Tough times ahead for forming

But some farmers are wary of such plans, saying many are too old to switch professions at this late stage.

"Many farmers are old and if they lose their jobs what can they do?" said Wu Yuan-chang (吳源昌), chief of the Yunlin Rice Sellers Association, which represents around 400 rice merchants in the southern county.

"The extent of how severely our industry is affected will depend on what sort of assistance we get from the government and how well it is implemented," Wu said.

Chen Po-chih (陳博志), chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said such plans, which hope to create 10,000 jobs a year, are positive but will need to be implemented properly to be effective.

"We have to wait and see if these targets can be achieved since government efficiency -- especially local government efficiency -- is still lacking," Chen said.