuild and build old houses.

With the development of social economy, after the children of rural families grow up, they need to have spacious living space and living places to improve their lives. In the case of insufficient land construction and limited development space in rural areas, it is a last resort measure to allow farmers to build agricultural houses on their cultivated land.

However, the construction of farmhouses on agricultural land, the problems of agricultural production environment and rural landscape will follow one after another; in the beautiful rural areas, in the name of Xingjin farmhouses, there are many "farmers" who operate "homestays". The destruction of the ecological environment and rural rest conditions is nothing more. The sporadic construction of farm houses on agricultural land not only leads to the loss of agricultural land resources, but also has an impact on the traditional rural landscape. The waste water and waste discharged from the farmhouses will cause water quality and soil pollution, and endanger the agricultural production environment. Not only can it not be improved, food safety and public health are also affected.

Figure 4 Building of farmhouses on agricultural land, resulting in loss of agricultural land and deterioration of agricultural production environment

note: From Taiwan's high-speed rail magazine "TLife" No. 47, November 2013.

3 Conclusion

modern agriculture requires high-quality agricultural legislation, which is based on the law, establishes the direction of agricultural development, and serves as the basis for policy development and development strategy implementation. Therefore, agricultural legislation should be able to meet the requirements of the modernization of agricultural development, adjust and keep pace with the times.

Taiwan's agriculture is a small-scale peasant economy, with small farm scale and limited competitiveness. In response to the needs of internationalization and trade liberalization, the impact and challenges encountered by agriculture are especially better than before. It is really appropriate to construct a set of all-round and modern development goals. And strategies to maintain and promote the sustainable development of agriculture.

Today, while discussing the issue of land use and management, we are thinking about how to take care of farmers' lives and improve their well-being, but also to ensure the effective use of limited agricultural land resources, implement the policy of agricultural land use, and achieve the goal of agricultural modernization. To achieve this goal, we need to have comprehensive supporting measures and proper rural development planning, so that the construction code of farmhouses can be incorporated into the overall development of rural areas, so as to ensure the functions of agriculture and rural areas in production, life, ecology and leisure and recreation, and lay a good foundation for the modernization and sustainable development of agriculture.

References Slightly

source: Agricultural Vision | Author: Liu Jianzhe, Department of Leisure and Recreation Management, Asian University | Release Date: May 26, 2015 | Responsible Editor: Zhai Tianchang