Agriculture is one of the main industries in Taiwan. It contributes to the food security, rural development and conservation of Taiwan. Around 24% of Taiwan's land is used for farming.
Taiwan is a global leader in vertical farming and agritourism.
History
Prehistory Agriculture has been an important sector of Taiwanese life since ages ago. From archaeological sites in Changbin Township, Taitung County, since Paleolithic Age around 30,000-50,000 years ago, people hunted, fished and gathered. Only in the Neolithic Age around 5,000-2,000 years ago, did people began to live their sedentary lifestyle where they grew rice and other crops and domesticated animals. During the Iron Age around 2,000 years ago, people in the northern coast of Taiwan began to make iron tools and food production increased significantly. In the 17th century, people from China began to migrate to Taiwan where they fished, hunted and grew crops. Most of them settled in the area around Tainan.
Dutch Formosa During the Dutch Formosa in the early 17th century, the Dutch promoted the production of sugarcane and rice. At that time, 119 km2 of cultivated land in Taiwan belonged to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch exported Taiwan's agricultural products and imported peas, tomatoes, wax apples and mangoes from Southeast Asia and United States to Taiwan.
The Dutch introduced the domestic turkey to Taiwan.
Ming Dynasty
During the rule of Koxinga in the Kingdom of Tungning in the late 17th century, the number of immigrants from China to Taiwan increased to 200,000 people. This resulted in the increase of land under cultivation to 292 km2. Koxinga established a land tenure system and taught people to build reservoirs for irrigation. Rice was the main produce at that time. Chinese people also brought 43 kinds of vegetable from South China, such as leeks, garlic and Chinese cabbage.
Qing Dynasty
During the Qing Dynasty, immigration from Mainland China to Taiwan increased because of wars and famines in the mainland. People began to build canals for irrigation. At this time, the cultivated land in Taiwan increased to 3,506 km2 by 1895.
The eighteen century official Chiang Yun-chuan was responsible for significant improvements in irrigation and flood control in southern Taiwan and was incorporated into the local folk religion as a deity.
Empire of Japan
During the Empire of Japan, the Japanese greatly improved the agriculture sectors in Taiwan. They built concrete dams, reservoirs and aqueducts which forms an extensive irrigation system, such as the Chianan Irrigation. Arable land for rice and sugarcane productions increased by more than 74% and 30% respectively. They also established farmers' associations. Agriculture sector dominated the economy of Taiwan at that time. In 1904, 23% area of Taiwan was used as agricultural land.
The Taiwan Agricultural Research institute (TARI) was founded in 1895 by the Japanese colonial powers.
By 1939 Taiwan was the third largest exporter of bananas and canned pineapple in the world.
Republic of China
After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the government revitalized the agricultural sector first to recover from the damage caused by World War II and completed a full recovery by 1953.
In the early 1950s, agriculture was Taiwan's largest economic sector and the vast majority of Taiwanese were farmers.
The government extended agricultural facilities and introduced the land reform program under the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. By 1956, agricultural land accounted for 34% of Taiwan's land use. In 1958, horticulturalist launched an experimental farm for deciduous fruit in the Central Mountain Range. Aided by veterans of the Chinese Civil War moving to the region, larger scale production of apples, peaches and plums began the following decade and continued to 1979.
In the late 1940s, Taiwan underwent high-speed economic growth and industrialization. In 1963, industrial sectors output value exceeded agricultural sectors output value. Also in the 1960s, the government shifted their priority to the development of export-oriented economic policy which focused on labor-intensive industries, such as textiles, convenience food and consumer electronics which eventually made Taiwan part of the Four Asian Tigers, along with British Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. However, this caused pressure on the agricultural sector as more and more people moved away from rural areas and labor costs increased.
In the 1970s, the role of agriculture shifted from the primary focus of the economy to a supporting role. The government at that time issued policies for farmers to grow organic crops. In the 1980s, much farmland was left idle due to the emigration of people from rural to urban areas as well as Taiwan beginning to open up to staple food imports. On 1 January 2002, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. This accession caused further damage to the agricultural sector in Taiwan. In response, the government has promoted agricultural tourism.
President Lee Teng-hui believed that agriculture was the backbone of a nation and promoted it extensively. He implemented health insurance and occupational hazard insurance programs for farmers. He also emphasized the Japanese roots of much of Taiwan's agricultural infrastructure.
While the importance of agriculture to the Taiwanese economy has declined greatly from its heyday Taiwan has become a global leader in the vertical farming industry. Due to their efficient development of vertical farming technology and know-how Taiwanese firms are often partnered with by international firms looking to start vertical farming ventures in their home countries. The vertical farming industry benefits from the high concentration of LED, robotics, engineering, and data processing firms in Taiwan. Vertical farms in Taiwan primarily compete with imported produce and focus on producing premium vegetables as their products remain more expensive than those from Taiwan's traditional farms.
Recently, the government has introduced new policy to reactivate all of the remaining idle farmland to ensure food security, food self-sufficiency and to revitalize the agriculture sectors. Policies to develop the sector to be more competitive, modern and green were also introduced. This has led to a large number of urban youth taking up farming. Since 2009 the Agriculture Council has subsidized education and training for new farmers, most of whom already hold advanced degrees.
In 2020 the Taiwanese government's Council of Agriculture set aside NT$5 billion (US$166.21 million) in loans for produce, livestock and aquaculture operations as well as other agriculture-based enterprises effected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The loans are at a preferential rate of 0.79 percent to 1.68 percent.
In 2021 the Taiwanese government began incentivizing rice farmers to diversify their production beyond the staple crop.
Taiwan's agriculture industry now satisfies 90% of its domestic demand, making it a model of self-sufficiency.
Government
Agriculture-related affairs in Taiwan are handled by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), headed by Minister Chen Junne-jih, and its division Agriculture and Food Agency. Taiwan houses the headquarters of the World Vegetable Center. Taiwan is also a member of world organizations related to agriculture, such as the African-Asian Rural Development Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and World Trade Organization.
Produce Agriculture in Taiwan consists of four sectors, with crops (47.39%), livestock (37%), fishery (15.58%) and forestry (0.03%) accounting for total agricultural output of NT$580 billion in 2023.
Rice
In 2023, Taiwan harvested 1.46 million tons of paddy rice from 222,413 hectares of land, for a yield of 6,566 kg per hectare and a total value of NT$34.9 billion. It is the most important cash crop in Taiwan. The quality of Taiwanese rice is extremely high.
Before the Japanese colonial period, most rice grown in Taiwan was long-grained Indica rice. The Japanese introduced short-grained Japonica into Taiwan, which quickly changed both the farming and eating patterns of the Taiwanese.
Betel nuts In 2023, Taiwan harvested 92,467 tonnes of betel nuts from 37,293 hectares of land, the second most valuable cash crop after rice.
Cocoa Cocoa cultivation on Taiwan began during the Japanese period but support ended after World War II. The next wave of cultivation occurred in the 1970s but petered out because farmers lacked the expertise necessary to process the raw beans. The modern industry was kickstarted by Chiu Ming-sung, a betel nut farmer and chocolatier from Pingtung who in 2007 became the first in Taiwan to make tree-to-bar chocolate. Taiwan's cocoa production is centered in Pingtung in Southern Taiwan. Because of high production costs and small farm size, Taiwanese cocoa producers focus on producing estate-grade beans. In Pingtung county cocoa is generally grown as a companion crop to betel nut as the tall betel nut palms shade the cocoa plants. As of 2020 approximately 200-300 acres was under cultivation in Pingtung supporting around 30 chocolate making companies.
Chocolate industry The cocoa industry supports a significant domestic cocoa processing and chocolate making industry. Taiwan is one of the few mature chocolate making countries to also be a cocoa producer. In 2021 Taiwan tightened the labelling regulations for chocolate.
Coffee
The first coffee plants on Taiwan were imported by the British to Tainan in 1884 with the first significant small scale cultivation taking place in New Taipei City's Sanxia District. Tainan remains the heart of Taiwanese coffee culture.
Commercial coffee production in Taiwan began during the Japanese colonial period. The Japanese developed the industry to feed the export market. Production reached a peak in 1941 following the introduction of arabica coffee plants. Production declined shortly thereafter as a result of World War II. Domestic production is small—at 856 tons in 2023—but of high quality. Imported beans account for the vast majority of coffee sold in Taiwan.
The coffee borer beetle is a significant pest in Taiwan.
Tainung No. 1 is the first popular domestically bred coffee cultivar. It can be grown at lower altitudes than most coffee varieties and produces excellent quality beans.
Fruits
In 2023, Taiwan harvested 2.4 million tonnes of fruits from 173,766 hectares of land with a total value of NT$95.8 billion. Taiwan's fruit crops include banana, grape, guava, jujube, lychee, mandarin orange, mango, orange, papaya, pineapple, pomelo, sand pear, dragon fruit, starfruit, strawberry, watermelon and wax apple. The annual fruits export is 60,000 tons with a value of NT$3,452 million. In 2018 the largest export market of Taiwanese fruits was China. In 2022 the largest export market of Taiwanese fruits was Japan.
Avocados Most avocado varieties grown in Taiwan produce large fruit. Domestic avocados compete with imported American hass avocados in the local market. Cultivation grew from 506 hectares in 2011 to 1,149 hectares in 2020 due to rising popularity.
Bananas
Bananas are Taiwan's most important export fruit. The Taiwan Banana Research Institute is tasked to undergo research and development of banana cultivation in Taiwan.
Citrus By 1984 there were 34,000 hectares of citrus orchards in Taiwan annual yields of 360,000 metric tons with mandarin oranges and tangerines leading in production. In 2008 a glut in orange production forced the export of surplus fruit to China. President Ma Ying-jeou even personally contributing $80,000 NTD to support an orchard in Gukeng township in Yunlin County as a result of the glut.