Sat, Feb 07, 2009 page2

• FEATURE : Farming generation aging as prices slump

  ‘RICELESS JOY’: Rice farmers in the south are competing against extremely low pay and cheap rice from China, but they stick to their way of life out of love for the land

  • By Meggie Lu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Tucked away deep in the Chiayi-Tainan plains is Tainan County’s Houbi Township (後壁), a village comprised of traditional brick homes, semi-paved roads, farming equipment hardware stores and retro-style shaved-ice stalls and hair parlors, in which a group of rice farmers — with an average age of more than 75 years old — work happily, almost religiously dedicated to their tasks all year round.

  Most of town’s farmers have worked their fields for more than half a century. However, after 80-year-old Huang Kun-bin (黃崑濱) — affectionately known as Kunbinbo (Uncle Kun-bin, 崑濱伯) — inadvertently landed the lead role in a 2005 rice-farming documentary, Let It Be (無米樂, literally “riceless joy”), the voiceless workers began to receive more national attention.

  The documentary focused on the economic hardship farmers in Taiwan face today, making many people realize where their rice comes from and that the supply may one day run out if nothing is done to save the farming industry.

  

  Kunbinbo stands by his bike near his home in Tainan County last November.

  PHOTO: MEGGIE LU, TAIPEI TIMES

  The Taipei Times interviewed Kunbinbo and his rice production unit manager (a type of non-governmental agricultural organization), Tammy Huang (黃麗琴), last November and discovered that he had actually achieved greater heights than his starring role in the film.

  “Young people today do not want to stay in the suburbs and take over the family rice fields because farming is laborious and extremely low-paid,” Tammy Huang said.

  Among the 100 or more farmers who work collaboratively under her unit, the youngest farmer is 49 years old.

  “Kunbinbo is the only ‘second generation’ farmer in the village, and he only chose to be a farmer out of obedience to his father’s wishes,” she said.

  “Farming on a 1-hectare piece of land [the average size for today’s independent farmer] for six months makes about NT$60,000 (US$1,778) to NT$85,000 — on a good harvest,” she said. “If a typhoon wipes out your crops — as happened last fall — the government compensates the farmers NT$16,000 per hectare for each growing season [six months].”

  To help the farmers increase their competitiveness and income, Tammy Huang began to market her production unit’s rice as gourmet food instead of a commodity. She also helped elderly farmers start growing Tainung 71, a strain of rice that gives off the fragrance of taro when cooked and costs 20 percent more than traditional rice.

  A year after the release of Let It Be, Kunbinbo was in the media spotlight again when his Tainung 71 was named “Taiwan Champagne Rice” in 2006 by the Council of Agriculture.

  At an auction that year, a bag of Kunbinbo’s rice sold for NT$1 million, but he promptly donated the money to his production unit for the construction of a new storage tank and went back to farming without missing a beat.

  “I cannot relax just because I won a prize, I have the responsibility to maintain the quality of my rice,” Kunbinbo said, smiling as he looked at his field.

  “The other farmers and I, we watch each other and remind ourselves that consumers buy our rice because we put our hearts into growing it, because it is of good quality and therefore the quality must not slip,” he said.

  Two years ago, Tammy Huang initiated a program where some of the farmers — including Kunbinbo — began to grow organic rice.

  “Currently we have 6 hectares [out of 120 hectares] in the unit that grow rice organically,” she said.

  Because it takes three years to clear chemicals from soil where pesticides were used, four out of the 6 hectares are in the transitional stage where the production process is organic but the crops cannot yet bear the “organic” logo, she said.

  “But we are going to dedicate more farmland to organic rice because not only does it help farmer’s income, it is a very good way to maintain the wellness of the Earth,” she said.

  However, changes on the political level may need to take place before the farming trade can really be saved.

  Despite the switch to higher-margin crops, last fall’s typhoon season wiped out all of Kunbinbo’s second harvest. The profit from the first harvest combined with the NT$16,000 compensation payment from the government meant Kunbinbo made only NT$76,000 for a whole year of toil.

  “[In the past], farmlands got split into smaller and smaller pieces after each generation [of inheritance], so now each farmer has an average of around 1 hectare of land,” Tammy Huang said.

  “Thanks to their dedication and Kunbinbo’s fame, the production unit’s fragrant rice currently sells at NT$200 for a 1.5kg bag. But because each farmer only possess about 1 hectare, they each make very little money,” she said.

  Kunbinbo said he sustained himself through his seed-trading business on the side, as well as a monthly NT$6,000 government subsidy for the elderly he and his wife receive.

  “The government takes care of farmers and gives us compensation for, say, typhoon-induced crop losses, but the compensation is very low. The government has to take care of consumers … When rice prices reach NT$40 a kilogram, the government interferes, but selling at NT$40 a kilo does not really generate a profit for us,” Kunbinbo said.

  For the agricultural industry to become attractive again, Tammy Huang said current policies need to be amended so each farmer can own more land.

  While the profit generated from working a hectare is clearly not sufficient to sustain a family, “10 hectares is,” she said.

  “However, it is of course not feasible for each farmer to buy 10 hectares of land and it is also very difficult for them to rent land,” she said. “Many farm owners who do not farm anymore are reluctant to rent out unused lands because they fear that the 1953 ‘25 percent farm rent reduction’ and ‘land to the tiller’ policies may happen again.”

  Without easing such concerns, it would be very hard for those who wish to farm to secure enough land, she said, adding that the farmers were “very worried” about potential impacts caused by direct links.

  “Joining the WTO in 2002 had a great impact on the agricultural industry. Before [joining] the WTO, Taiwan’s rice production was sufficient to supply the nation with some left over for export. Though prices were low, they were stable,” she said.

  After joining the WTO, “because international crop prices were lower than domestic rice prices, the already-low rice prices became even lower,” she said.

  “[In addition to low prices,] Taiwan has not yet allowed the production of genetically altered crops, but China has … If the crop types are mixed, Taiwan may lose the edge on the international market for genetically unaltered foods,” she said.

  “Being a rice farmer is difficult work and pays almost nothing. My generation is the last generation of farmers [末代滅農] — if our children decide to take over our farms, we worry; if they don’t, we also worry,” Kunbinbo said, still smiling.

  Asked why farmers like Kunbinbo still tend their paddies, Tammy Huang said Kunbinbo’s mentality was typical of his generation, adding that they love the soil and will never give up on what they think is their responsibility.

  “When I work, I learn and appreciate ‘riceless joy,’ the small beauties in life that don’t involve a good harvest, like when I tend my field during the night and watch the moon shine on my green sprouts — that’s beautiful — or singing and not worrying about typhoons,” Kunbinbo said.

  This happy outlook on life is also helping him through the global financial crisis.

  “There is no crisis here. Farmers always prepare for bad weather and we always save our money after a good harvest … The first harvest last year was good and so we still have that money. This is a lesson that young people nowadays should learn. They spend all they have, so when they are fired, they cannot sustain themselves … If a harvest is bad, we may whine, but our lives are largely unaffected,” he said.
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