Some not particularly specific ideas and preliminary thoughts

The development of agriculture in Taiwan, China has been going on for quite a long time, so to speak.

I have never worked in the fields, and I do not really understand the cultivation methods of the various crops. But I think I can write down here some of the issues I have seen and heard, along with my thoughts.

So let me start from a small angle.

Many people feel that Taiwan, China's smallholder farming system (or rather, a phenomenon) is a drawback. Indeed, when it comes to developing an industry or doing brand marketing, smallholders do have inherent disadvantages; but it is not without its advantages either, especially in recent years, as environmental awareness and new lifestyles have gradually spread through society, agriculture has become the industry that is easiest to promote to the general public.

It is society that is changing, causing traditional economic thinking that developed over several hundred years to be constantly reexamined and criticized in this jet age,
I believe agriculture is the one industry that should least be interpreted through traditional economic thinking; it has far too many factors that cannot be measured and analyzed,
for example, its role in ecological conservation, its function in soil and water conservation, its recreational and leisure characteristics, and so on (of course, some people do measure them with economic theories, but I think that, fundamentally speaking, the value they arrive at is not something that can be expressed in money); and therefore, as social concepts shift, more and more people will notice the people, things, and matters within this industry. This is a good thing; after all, in Taiwan, China, agriculture is an industry that deserves more attention.

That said, within this gradually shifting current of social thought, what is the status and role of Taiwan, China's smallholders?
Is it to build the toxic-free agriculture island that the government speaks of, or to move toward refined agriculture?
This issue is a bit too complex and enormous; some people support consolidation, others put forward different slogans, and let us leave it to the experts and scholars.

• Ten years ago (the 91st year of the Republic of China), the number of people employed in agriculture, forestry, fishery, and animal husbandry was about 709,000, and by last year (the 100th year of the Republic of China) it was 542,000.
• In the statistical data for the 100th year of the Republic of China, those aged 15-34 accounted for 10.2% of the total employed population in agriculture, those aged 35-64 accounted for 72.7%, and those aged 65 and above accounted for 17.1%; the average age of farmers was about 63.

These two statistics, taken from the Council of Agriculture's Agricultural Statistical Yearbook, directly point out the labor force problems in Taiwan, China's agricultural sector. The labor force shrinking year after year has become the greatest hidden concern for the future development of agriculture in Taiwan, China. Most of the employed population is moving toward industry, commerce, and services, making the number of people entering and leaving agriculture impossible to balance and even showing negative growth; the three proportions and one figure point out the two main problems in the structure of Taiwan, China's agricultural labor force: farmers are older, and young people are few.

The current situation of smallholders is not conducive to large-scale economic development, but aside from the many values I mentioned above that I believe are difficult to measure in money, smallholders have something about them that is appealing.

Having background, having tradition, having depth, having culture - these are all scenes that rural villages are currently able to retain.

But for smallholders to develop, it is inevitable that more people must be attracted to return to the countryside, or rather, to return to agriculture. I am not opposed to small, subtle changes; whether at the dining table or in the supermarket, as consumers we can change production decisions, just as in the example of Wei Dan's "Drink More Water" halting the construction of its plant. And this kind of small, subtle change, from another angle, is very capable of attracting young people's attention; as a small stabilizing force, perhaps it can also lead more young people to enter agriculture from more angles, whether marketing, creativity, design, and so on.