Chen Jinde attacks the central government over farmhouses; Chen Jizhong: any damage to farmland is illegal; Peng Zuokui sharply criticizes it as unbelievable

The controversy over farmhouses in Yilan continues without end. Yilan Acting County Magistrate Chen Chin-te emphasized that the rule that farmhouses must be built along the road side is only administrative guidance and has no legal force; farmhouses should seek the optimal configuration rather than a single mandatory configuration, and restricting the location of farmhouses "strangles rural development". In response, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung replied, "It is indeed administrative guidance, and it indeed has no legal force," but according to the Agricultural Development Act, farmhouses must not affect the environment for agricultural production and development. If a farmhouse is not built along the road side, it will cause damage to farmland and sewage discharge problems, and that violates central law.

Former Council of Agriculture Minister Peng Tso-kwei, who stepped down because he defended farmland, sharply criticized, "Chen Chin-te is truly unbelievable; this is putting the cart before the horse." The Council of Agriculture should insist that farmhouses be built along the road side, and farmland should not become real estate speculation. Former Yilan County Agriculture Department Director Yang Wen-chuan said that Chen Chin-te's own farmhouse is in violation and not used for agriculture, so he should first make demands of himself. Young farmer Wu Shao-wen said the rule that farmhouses be built along the road side is meant to eliminate fake farmers, "I really don't understand what the county magistrate is thinking."

Chen Chi-chung: Building along the road side is indeed "administrative guidance," but a farmhouse built in the middle of a field will certainly affect the agricultural environment

Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung said that the rule that farmhouses be built along the road side "I completely agree is administrative guidance, and it indeed has no legal force." However, according to the Agricultural Development Act, when farmers apply to build a farmhouse, the premise is that it does not affect the environment for agricultural production and development. So how can a farmhouse avoid affecting the production environment? Therefore the Council of Agriculture enacted the Regulations for the Construction of Farmhouses on Agricultural Land, requiring farmers to submit application forms, business plans, and so on, specifically regulating what methods do not affect the agricultural production environment, and then sent official letters to local governments to set rules for farmhouses along roads and sides. That is how it evolved, so the official letters are indeed not law.

But returning to "whether it affects the agricultural production environment," Chen Chi-chung said, ask agricultural production experts and scholars: where is a farmhouse built least likely to affect the agricultural production environment? It is along the road side. That is why there is guidance for building along the road side. If a farmhouse is built in the middle of a field, it will certainly have an impact; otherwise, sewage discharge and so on will certainly affect the production environment, and that violates central law.

Former Council of Agriculture Minister Peng Tso-kwei: Chen Chin-te is putting the cart before the horse; the Council of Agriculture should insist on building along the road side

Former Council of Agriculture Minister Peng Tso-kwei said, "Chen Chin-te is truly unbelievable; this is putting the cart before the horse." The Council of Agriculture should insist that farmhouses be built along the road side, and irrigation and drainage must be handled properly; otherwise it will absolutely affect the agricultural production environment.

Peng Tso-kwei said that farmland originally should not have houses built on it. At the time, he insisted on not agreeing that newly purchased farmland could have farmhouses built on it, because natural persons had already entered, and very few of these natural persons or non-farmers would use it for agriculture; usually they build farmhouse villas. "So I firmly opposed this policy at the time, because once it was opened up, our farmland would become like Yilan now, completely turning into a phenomenon of only growing houses and not growing crops. Farmland was originally meant for producing crops, but now it has become real estate speculation, affecting agriculture at a fundamental level."

Peng Tso-kwei emphasized that ordinary farmers simply cannot afford to buy land at 20 million or a higher price to grow crops, so maintaining cheap and reasonable farmland prices is the precondition for allowing young farmers, capital, and technology to enter farming. But the Yilan County Government is now completely breaking this approach. "We should not view farmhouse policy from the perspective of opening up free buying and selling by farmers and maintaining high land prices for investors." If the buyer of farmland is not actually going to farm, or is only building a farmhouse mansion, that piece of farmland is basically wasted. Therefore the Council of Agriculture should insist on building along roads and sides, and irrigation and drainage must be handled properly; otherwise it will absolutely affect the agricultural production environment.

Growing vegetables by the roadside in Taipei, growing houses on prime farmland: "Farmland ethics are completely chaotic"

However, restricting farmhouses to the road side will also cause farmland transaction prices to fall. What should farmers who are in financial difficulty and want to sell land do? Peng Tso-kwei said the Council of Agriculture should adopt a direct subsidy policy. Landowners located in agricultural development zones can receive subsidies, bringing their income close to that of other industries, and also allowing farmland to remain in agricultural use and keeping those who farm on the land. Their income would not need to rely on land sales, but on real cultivation. The government should formulate supporting measures. Now throughout the world, including the United States and Germany, it is like this: designated agricultural zones may not have buildings constructed, and instead rely on direct subsidies.

Peng believes society should not return to the argument that not building farmhouses will cause farmland prices to fall. Right now it is growing vegetables by the roadside in Taipei while prime farmland is used to grow houses; farmland ethics are completely chaotic. The Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Interior should insist on the original approach and should not relax it further, and the identity of buyers should also be further controlled.

Chen Chi-chung also said that according to statistics, Taiwan's farmland prices are the highest in the world. Including Japan and South Korea, no other country exceeds Taiwan. Taiwan's average farmland price is 15 million per hectare, Yilan's average is 32 million per hectare, and Taoyuan has even soared to 90 million per hectare. "From these figures, is Yilan's farmland market really bad?"

How should Yilan develop in the future? Chen Chin-te: Restricting farmhouses is strangling rural development

How exactly should Yilan develop in the future? Society has not yet reached a consensus, yet Yilan Acting County Magistrate Chen Chin-te said, "I don't have a direction for that, but I think restricting farmhouses to the road side is unreasonable and strangles rural development." Yang Wen-chuan said, "I think Chen Chin-te's series of positions constantly damages the agricultural environment, and that is unfair to the 100,000 farmers in Yilan."

Wu Shao-wen also said that this county magistrate seems to imagine Yilan's value and future rural development very differently from farmers. He is now setting economic development against rural value, but we believe rural development is about properly running the agricultural economy. "If you cannot propose how good agricultural development can make money, how can there be good development? There must be a good production environment for agriculture to develop well." But the Yilan County Government's current approach is to push Yilan, a county founded on agriculture, toward low-density residential development.

Regarding Chen Chin-te's statement that Taipei residents want to see Yilan's rural scenery, so farmers are required to keep farming regardless of whether rural areas go bankrupt, Wu Shao-wen emphasized, "I really don't understand what the county magistrate is thinking. The people who have come out to oppose this are all Yilan residents." Farmers have no way to make money by growing rice, and the county government should help farmers make money and make agricultural policy more proactive. For example, growing white bamboo shoots earns 70,000 per fen, and one jia can reach 700,000, yet Chen Chin-te keeps talking about rice and then does nothing, making agricultural production conditions and environment worse.

Yang Wen-chuan: Do we still need this county government?

In an interview with Newsmarket, Chen Chin-te said, Taipei has so many illegal buildings, have they been demolished? Why single out Yilan's farmland for harsh treatment? In response, Yang Wen-chuan said, "Chen Chin-te's idea is basically let everyone compare who is worse; he is a county magistrate who compares who is worse." Taipei's illegal buildings are mainly balconies, rooftop additions, and so on, but illegal construction on Yilan's agricultural land directly damages the agricultural production environment; the two simply cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Chen Chin-te's current approach is telling us that government regulations need not be followed, with the county magistrate leading the way in breaking the law. Then taxes need not be paid either, and nothing is needed. So do we still need this county government?"

Further Reading

Exclusive Interview with Chen Chin-te 01: Slapping the Council of Agriculture in the face, farmhouses "along the road side" are not law, farmers need not comply

Exclusive Interview with Chen Chin-te 02: Farmhouse location strangles rural development; who has the right to make farmers grow crops so Taipei residents can come see rural scenery?

Exclusive Interview with Chen Chin-te 03: If Taipei demolishes 1 percent of illegal buildings, I will demolish Yilan's violations for you to see

Chen Teng-chin / Those Yilan values we fought for, those scars that left us battered, a small step that is so hard to stand firm on!

Chen Pi-yuan / Farmland reform cannot turn back; we call on County Magistrate Chen, please let Yilan walk its own glorious path!

In the Middle of Yilan's Fields | Chang Liang-i Photo Feature