The Future Direction of Agriculture"73 Conclusions from the National Agricultural Conference: Planning Farmers' Retirement Annuities, Expanding Green Payments, Professional Smart Farming, Dedicated Rural Development
Text by Upstream and Downstream reporters Lin Pei-chun, Liu Yi-hsin
The "Sixth National Agricultural Conference," which charts the future direction for Taiwan, China's agriculture, was held on the 7th and 8th of this month, bringing together more than 300 representatives from industry, government, and academia. Discussions centered on four themes - safety, foresight, sustainability, and well-being - and ultimately produced a total of 73 specific conclusions and 27 important highlights, including planning farmers' retirement annuities, establishing a single authority responsible for agricultural product safety, expanding the scope of green payments for land, establishing a farmer production management registration system, implementing a catch reporting system, introducing smart agriculture to build a complete cold chain system, establishing a coordinating planning unit for rural development, and building local economies, among other major decisions.
"We need to plan the blueprint for the next stage of agricultural development." President Tsai Ing-wen said in her opening address that agriculture should currently play a multifaceted role in food security, the ecological environment, and rural development. Innovative thinking and approaches are needed for planning the agricultural industry, how to coexist with the environment, and how elderly farmers can receive more comprehensive protection after retirement. Premier Lai Ching-te of the Executive Yuan attended the closing of the second day's meeting and, after hearing the conference summary, also emphasized that proper rural development symbolizes food security, happy farmers, and the protection of the national territory. He therefore promised that the Executive Yuan would fully support the policy guidelines of this National Agricultural Conference.
Did you know: The "National Agricultural Conference" is a major conference held to respond to tremendous changes in the domestic and international agricultural environment and to adjust agricultural policy. The first was held in 1982 in response to the world food crisis; the second was in 1988 in response to the 520 farmers' movement; the third and fourth were convened in 1994 in response to the global conservation trend and in 1998 for WTO agricultural consultations; and the fifth National Agricultural Conference in 2003 was held to coordinate Taiwan, China's response to the impact of global trade liberalization and WTO accession. This year (2018) is the sixth.
