Those who are concerned about Taiwan's agriculture have long noticed that the government's attitude toward the sector is getting worse. If the situation continues, the agricultural sector will decline further and become a depressed industry.
It took Taiwan more than 10 years to enter the WTO. During this time, the government advised farmers to innovate in preparation for the impact WTO entry would have on the industry. It would also be useful if the government increased the research and development (R&D) budget for agricultural technology to develop new products and improve the quality of old products to compete with foreign imports. But the fact is, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the budget for agricultural technology R&D has actually decreased -- from 7.3 percent of the Council of Agriculture's annual budget in 1994 to 4 percent in 1998 and 3.7 percent next year.
This year, in which the agricultural sector is feeling the initial effects of WTO entry, spending on agricultural R&D fell by NT$100 million from the year before. Next year, spending on R&D will rise by only NT$20 million from this year. The government does not seem very determined in wanting to strengthen Taiwan's agricultural competitiveness.
At this critical moment for Taiwan's agriculture, the government has budgeted NT$23 billion for subsidies to older farmers but only NT$3.1 billion for agricultural technology R&D. Such money is clearly insufficient, especially when compared to the NT$17 billion budgeted for the "special science and technology projects" of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the NT$30 billion for the National Science Council's science and technology budget. If there had been sufficient spending on R&D to develop new products, the impact of agricultural imports after Taiwan was admitted to the WTO would have been largely mitigated.
Agricultural production grew by about 1.4 percent a year in the 1980s. However, production fell by an average of 0.1 percent a year in the 1990s. There are many reasons for this, but the government's failure to invest in agriculture is surely at least partly to blame.
In the Netherlands in the 1980s, the agriculture sector grew by 3.4 percent a year on average, and in the 1990s by 3.7 percent a year. Belgium's agriculture sector grew an average of 2 percent a year in the 1980s and by 1.7 percent in the 1990s. In both countries the agriculture sector has been growing faster than the manufacturing and service sectors. Thus, agriculture is not necessarily a sunset industry. It will become a sunset industry only when the government abandons it.
Local newspapers recently reported that the Council of Agriculture has been promoting cobia, a large saltwater fish, as a product Taiwan can push in the world's agricultural market. The council may even use cobia to compete with Norway's salmon, the reports said. However, fishery authorities have budgeted only NT$160 million for the next fiscal year on developing this sector, prompting the question: Does the government, which thinks only of high-tech industry, really want to give up its agriculture?
There are only sunset products, not sunset industries. The government should assist agricultural sector to improve its competitiveness. It should not paralyze our farmers, who are gradually losing their competitiveness through the system of welfare subsidies.
Tu Jenn-hwa is an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of National Development at National Taiwan University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS